Small landlords call on HUD to block D.C. rent control bill

A group representing small D.C. landlords petitioned the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on Thursday to block city lawmakers from extending rent control to Section 8 renters.

The appeal came two days after the D.C. Council’s Committee on Housing held a public hearing on the Rent Stabilization Protection Amendment Act of 2025. The bill would make the District the first city to cap rents at below-market rates for tenants receiving financial assistance from HUD’s Housing Choice Voucher Program.

The Small Multifamily Owners Association, which represents the city’s multidwelling tenement units, asked HUD Secretary Scott Turner and General Counsel David Woll in a letter to declare that the proposal “intrudes upon a field fully occupied by federal housing law.”

“If this passes, it would destabilize the affordable housing industry,” Dean Hunter, the association’s CEO, told The Washington Times. “It would discourage providers from taking voucher tenants and significantly decrease affordable housing.”

The letter asks HUD to issue a formal legal opinion confirming that the bill is preempted by federal law. It also calls on the D.C. Council to delay action on the legislation until an opinion is issued.

Mr. Hunter said he hand-delivered the letter to a HUD security guard, emailed it to HUD officials and personally conveyed copies to city legislators.

In response to an email seeking comment, an automated message from HUD indicated that its staff was not working during the federal government shutdown.

“We are on furlough without access to email, due to the lapse in Federal government funding,” the email said. “We will return your message as soon as possible when funding is restored.”

Most members of the Democrat-controlled D.C. Council did not respond to a request for comment.

Council member Matt Frumin, a Ward 3 Democrat who served as the bill’s primary sponsor, defended the Legislature’s right under DC law to “balance” the affordable housing market.

“By aligning voucher payments with rent stabilization, we prevent one form of affordable housing from undermining another and protect taxpayer dollars from overpayment without creating a disincentive to rent to voucher holders,” Mr. Frumin said in an email.

“Ultimately, this approach strengthens the integrity of our housing programs, expands access to affordable homes, and allows us to serve more District residents fairly and efficiently,” he said.

The office of council member Trayon White, a Ward 8 Democrat, described him as “one of the council’s strongest advocates” of affordable housing.

“However, he has not yet had an opportunity to review [the] bill in detail and therefore has not taken a position at this time,” spokesman Troy Prestwood said in an email.

On Jan. 22, eight members of the 13-person D.C. Council introduced Bill 26-70, which would remove an exemption in the city’s rent control laws for units rented to HUD voucher recipients, initially assuring its passage.

But council member Brianne Nadeau, a Ward 1 Democrat who is not seeking reelection, withdrew her support this month.

In an email, Ms. Nadeau declined to comment on the landlords’ appeal to HUD.

At the public hearing on Tuesday, Housing Committee Chairman Robert White, an at-large Democrat, pledged to vote on moving the bill out of committee within the next two weeks.

The Small Multifamily Owners Association has argued that this change would redline Section 8 families out of nicer neighborhoods by capping rents at lower levels that affordable housing providers cannot finance.

The association also pointed out Thursday that HUD regulations give the D.C. Housing Authority exclusive power to approve or adjust rents for voucher-assisted units, nullifying the D.C. Council’s jurisdiction.

The Housing Authority did not respond to an email seeking comment.

Under HUD regulations, local public housing authorities subject low-income units to a “rent reasonableness” standard based on market rates, rather than on local rent control laws.

The nonpartisan D.C. Policy Center, which testified against the bill at Tuesday’s public hearing, warned that expanding rent control to HUD units could deter landlords from offering affordable units and reduce housing options for low-income residents.

Yesim Sayin, the center’s executive director, said it remains unclear whether the law would withstand legal challenges based on its discrepancies with HUD policy.

“The answer is we don’t know, since no other jurisdiction imposes rent control on Housing Choice Voucher units,” Ms. Sayin said Thursday in a text message.