On December 6, 2023, Arianna Royster, President of Borger Residential and Region 1 Vice President for the National Apartment Association (NAA) testified in front of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance on behalf of NAA and the National Multifamily Housing Council. During the hearing entitled “Housing Affordability: Governmental Barriers and Market-based Solutions,” Royster testified in support of sustainable policy solutions that improve housing affordability and protect the nation’s rental housing infrastructure for future generations of renters.
Specifically, she urged the Congress to:
- Incentivize states and localities to remove or mitigate local barriers to development of rental housing;
- Improve the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program to attract more private sector participants and better aid millions of low-income households pay their rent and
- Keep regulation of the housing provider/resident relationship where it belongs, at the state and local level.
At the same time, Royster urged Congress to reject misguided efforts to regulate rents that will increase the cost of rental housing and limit renter choice. Rent control is currently under consideration by the Federal Housing Finance Agency for rental housing properties backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Importantly, two of NAA’s top three legislative priorities were noticed as part of this hearing: the Respect State Housing Laws Act to repeal the CARES Act 30-day notice-to-vacate requirement and the Yes In My Back Yard Act requiring local governments to report to HUD about efforts to lower barriers to development. Inclusion in this hearing means these bills can now be voted on by the full Committee at the next opportunity. This places us an important step closer to passage by the House of Representatives for both bills.
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