FIRST, THE GOOD NEWS. Landlords can raise rents no more than 6% per -year under a law passed by the Montgomery County Council in June 2023. 

Now, the bad news. The law does not apply to the cities of Rockville and Gaithersburg, home to at least one in five of the county’s rental properties. County leaders exempted Rockville and Gaithersburg from the rent stabilization law because the cities have their own independent housing authorities.

This is no small problem. Tenants comprise 49% of all residents in Rockville and Gaithersburg, and rents in both cities are classed as “unaffordable” by the Housing Association of Nonprofit Developers, a regional fair housing organization. 

At $2,009 per month, Rockville’s average rents are 29% higher than the national mean, making it “one of the most expensive cities in the US,” according to Apartments.com.  Gaithersburg tenants pay on average $1,755 each month, 13% above the national mean.

Working-class and renter constituents are drowning under a tidal wave of rising rents and landlord greed. For those reasons, Metro DC DSA and allied organizations now have the cities’ leaders squarely in their sights, with initial focus on Rockville.

Last July, Rockville Mayor Monique Ashton and the city council heard hours of testimony from tenants urging them to adopt the county’s rent stabilization law. In a shocking move, they voted, instead, to end all future discussion of the matter. (Councilmembers Izola Shaw and David Myles dissented, voting in favor of rent control.) 

“Rockville’s leaders are willing to discuss every sort of issue regarding tenants and landlords ⎯ everything but rent,” said Nicole Zimmerman, who leads Montgomery County DSA’s rent stabilization campaign.

Tenants refused to be silenced. At a tumultuous Nov. 18 council meeting, one speaker called it “shameful that you removed this topic from discussion.”

“I may not have developer money or influence,” said another speaker. “But I do have a vote, and I do believe in the power of my fellow tenants, whose numbers and voices are rising.” 

Speaker after speaker told city leaders how hard it is to live without knowing what the rent will be or when it will rise.

“I moved here from Georgia to care for my daughter who had cancer. I pay 75% to 80% of my income in rent, and that’s too much ⎯ way too much. My daughter died a year ago, and in the midst of grieving I’m trying to stay housed. I’m a senior citizen. I’ve worked all my life only to be dealing with this now. And it is tough.”

“When was the last time you struggled to pay the rent?” asked another. “When did you last fear you might end up without a roof over your head? One of my neighbors lost her job. Then, because of a paperwork error, she lost her emergency assistance, too. Next thing she knew, the sheriff was at her door to evict her. I don’t see how the city benefits from displacing a mother and her two children.”  

Apparently, the tenants’ appeals haven’t moved Rockville Councilmember Barry Jackson. At a Dec. 14 meeting of the Huntington Tenants Association, Jackson heard story after story about rising rents outstripping incomes. He was then asked, point blank: “Will you commit to putting a discussion of rent stabilization on the agenda for the Jan. 27 council meeting? Yes or no?” 

Jackson refused to answer and was asked to leave the meeting.

No matter what city leaders wish to discuss, DSA and fellow members of Rockville Renters United, of which DSA is a member, will continue to demand passage of a rent stabilization law at least as strong as the county’s. To build up popular demand for the rent stabilization bill, Rockville Renters United have continued outreach to Rockville renters, who have continued to organize their voice and demands on their own.

Organized tenant power was on display on March 15th, when over eighty community members gathered for a Rockville rent stabilization community forum joined by Rockville CM Shaw. The forum was also joined by Montgomery County Council CMs Kristin Mink and Will Jawando, who championed the rent stabilization bill in Montgomery County and are eager to see its expansion in Rockville. The local ABC affiliate covered the event, showing wide demand for rent stabilization by the people of Rockville. Tenants have awakened an undeterred tenants' movement — how long until the Rockville Council relents?

‍Anyone interested in joining this campaign should email montgomerycountydsa@gmail.com. If you live or work in Rockville, fill out the city’s online Budget Priorities Survey and demand rent stabilization.

NOTE: Montgomery County leaders also exempted the city of Takoma Park from the rent stabilization law. However, Takoma Park enacted its own rent stabilization law in 1981.