Military Families Call for the Right to Withhold Rent in Privatized Housing Disputes

March 06, 2020

This article by Richard Sisk originally appeared on Military.com, the premier resource for the military and veteran community. Click here for more on MOAA's work advocating on behalf of military families.

Army Col. Scott Gerber said he had to pay out-of-pocket for an independent inspector to verify mold infestation and water damage in his home in an effort to get the attention of the private company running base housing at Fort Meade, Maryland.

Military spouse Linda Gherdovich said she had similar problems with mold at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in Washington, D.C.

"The only reason we knew [it was there] was because our kids were getting sick," she said.

Gherdovich said she had to pay $2,700 to an outside inspector to verify her claims, and she's still fighting to get reimbursement.

In testimony March 3 before a House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies, Gerber and Gherdovich echoed the demands of other military families for an expansion of the recently approved Tenant Bill of Rights to let them withhold rent in disputes over repairs and maintenance of privatized military housing.

And in a following panel the same day, representatives from four military housing companies said that they supported giving that right to military families.

They also expressed varying levels of regret for the military housing problems that have been detailed in numerous reports and hearings, including mold and pest infestation, poor performance on fulfilling work orders, and negligence in responding to tenants' complaints.

In his prepared statement, Richard Taylor, president of Balfour Beatty Communities, said, "I would like to begin by saying that we sincerely apologize for having fallen short of the high standards our nation's military families deserve.

"We fully accept that we must make improvements, and we are determined to regain the trust and confidence of our residents and our military partners," he added.

On Feb. 25, the Pentagon announced that Defense Secretary Mark Esper and the secretaries of the service branches had signed the Military Housing Privatization Initiative Tenant Bill of Rights, which was included in the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act.

There were 15 provisions in the bill, including "the right to a written lease with clearly defined rental terms" and "the right to reside in a housing unit and a community that meets applicable health and environmental standards."

The Pentagon's announcement acknowledged that three rights were missing from the list -- access for tenants to a maintenance history of their units, a detailed process for dispute resolution, and the withholding of rent until disputes are resolved.

The military will work with the private companies and Congress to get those three provisions added to the list, the Pentagon said at the time.

At the hearing, Gerber said the right to withhold rent is vital to leveling the playing field with the private companies.

He said he and his wife, Sandy, "lived through two mold-infested homes," adding "our situation wasn't unique."

Military families need "the ability to hold that contractor accountable. We need an easy mechanism to stop that [Basic Allowance for Housing]" from going to the private companies during disputes, Gerber said.

In a separate panel at the hearing, representatives of four companies managing private housing on military bases said they are in favor of adding the ability to withhold rent and the other two missing provisions to the Tenant Bill of Rights.

Denis Hickey, chief executive officer of Lendlease Americas, said under questioning, "We realize we can and must do more" to improve conditions.

"Obviously, some of our families feel our company has come up short," said Jeff Guild, vice president of Lincoln Military Housing. The company is resolved to "repairing a culture of trust with our residents," he added.

Heath Burleson, a senior vice president at Corvias Group, said the company had gotten away in the past from the "basic blocking and tackling" needed to keep homes in good repair. "I believe we're on the right path, but we're not done," he said.

After listening to the company representatives, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Florida, the subcommittee's chair, said, "all of your testimony is very nice now, [but] the system was set up as a gravy train for your companies." There’s no accountability to military families, she added.

"It is outrageous," she said.

The military contributed to the failures of the system through inattention and poor oversight of the performance of the private companies involved in military housing, said Pete Potochney, the acting assistant secretary of defense for sustainment.

"The fact that we're having this hearing and others like it is saddening," Potchney said. "We simply took our eye off the ball" over the years in oversight of military housing.

"We sure as hell didn't do a great job," he added.