Military leaders meet with privatized housing company executives

By U.S. Army Public AffairsMay 16, 2019

WASHINGTON -- Senior leaders of the U.S. military, including Secretary of the Army Mark Esper, Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer and Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson, met today with senior executives from nine private companies that manage housing on U.S. military installations. During the meeting, the secretaries presented the executives a proposed Tenant Bill of Rights and discussed modifications to incentive-fee agreements, the implementation of apps and online tools to improve property-management oversight and work-order processing, and the creation of a privatized-housing lease agreement that would be uniform across all departments and portfolios.

"No military family should ever have to contend with chronic maintenance issues or concerns such as mold, pests and intrusion in their home," said Spencer. "In order to fulfill our obligations to our family members and ensure the readiness of the force, we must demand excellence and responsiveness from all concerned, including our housing partners. The Tenant Bill of Rights is a much needed first step in that direction."

The Tenant Bill of Rights, which was first proposed by all three service secretaries in March 2019, is in its final stages and the services plan to distribute it soon to military housing residents for feedback.

"Our military families deserve good housing, and when there's a problem with a house, it should be fixed promptly and competently," Wilson said. "We are taking immediate steps to resolve both individual and systemic issues to provide the quality housing and proactive management we envision."

Since the last meeting of the secretaries and the executives, the privatized housing companies have developed and implemented new apps to track and process work orders, and the meeting attendees discussed their effectiveness and how they can be modified to improve communication.

"We owe it to our service members and their families to get this right," said Esper. "This means formalizing a clear bill of rights, rewriting leasing agreements to empower residents and reworking contracts to ensure better performance from housing providers."

Similar meetings will take place in the near future, as plans have been made to continue to conduct them on a quarterly basis.

For more information, please contact Army Public Affairs at 703-693-6477, Navy Public Affairs at 703-697-5342, Marine Corps Public Affairs at 703-614-4309 or Air Force Public Affairs at 703-695-0640.