National Fair Housing Alliance Statement on the Administration’s Blueprint for a Renters Bill of Rights

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 26, 2023

Contact: iwoodruff@nationalfairhousing.org

White House plan includes important administrative actions, but comprehensive legislation is needed to address housing’s outsized role in renters’ personal economies

Washington, D.C. — Today, Nikitra Bailey, Executive Vice President of the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA), issued the following statement in response to the White House unveiling the Blueprint for a Renters Bill of Rights, a policy outline that promotes fairness for Americans living in rental housing:

“We appreciate the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts to strengthen tenant rights and to use the full scope of the Fair Housing Act and Violence Against Women Act to protect renters. We are heartened to see the Blueprint outline the need for federal, state, and local governments to protect against source of income discrimination; solutions to improve the Section 504 program which is essential to supporting housing for people with disabilities; and the need for guidance on the use of tenant screening algorithms that create barriers for renters and may violate the Fair Housing Act.

“For too long, our nation’s fair and affordable housing crisis has gone unaddressed, despite calls from the public and fair housing and civil rights advocates. The result has been a deepened affordable housing shortage, the growth of an irresponsible institutional investor landlord industry, rising rental and home sale prices, and a population of renters whose incomes have not kept pace with inflation to be able to afford a safe and decent rental home. 

“The COVID-19 pandemic placed in stark terms the inequities baked into our economy and the reverberating effect our nation’s discriminatory housing policies still have today. In no time was it more dangerous to be unhoused than during the pandemic. NFHA and our partners fought for rental assistance during the pandemic and succeeded, but the rental assistance has dried up, leaving hardest-hit renters with depleted resources.   

“We look forward to working with the Administration to help implement its recent recommendations and hope the forthcoming FY24 budget request reflects the additional capacity Treasury and other agencies need to ensure the greatest compliance with the Fair Housing Act and the LIHTC’s voucher protections.

“Additionally, we call on Congress to do its part to pass a national, comprehensive fair and affordable housing plan that addresses the nation’s affordable housing crisis in an equitable manner, including through the passage of source of income protections under the Fair Housing Act. We also urge state and local governments to strengthen renter protections and fully enforce their laws to help ensure that hardest-hit communities are not pushed into homelessness.” 

###

The National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) is the country’s only national civil rights organization dedicated solely to eliminating all forms of housing and lending discrimination and ensuring equal opportunities for all people. As the trade association for over 170 fair housing and justice-centered organizations and individuals throughout the U.S. and its territories, NFHA works to dismantle longstanding barriers to equity and build diverse, inclusive, well-resourced communities.