Responding to unsafe military housing, U.S. armed forces unveil tenant bill of rights

FILE PHOTO: Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer speaks after being formally sworn into office by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., U.S. in this September 7, 2017 handout photo. Army Sgt. Amber I. Smith/DOD/Handout via REUTERS

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines unveiled a proposed tenant bill of rights on Wednesday that would hand more power to military families facing housing hazards and place enhanced scrutiny on private landlords drawing billions in fees from their military partnerships.

The measure, jointly released by the services in advance of Senate hearings scheduled for Thursday morning, could usher in a major overhaul of the military’s two-decade old housing privatisation program. Among other steps, it will require the military to renegotiate contracts – worth billions of dollars – with the real estate companies and bondholders who back the deals, Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer said in an interview.