The Defense Department says it has made (15 of 18) steps forward to add accountability and oversight to its on-base privatization housing programs. But keeping those contractors trustworthy will come at a price: Another $120M annually to hire staff to inspect/oversee the projects. Congress had already allocated nearly $200M. The military services are still assessing how many staff to hire. So far, they’ve hired about 500. The goal is to ensure that problems - mold to routine maintenance issues - were really being done by the private firms. As part of the FY 2020 Defense authorization bill, Congress enacted a “bill of rights” law for protecting military housing tenants. DoD has only implemented 15 of the 18. Unresolved requirements: Give tenants a 7-year maintenance history of their homes; ability for tenants to withhold rent when required maintenance isn’t done; and a new dispute resolution process. But for existing agreements, enforcing the bill of rights will be hard unless contracted housing providers voluntarily consent to modify terms of the contracts, which typically last for 50 years. The oldest of those contracts still have 30 years before expiration. (Source: Federal News Network 02/18/21) DoD improves oversight over private military housing, but with new costs to taxpayers | Federal News Network
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