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1 1 (December 14, 2022)

handle is hein.crs/govejug0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional Research Service Informing the legislitive debate since 1914 December 14, 2022 Military Privatized Housing: Status of Legislative Reforms Background Congress enacted the Military Housing Privatization Initiative (MHPI) in 1996 (P.L. 104-106) to improve the quality of housing for servicemembers and their families. The MHPI program established new authorities that allowed the military services to issue 50-year leases to private-sector housing companies, conveying ownership of existing housing located on leased parcels of military installation land to those entities. The housing companies, in exchange for building, upgrading, and maintaining housing facilities, collect revenue in the form of rent payments from the Department of Defense (DOD) on par with the standard Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) that servicemembers traditionally receive for living in homes outside a military base. MHPI companies operate about 99% of military family housing in the United States. Table I. Military Housing Privatization Initiative Projects as of March 2022 U.S. Navy and U.S. Air and U.S. Army Marine Corps Space Force 34 13 31 Source: Government Accountability Office, March 2022. Notes: 14 private housing companies operate 78 housing projects across the military services. In the program's early years, many military officials and families lauded the program as a success following investment in new construction and renovations. As the program entered its third decade, Congress heard complaints from some military families about substandard housing and other issues such as black mold, rodents, insect infestations, lead paint, damaged plumbing, and ineffective HVAC units. In 2019, concerns about DOD's oversight of the private housing companies prompted Congress to enact a series of reforms and new requirements. Department of Defense Reforms Among those reforms was the Tenant Bill of Rights included in the FY2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA. P.L. 116-92). MHPI reform continued in the FY2021 NDAA; between both pieces of legislation Congress imposed more than 30 new requirements on the MHPI program. DOD has implemented many of them, including the creation of a new Chief Housing Officer position to lead oversight efforts; a standardized lease for all privatized housing landlords; and a requirement for local military housing office officials to conduct physical inspections of vacant homes when families move in or out. DOD also made changes to the metrics used to determine the performance incentive fees it provides to the landlords. DOD has implemented many of the congressionally directed reforms, yet the DOD Inspector General (DOD IG) has assessed DOD has not been able to implement all of them. Tenant Bill of Rights DOD has taken steps to enforce the Tenant Bill of Rights, mandated under 10 U.S.C. §2890, in order to strengthen protections for servicemembers and their families. Many of the 18 rights are written broadly, such as the right to reside in a housing unit... that meets applicable health and environmental standards and the right to prompt and professional maintenance and repair. Whether DOD or individual installations are meeting those requirements may be open to interpretation. Full implementation of more specific requirements in the Tenant Bill of Rights arguably has been slowed by DOD's lack of authority to make unilateral changes to existing, legally binding business agreements with MHPI companies. Instead, DOD officials have asked each company to incorporate the FY2020 NDAA provisions into existing legal agreements voluntarily. Nine of the 14 MHPI companies have complied with DOD's request. At the same time, five companies, all of which maintain MHPI projects for the Air Force, have declined to implement all of the provisions. The elements of the Tenant Bill of Rights that some housing companies have declined to implement include providing tenants with: Access to a home's seven-year maintenance history prior to signing a lease; The right to enter into a formal dispute resolution process; and The right to have housing rent payments withheld from a landlord in an escrow account pending completion of the dispute resolution process. In late 2022, the DOD IG reported that more than 10,000 military families at five Air Force installations were not fully protected the by the Tenant Bill of Rights. DOD officials have indicated that they are continuing to seek agreement at these five installations. The details of the legal agreements between the DOD and MHPI companies - including any voluntary agreements to adhere to new statutes - are not disclosed publicly. Dspute Resolution Process At installations where housing companies have voluntarily agreed to comply with the Tenant Bill of Rights and related requirements under 10 U.S.C. §2894, tenants have the right to request a formal dispute resolution process, which will be ultimately adjudicated by an installation or regional commander in charge of overseeing housing units. Tenants can request to have their rent payments placed in an escrow account and not paid to the privatized housing company pending completion of the dispute resolution process.

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