U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris is now the presumptive Democratic Party nominee in this November’s presidential election, and at her first major rally since replacing President Joe Biden at the top of the ticket, she took time to highlight at least one major housing issue: the cost of rent.
Speaking to a crowd of roughly 10,000 people at Georgia State University‘s convocation center, Harris highlighted two competing issues: economic indicators are generally positive, but inflation and cost of living remain too high for the comfort of many Americans.
“It is true that by many indicators our economy is the strongest in the world, but while inflation is down and wages are up, prices are still too high,” Harris said. “On day one, I will take on price gouging and bring down costs. We will ban more of those hidden fees and surprise late charges that banks and other companies use to pad their profits. We will take on corporate landlords and cap unfair rent increases.”
She went on to lambaste the prices of prescription drugs, and accused her electoral rival, Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump, of promoting policies that would raise costs for middle-class families and for sponsorship of a controversial Heritage Foundation policy blueprint called “Project 2025.”
In these statements, Harris’ speech echoed many similar policies that were a part of President Biden’s former reelection campaign, as well as recent actions taken by agencies during the Biden-Harris administration. Two weeks ago, Biden unveiled a proposal that would cap rent increases at 5% nationally for two years, which would apply to landlords that own more than 50 units. Exceptions would be granted to new construction and property rehabilitation.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has been waging a war against “junk fees,” including a recent information request focused on such fees’ presence in mortgage closing costs.
The Biden administration has been vocal about housing issues this year, including in a dedicated section of the president’s State of the Union address. In the lead-up to that speech, the White House released a housing plan that included an annual tax credit that would give eligible beneficiaries $400 a month for two years to put toward mortgage payments.
He also proposed cutting the requirement for title insurance on some loans, a controversial element of the plan, though it only applies to refinances. There are a raft of other housing policy implications should Harris be elected.
While the current makeup of both houses of Congress makes passing ambitious changes challenging, recent polling indicates to Democratic Party leaders that their candidates up and down the ballot are benefitting from the presidential change-up at the top of the ticket. This could impact congressional election results if such polling proves predictive of voters’ choices.
As of this moment, the vice president’s campaign website does not include a dedicated policy section. She also has yet to publicly select a running mate who would succeed her as vice president should she be victorious in November.
On the Republican side, the Trump campaign has not offered any substantive housing policy proposals, and the candidate himself did not mention housing during his debate with President Biden. But the former president’s 2017-2021 term in office likely offers clues about how a second Trump administration would approach issues of housing.
Former HUD Secretary Ben Carson has served as a surrogate for the Trump campaign, endorsing his former boss late last year.
