By Bob Pinnegar, CAE President and CEO of the National Apartment Association

You are probably aware of President Biden’s comment about rent control at his press conference following the NATO Summit last week. It was picked up by CNBC on Friday, July 12 with a segment that I participated in with former Governor and 2004 presidential candidate Howard Dean.

The rumors about an announcement of a nationwide rent control policy have continued to swirl around DC over the weekend. Today at 2:30 p.m., the Washington Post reported in the article reproduced below that on Tuesday, July 16, at a campaign stop in Nevada, the White House will be announcing that if reelected Biden will call for a 5% annual rent cap annually.

It appears that the intention is to tie the ability to depreciate assets to compliance with this new policy. According to the Post, the administration has declined to comment, which is consistent with our efforts to verify the rumors. Such an action would require action by Congress and would likely face an uphill battle. In my opinion, it is reflective of how desperate the President and his campaign staff are to reset the dialogue away from fitness for office to policy, no matter how outrageous it is.

We are prepared for the release of President Biden’s proposal and will issue a press release under the Housing Solutions Coalition (note that NAA is mentioned in paragraph 13 of the article below as an HSC member) as well as through our NAA channels tomorrow after the announcement. We will also insert it in the Industry Insider newsletter which has our highest readership if the timing permits. Now that this is in the public arena, I anticipate that Lester Holt will ask about it during the one-on-one interview that he is having with the President tonight. I anticipate that tomorrow will be a busy news day for us here at NAA and across the real estate industry.

10 Unintended Consequences of Rent Control Policies