The Arlington County Board is seeking legislation that would give localities the power to limit annual increases in apartment rents. Board members added language to their 2026 General Assembly priorities package on Saturday, seeking the ability to add “anti-rent-gouging protections.” The decision generated applause from supporters who argued that the decision could promote affordability, and criticism from opponents concerned about hindering free market solutions. The item was added to the package at the request of Board member JD Spain, Sr., who said he had “received a number of emails and calls from critical stakeholders” supporting inclusion of the measure. The amendment replaced one section on housing with new verbiage: * **Old version:** The county government urges legislators to “support efforts to keep housing costs in check” * **Replacement:** The county government seeks to have legislators support efforts “to keep housing costs affordable, including anti-rent-gouging protections” The vote to support the addition, and the package as a whole, was 4-0, with Board member Maureen Coffey absent from the meeting. County Board Chair Takis Karantonis took issue with the characterization of the request as full-blown rent control. Anti-rent-gouging is a different way to approach the issue, he said. “They are two very different toolboxes and there are many variations inside each one,” he said. Karantonis, won re-election this month, said action is needed because average rents have increased 27% in Arlington over the five years he has been in office. In 2020, rents had declined in urban areas like Arlington as the pandemic hit — before rebounding. There is no question Arlington has high rents. The monthly survey conducted by Apartment List typically ranks the county as having the fifth highest median rental rate among 100 large urban areas, and the highest outside California. Earlier this year, the median rental cost for a two-bedroom apartment surpassed $3,000 monthly before falling back slightly. Board members had conducted a public hearing on the draft legislative package at their October meeting, and did not take testimony on the revisions at the Nov. 15 meeting. During public comment, however, the issue was raised by one proponent. Larisa Zehr of the Legal Aid Justice Center urged Board members to include the housing proposal in their legislative package. “These measures preserve affordable housing on a far [wider] scale than subsidizing construction or funding vouchers,” she said. Proponents of the policy note that it typically includes an exemption on the rent-increase limitations for property owners that make improvements to their properties. “Landlords that do right by their tenants will be able to upkeep the property and continue to make a reasonable profit,” Zehr said. Though not addressing the housing provision specifically, Board member Matt de Ferranti said Democratic-leaning localities such as Arlington should use the election results to press a more progressive agenda in Richmond. Democrats picked up more than a dozen seats in the House of Delegates and swept all three statewide races on Nov. 4. “We have to recognize the moment,” de Ferranti said. “The majority and the governor-elect have to be bold.” One group with concerns about the implications of the Board’s actions is the Apartment & Office Building Association of Metropolitan Washington (AOBA). The trade organization “is alarmed by the County Board’s endorsement of ‘anti-rent-gouging’ legislation, which we believe comes from a misguided understanding of how the housing market functions,” said Scott Pedowitz, its director of Virginia government affairs. “Activists in Richmond, and elsewhere, are applying the phrase ‘anti-rent gouging’ to describe rent control, a policy that has failed with harmful consequences wherever it has been adopted,” he said in response to an ARLnow query. Joseph Ventrone, president of the North Rosslyn Civic Association and a member of the county’s Housing Commission, expressed surprise that the issue was included in the legislative package despite not being requested by the housing panel. Ventrone said he has significant concerns with the County Board’s action. “Regardless of the label, whether ‘rent stabilization’ or ‘anti-rent gouging,’ these policies can have significant unintended consequences,” he told ARLnow. “They risk slowing the very housing production we need, especially at a time when rents in Arlington are flat or declining. All we have to do is look at Montgomery County, Md.” “I’m also concerned that this decision moved forward without public engagement,” Ventrone said. “I hope the Board will continue to work closely with the Housing Commission and the community as these discussions evolve.” He added: > “Many of the challenges that concern residents — such as the price-fixing behavior — are already being addressed appropriately through the courts. Arlington rents have been essentially flat or declining over the last 12-18 months, consistent with broader trends in the D.C. region. Vacancy rates remain healthy, new supply is coming online, and national research shows that adding housing is the most reliable way to keep rents stable over time.” Suzanne Sundburg, a veteran fiscal watchdog in the county, told ARLnow she was “ambivalent” about the proposal. She said she had concerns, but also could see the reasoning behind attempts to have governments regulate the level price increases. “On the one hand, it seems to be the one thing that has ever worked to control ongoing rent increases in high-cost locales,” she said. “And since developers everywhere seem uninterested in building multifamily housing — or housing in general — that is remotely affordable to people of average or modest means, that leaves localities with few options to keep market-rate housing affordable.” Like Ventrone, Sundburg pointed to Montgomery County, where rent-stabilization efforts put in place in 2023 have drawn pushback. “Even MoCo is listening to landlords, mindful of the pitfalls of constraining rents too much,” she said. “This is especially true for smaller landlords who frequently operate with tighter margins and lack access to capital.” Regardless of the intent of the policy position, AOBA’s Pedowitz voiced criticism of it being added to the package very late, without input from key organizations. “Not only was the rent-control provision absent from the draft agenda posted before the meeting, but Board members did not give the courtesy of reaching out before the meeting and asking if our members had insights that could shape their discussion,” he said. The County Board’s approach “stands in sharp contrast to other localities,” where governing bodies have included these provisions in their draft agendas and welcomed their housing providers to participate in the discussion as valued members of the community,” Pedowitz said. Arguments for and against constraining rent increases are playing out nationally as well as locally. The National Apartment Association “opposes rent control in all forms,” according to its website. Infringing on landlords’ rights to set rates at what the market will bear conspires to “worsen shortages, cause existing buildings to deteriorate and disproportionately benefit higher-income households,” the group says. “Lawmakers should instead pursue proven alternatives like voucher-based rental assistance to address renter financial insecurity in the short-term and policies that increase housing supply to support affordability and renter stability long-term,” the organization says. The Urban Institute, however, believes flexible policies can mitigate negative impacts that resulted from an earlier efforts: > “Anti-gouging rent regulations can be designed to best fit a locality’s conditions and needs to counteract potential negative consequences evident with past rent-control laws. Anti-gouging rent regulations are more flexible than other rent-control laws in allowing larger increases in rent and exemptions.” Legislation introduced by Sen. Jennifer Boysko (D-38) in the 2025 General Assembly session would have given localities the option to impose limits on rent increases. Boysko’s measure died in the Senate Committee on General Laws and Technology on an unusual tie vote: Six Democrats voted in favor of the bill, all six Republicans voted against, and three Democrats abstained. Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-39), who chairs the committee, voted to support Boysko’s measure. Arlington’s other state senator, Barbara Favola (D-40), does not sit on the committee. While the House of Delegates is shifting from a narrow to a large Democratic majority based on this month’s election returns, the 40 Senate seats were not on the ballot. Democrats currently hold a 21-19 advantage in the upper body. The legislature convenes on Jan. 14 for what is expected to be a 60-day session. Board member Susan Cunningham said she anticipates a “fast and furious” amount of activity.

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