Reps hear mil.housing progress

With most of the tenant bill of rights available for military housing residents, lawmakers from the U.S. House readiness and military personnel subcommittees held a joint hearing March 10 on privatized military housing. They pressed executives of three major privatized housing companies - Balfour Beatty Communities, LendLease Americas and Corvias Group - about their progress in implementing 15 of 18 housing reforms aimed at stamping out mold, rodents, and health and safety issues. A fourth company, Clark Realty Capital, declined the subcommittees’ invitation to testify. It didn’t sit well with lawmakers. Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee’s readiness subcommittee, said he’d heard from housing advocates that the tenant bill of rights was good, but “lacks teeth.” But, he followed that observation with making “sure that base commanders are held responsible for the well-being of all personnel on their base. I don’t know of any other way to enforce the bill of rights than to hold the base commanders responsible.” He said he’d be looking at how that might be accomplished, but “(i)f the base commander wants his next assignment, he’d better be sure that the base housing is not an issue in his record.” (Source: Military Times 03/11/21) https://www.militarytimes.com/pay-benefits/2021/03/11/base-commanders-should-be-held-responsible-for-enforcing-tenants-rights-lawmaker-says/