Takoma Park hears strong public support for rent stabilization as consultants flag quality and reinvestment issues

Takoma Park — Residents filled the council chamber on June 10 to press the City Council to retain and strengthen the city’s rent stabilization ordinance after the city’s consultant, RSG, presented an interim review of the program.

RSG’s presenters, Tara Bratton and Sarah Court, told the council the city’s rent stabilization regime appears to be meeting its core goal of producing predictable, moderate rent increases: roughly 54% of the city’s rental units are covered by the ordinance and many tenants stay more than five years, with over a quarter remaining 15 years or longer. But the consultants flagged two problems that they said warrant further study and possible policy action: uneven reinvestment in aging housing stock and a higher-than-county rate of reported code violations.

"The current program is supporting housing stability while highlighting potential challenges related to housing quality, reinvestment, and long-term availability," RSG summarized in its presentation, and asked the council which areas to prioritize for deeper analysis.

Those areas quickly came to dominate public comments. Susan Rogers of Community Vision for Takoma told the council her group’s petition had more than 400 signers and urged that the city "prioritize tenant rights, preserving affordable rental housing, especially for residents of very low to modest means," and limit allowable annual rent increases to not more than inflation.

Similarly, tenant organizations and immigrant advocates — including the Montgomery County Renters Alliance and CASA — told the council the ordinance has kept Tacoma Park diverse and stable. "If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it," Martin Michaels of CASA said in public comment. Many speakers opposed proposals framed in the report as "choice" or "quality" changes that they say could be used to weaken tenant protections.

At the same time, residents and several council members urged more attention to housing quality and enforcement. Colleen Cortis and others urged the city to prioritize a troubled-properties list and emergency repair funding for older, deeply affordable buildings. "We need an emergency effort to preserve our unusual treasure of deeply affordable housing," Cortis said, urging the council to spend from an existing housing reserve to create an emergency repair program geared to small and medium landlords.

Council members asked RSG and staff to dig deeper on several specific items: whether code-violation reports and permit data can be disaggregated by rent-stabilized versus exempt (deed-restricted) units; whether the city can design capital-improvement pathways or low-interest loans to help small landlords complete needed repairs; and whether program transparency and tenant outreach can be improved so renters better understand rules and exemptions.

RSG emphasized that policy choices interact — for example, tighter annual rent limits increase the importance of capital-recovery pathways for maintenance. The consultants said they will return with more detailed options and analyses, and asked council members which trade-offs they most want evaluated.

Mayor Telicia Cersei said the study will inform months of council deliberation and pointed to additional work planned on tenant protections, troubled-property tracking and multifamily improvement grants.

Next steps: RSG will flesh out policy options, and city staff will compile follow-up data requested by council, including a deeper review of permit and code-enforcement records and models for targeted repair financing. The council scheduled further discussion in its next work sessions and asked residents and advocacy groups to continue submitting specific proposals and data.