Lawmakers want to know whether landlords’ higher rents are based on a technology being probed by prosecutors.
During his 11 years as a Marine, Brenden Taylor and his family have moved several times. But when they left Okinawa, Japan, in 2022 for Camp Pendleton in Southern California, finding an affordable home to rent using his military housing allowance became an almost impossible challenge. Finally, they found something they could afford in Murietta, a 45-minute drive from the base.
Only 26% of active-duty families responding to the survey said the allowance covered their monthly housing costs last year; just four years earlier, 42% had said it covered their costs. Roughly 70% of active-duty service members and their families live off base, the organization said. “The Department of Defense has a responsibility to protect military families from predatory private housing companies and ensure that taxpayer dollars meant for military families are not being pocketed by unscrupulous landlords,” the letter said.Last year’s federal and state lawsuit contended RealPage’s system was behind outsized price increases in many areas surrounding military bases across the country. They include Houston, parts of Florida, San Diego and Spokane, Washington.
As housing costs for active-duty service members have risen, the department has increased the stipend it provides. On Jan. 1, an average of 5.4%, following the same increase last year and 12.1% in 2023. The department estimates it will pay almost $30 billion in housing allowance funds to 1 million service members this year.
“When the rent in Oceanside goes up, where is the pressure on government land that the rent has to go up here?” she asked.
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