Bipartisan group of senators urge DoD to protect military family housing rights

U.S. Sens. Thom Tillis (R-NC), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, recently joined U.S. Sen. Jon Osoff (D-GA) in urging the Department of Defense (DoD) to protect military families from private housing contractors not providing protections guaranteed by the military tenant’s bill of rights.

According to the senators, who sent correspondence to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, five private military housing providers are failing to implement key rights for military families, despite requirements in the fiscal year (FY) 2020 National Defense Authorization Act.

“Congress did not intend for military housing companies’ compliance with the tenant bill of rights and other important provisions of the 2020 NDAA to be optional,” the senators wrote. “Congress put mandates in place to protect military families, and DoD must use all tools at its disposal to enforce these mandates. Allowing military families’ rights to be subject to the whims of private military housing contractors creates an unacceptable level of inequity.”

The senators cited a DoD Inspector General report determining the five private military housing providers – Boyer Hill Military Housing, Burlington Capital Real Estate, JL Properties, Miller-Valentine Group, and United Communities are failing to implement key rights under the DoD tenant bill of rights that include providing service members and their families their homes’ maintenance histories; the right to enter a dispute resolution process; and the right to withhold basic housing allowance payments to the landlord while a dispute resolution process is ongoing.

“If those companies continue to refuse to provide these rights, we urge DoD to exercise its right to terminate these agreements,” the legislators concluded.

The senators have asked Austin to answer questions about DoD’s implementation and enforcement plans by Dec. 14, 2022.