Vice President Kamala HarrisIn his first major policy speech since announcing the Democratic presidential nomination in July, he took aim at rent increases imposed by multifamily landlords.
As part of her economic plan, which she unveiled in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Friday, Harris pushed for Congress to pass a law introduced earlier this year that would prevent landlords from using algorithmic systems to raise rents.
The Algorithmic Facilitation of Rental Housing Cartels Prevention Act of 2024, suggested in January by US Senators Ron WydenD-Ore., and Peter WelchD-Vt., targeted software products for property management, such as those from RealPage And Yardi They argued that they had allowed landlords to “coordinate prices to increase rents in the same market” after several previous lawsuits.
“Some commercial landlords conspire with each other to set artificially high rents, often using algorithms in price-fixing software,” Harris said in her remarks Friday. “I will fight for legislation to stop these practices.”
Harris also urged lawmakers on Capitol Hill to approve the Stop Predatory Investing Act, which would restrict tax breaks for private equity firms or other large investors that buy large amounts of single-family homes in local communities, often driving up prices. The law, which introduced in the Senate of Ohio Democrat Sherrod Brown If the law had gone into effect last year, “investors with 50 or more single-family rental homes would be prohibited from deducting interest or depreciation on those properties.”
Vice President Harris said on Friday that in addition to investors, some landlords are “buying dozens, if not hundreds, of homes and apartments” and then renting them out “at extremely high prices.”
“It may then become impossible for ordinary people to buy or even rent a home,” Harris said.
Harris also pushed on Friday for the construction of 3 million new housing units during her first term if she is elected, an increase from the 2 million new housing units previously proposed by the Biden administration. requiredShe proposed tax incentives for developers building homes for first-time buyers.
The vice president’s remarks on Friday focused on the issue of housing affordability and the expansion of the child tax credit. She also urged federal action against corporate price gouging to lower food costs.
You can reach Andrew Coen at [email protected]
