Some tenants in Montgomery County, Maryland, are bracing for sky-high rent increases in August after the council declined to extend COVID rent protections.

The council was scheduled to vote Tuesday on a temporary rent control measure introduced by County Executive Marc Elrich. Expedited Bill 22-22 would have barred landlords from raising rents more than 4.4% for another six months, granting more short-term relief to renters as landlords ratchet up rents across the region. But the council took the vote off the agenda, meaning the measure will not receive a vote until after lawmakers return from summer recess in September.

The current protections technically ended May 15, but landlords must provide tenants three months’ notice before they implement rent increases.

In the meantime, rents are soaring as demand for apartments ratchets back up and landlords attempt to boost profits after months of relatively low rents. Average year-over-year rent increases in Montgomery County have reached as high as 14% in some areas, according to Apartment List, though some tenants say they’re facing hikes well above 20%.

Advocates are fuming over the council’s decision to bump the vote. Matt Losak with Renters United Maryland calls the scuttled vote a “shitshow” that comes down to politics.

“The council did not have the appetite to consider extending a rent stabilization bill, predominantly because of the influence of the landlord/developer industry,” Losak says. He points to the developer-backed Super PAC Progressives for Progress, which endorsed Council President Gabe Albornoz and Council Vice President Evan Glass, among other incumbents, in the recent primary election. “Many [council members] have benefited mightily from their support,” Losak says.

Albornoz — whose re-election campaign was prohibited from receiving corporate donations because it tapped the county’s public financing system — takes a different view. He says County Executive Elrich, who is fighting to hold onto his seat amid an unresolved primary election, introduced the bill without receiving full-throated support from the legislature. (Councilmember Glass did not respond to a text message seeking comment.)

“The county executive announced this extension within the context of a political debate, not having spoken to the council or anyone, really. He seemed to be shooting from the hip,” Albornoz says.

Elrich says his bill wasn’t motivated by politics, but by the real threat of displacement facing some renters. “I can’t help this was also the political season. That’s just the way it is. But this doesn’t make it any less important,” he said during a media briefing Wednesday afternoon. “If the rule was the council was not going to discuss anything unless there are already five votes to support it, that’s not much of a democracy,” he added.

Council President Albornoz says he and his colleagues were willing to extend rent controls through mid-May of this year, but most members agreed it was a temporary measure that could not be sustained long-term. Some lawmakers — including outgoing At-Large Council member Hans Riemer, who chairs the legislature’s Planning, Housing and Economic Development committee — have expressed concern that permanent rent controls could discourage new housing development and worsen the county’s existing housing shortage. (The independent city of Takoma Park has a permanent rent control law, but the broader county does not.)

Albornoz says the Elrich administration has not shown that a large number of residents are facing dramatic rent increases. He says the executive’s office has instead relied on anecdotes from renters that, while “concerning and emotional,” did not “demonstrate enough of a systemwide issue to warrant an extension.”

The county’s health department plans to reopen applications for COVID rent relief today, Albornoz says, and tenants who experienced a loss of income during the pandemic can apply for those funds.

Landlords railed against the proposed rent control extension during a public hearing on Tuesday.

“When you talk about rental housing in Montgomery County, like most urban areas, you have to start with the premise that the overwhelming majority of rental housing is provided by small landlords,” testified Dean Hunter, CEO of the Small Multifamily and Rental Owners Association. “[But] the county and the government regulates everyone as if they’re multinational corporations.“

Chris Bruch, CEO of Maryland-based development firm Donohoe, described rent stabilization as a blunt tool that gives a break to all renters, regardless of their financial situation.

“I would submit to you that many beneficiaries of the county’s 29-month rent cap were not in dire need. Residents of luxury apartment buildings in Bethesda should not be lumped into the same category as struggling families in other parts of the county,” Bruch testified.

Landlords’ testimony was countered by remarks from advocates, renters, and the county’s housing director, who said that a 4.4% rent increase is fair and sufficient to meet landlords’ rising expenses.

“We understand that landlords need to maintain their buildings and increase operating costs,” testified Aseem Nigam, director of Montgomery County’s Department of Housing and Community Affairs. “The 4.4% limit represents the total housing component of the regional [Consumer Price Index], which reflects key components of the cost of operating residential buildings.”

At-large Council member Will Jawando, who introduced the rent stabilization extension the council passed last year, says there’s no guarantee that his colleagues would have passed another six-month extension if it came to a vote Tuesday. But he would have been open to a compromise, he says, such as a shorter relief period that would have at least granted some breathing room to tenants and allowed council members more time to work on a permanent remedy for rising rents.

“I’ve been working in politics long enough to know that you need to have the discussion,” Jawando says in an interview with WAMU/DCist. “It was an expedited bill that was meant to take effect prior to these rate increases, so that could give us some time and space to provide immediate relief [to renters] and either figure out a longer term policy or not.”

Some tenants testified on Tuesday that the council must do something to prevent people from losing their homes, even if the solution is temporary and imperfect.

“I know the road to a solution of the affordable housing issue is complicated,” testified Ashton resident Kimberly Johnson. “But if the government cannot help people meet its most essential needs, then what is the point of the government?”