John,

The Biden administration has released a new renter protection blueprint -- a bold initiative that protects renters, promotes rental affordability, uses an evidence-based strategy to quickly connect people to homes, and helps them access voluntary services such as substance use treatment, peer support, and employment services.

This announcement is a culmination of months of work by the Biden administration receiving input from housing justice and renters’ rights organizations to look for ways to stem the housing affordability crisis plaguing our country.

The blueprint encourages states and localities to use the millions of dollars and resources made available through the American Rescue Plan Act and the CARES Act to help hundreds of thousands of people find homes and begin construction of over 20,000 affordable housing units. This is the first administration in decades to uplift the need for renter protections and just cause eviction.

We applaud this move by the Biden administration and also realize that without federal legislation there are serious limits to what the White House can do.

We’re joining our coalition partners to call on Congress to pass legislation that will provide real housing reform and protections to renters all across the nation. We call on Congress to pass a bill that will provide protection against discrimination for tenants who use government or public subsidies to pay rent, and just cause eviction protections, including the right to counsel. Send a direct message to Congress urging them to tackle the affordable housing crisis head on and enact protections for renters.

During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, we saw how rental protections provided a necessary lifeline to families who had just lost income or members of their household due to the virus. People are still getting sick with COVID, inflation is at record highs, and the financial support and expanded tax credits millions received during the pandemic have expired.

We’re dealing with a national shortage of 7 million affordable homes for low-income renters. This severe shortage of homes is a structural feature of America’s housing system that builds upon almost a century of discriminatory housing policies and practices that exist to this day. The affordable housing crisis impacts every city, state, and community and without Congress’ intervention, the lasting effects on our educational, health care, and economic systems will be catastrophic.

The urgency is here. Send a direct message to Congress to pass strong housing-first legislation that invests in housing affordable to those with the lowest incomes and protects renters.

Thank you for all you do to support vulnerable communities,

Deborah Weinstein
Executive Director, Coalition on Human Needs