During last month’s Assembly of Delegates meeting in Cincinnati, the National Apartment Association’s (NAA) Legislative Committee heard from Biden Administration representatives and research experts on important issues facing the rental housing industry. Receiving regular updates from thought leaders and officials is a critical element of the Committee’s mission.
Jonah Kaplan, Program Manager for Consumer Reporting Markets in the Office of Consumer Credit, Payments & Deposit Markets at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) kicked off the Committee’s discussion. He briefed the committee on current CFPB projects on consumer credit reporting and other data collection used for consumer screening purposes. This research, and the policy derived from it, will have long-term implications for how rental housing owners screen potential residents and manage risk in their communities. Recently, the Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, Democrat Sherrod Brown (D-OH) urged the CFPB to open an investigation into consumer screening companies, especially as it relates to the accuracy of the data they use in their screens. In addition, Rohit Chopra, the newly appointed Director of the CFPB intends to initiate aggressive regulatory oversight in several areas of the economy. NAA has established channels of communication with the Bureau and will continue to engage with officials there to ensure the unique perspectives of rental housing providers are heard.
Noel Andres Poyo, Deputy Assistant Secretary in the office of Community and Economic Development, from the U.S. Department of Treasury also briefed the Committee. He is presently responsible for leading the effort to distribute critical assistance under the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP). Secretary Poyo updated the Committee on the program’s progress and efforts by Treasury to streamline the distribution of these critical funds to renters and housing providers. The Department is currently in the process of reallocating funds from ERAP grantees who have not successfully distributed enough of their funding to programs that have. While this is a timely move as some states begin to run out of ERAP funding but have millions in pending ERAP assistance requests, broader concerns still remain that housing providers and renters in underperforming programs may suffer through no fault of their own.
Finally, Mike Eriksen, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Real Estate and Academic Director, UC Real Estate Center in the Lindner College of Business at the University of Cincinnati, addressed the Committee. Professor Eriksen discussed trends in income growth versus rent growth over the past decade and what they mean for housing policy going forward. He also presented his view of the implications for low- and moderate-income families and housing providers from certain programmatic changes within the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program. Of perhaps greatest import here is the widening application of Small Area Fair Market Rents (SAFMRs) to determine rents instead of the current system. This shift away from metropolitan statistical area data to determine allowable rents increases the ability of voucher holders to afford rents in higher income, higher opportunity areas and reduces the allowable rents in lower-income, higher poverty areas. Though this may have benefits for new recipients looking to move into areas with better schools and infrastructure, it could negatively impact existing residents of affordable housing communities when their vouchers are worth less.