A county council committee has moved forward with one bill aimed to limit rent increases in Montgomery County after competing bills were introduced in March.
It will move to full council for consideration.
As now amended as of Monday, Bill 15-23 would limit allowable annual rent increases to 3% plus the Consumer Price Index (CPI), to be capped at 6%.
On Wednesday, County Executive Marc Elrich said he will support the amended bill.
As originally introduced in March, Bill 15-23 would have created a maximum allowable rent increase of 8% plus CPI. Lead sponsors were Councilmembers Gabe Albornoz, Marilyn Balcombe, Natali Fani-González, Andrew Friedson, Sidney Katz, and Dawn Luedtke.
The competing legislation — Bill 16-23 — the Housing Opportunity, Mobility, and Equity (HOME) Act — would have limited allowable annual rent increases to 3% or the rental component of the CPI, whichever one was lower. Councilmembers Will Jawando and Kristin Mink were lead sponsors, and Elrich also supported the bill.
This week on Monday, Fani-González, who had supported the original proposal of 8% plus CPI, said the figure was too high, and proposed the figure of 3% plus CPI with a 6% cap.
It passed 2-1 in the council’s Planning, Housing and Parks (PHP) committee and will move to full council.
Jawando and Fani-González voted in favor, while Friedson voted against it.
“A 6% cap… would be a doubling of the HOME Act,” Jawando noted during Monday’s committee meeting. He still supported the bill, saying the new limit is better than nothing although it is still a stretch for many families.
Balcombe, who joined the meeting, said the amendments in the bill are “too far,” will hinder housing in the county and will limit builders coming to the county as well as businesses.
