Defense Department weakens U.S. military housing bill after consulting industry – By M.B. Pell (Reuters) / March 4 2020
NEW YORK (Reuters) – A sweeping U.S. military housing reform plan, pitched as a way to protect service families from shoddy homes and unresponsive landlords, has been watered down to remove several protections tenants and Congress had sought.
FILE PHOTO: A home with a crack is seen in the Medina Annex at Joint Base San Antonio – Lackland in San Antonio, Texas U.S. November 16, 2019. To match Special Report USA-MILITARY/LACKLAND REUTERS/Callaghan O’Hare
Congress ordered the Department of Defense to create a tenant-rights bill for military families last year. Among the key provisions required: the ability for military families to withhold rent to protest unsafe conditions, obtain full maintenance histories of their homes upon moving in, and challenge landlords through a dispute resolution process.
Though the rent and dispute resolution provisions were cited in the original draft released last March, they were not included last week when U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper unveiled the tenant bill of rights. Fifteen other measures are going ahead as planned.
The Defense Department removed the three measures after Pentagon officials sat down with the private housing contractors to craft final details.
The landlords provide housing to service members under 50-year, multi-billion-dollar contracts with the military branches. Department lawyers decided that because the contracts are so complex, the Pentagon will have to work out the tenants-rights measures in much greater detail before including them in the bill of rights.
Continue to article: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-military-tenants/defense-department-weakens-u-s-military-housing-bill-after-consulting-industry-idUSKBN20R318
