There is a new push in Congress to stop private housing companies from requiring military families to sign non-disclosure agreements in connection with their housing. This comes after our two-year-long investigation exposed widespread housing problems at homes on military bases run by private companies and revealed the use of NDAs when families tried to get housing issues resolved.
The office of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) shared details with us exclusively about her new bill, Restore Military Families’ Voices Act. It bans private landlords from requesting that military families sign NDAs in connection with leases, any housing services including repairs, and for legal settlements.
In a statement about the new bill, Warren said: “Our servicemembers and military families shouldn’t have to put up with mold, lead paint, and infestations… My bill will put an end to private military landlords’ abuse of non-disclosure agreements and empower our servicemembers and military families to hold bad landlords accountable.”
In 2022, we first told you about a military family who faced mold and pest infestations at their home on a military base. The private housing company that ran the housing told them they would have to sign an NDA to accept a settlement. The family rejected the NDA and the settlement.
“It’s hush money,” military spouse Breanna Bragg said in 2022. “It’s, we put you in a moldy unsafe house…You need to take the money and shut up and go away.”
Our Washington News Bureau then brought an NDA from a private housing company given to military families to Warren. We showed her how the agreement banned families from talking publicly about the agreement and from making negative statements about “military housing in general, to the public (including but not limited to current, future, or former residents…), the press, on social media, or with any media outlet.”
Private housing companies told us the NDAs included standard confidentiality terms that complied with the law.
In 2023, the Defense Department told our Washington News Bureau it would not stop the use of NDAs in housing settlements. It came after Warren sent a letter to the DoD and called on the Department to stop private housing companies from requiring military families to sign NDAs.
Now, Warren’s bill would make the change through legislative action instead of a departmental change.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) are co-sponsors of the Senate bill.
Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.) and Rep. Don Davis (D-NC) are introducing the bill in the House, according to Warren’s office.
In a statement, Jacobs said: “It’s unconscionable that landlords can hide behind Non-Disclosure Agreements to avoid responsibility for substandard privatized military housing and take advantage of their tenants…I’ve visited privatized military housing units in San Diego and across the country, and I’ve seen firsthand the impacts of living with black mold, leaky roofs, loose electrical wiring, and other unsanitary conditions. Our service members and their families sacrifice so much for us, and the least we can do is ensure they have safe, sanitary housing in return instead of protecting negligent landlords. That’s why we need to pass the Restore Military Families’ Voices Act to prevent landlords from abusing NDAs and providing unsafe conditions to our military families.”