Warren, Jacobs, Lawmakers Introduce Bill to Protect Military Families from Abusive Non-Disclosure Agreements
Privatized military housing companies continue to use NDAs to silence military families
Text of Bill (PDF) | Bill One-Pager (PDF)
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Representatives Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.) and Don Davis (D-N.C.) introduced the Restore Military Families’ Voices Act, which would bar private military housing companies from imposing non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) on tenants as a condition for housing services. The Restore Military Families’ Voices Act was included in the Senate version of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025 on a bipartisan vote.
Many military families living in private housing, both on and off-base, are forced to live in unsafe and unsanitary conditions with little-to-no recourse to hold companies accountable. These companies may require tenants to sign NDAs when asking for repairs or requesting reimbursement for financial burdens that the families face due to poor housing conditions. This practice allows companies to silence military families when they attempt to reveal poor housing conditions and avoid accountability for providing military families subpar housing.
This bill protects military families by banning landlords from requesting NDAs from tenants or prospective tenants. Notably, this bill does not affect the rights of servicemembers or their families to request NDAs.
The Restore Military Families’ Voices Act makes three changes to existing law:
- Bars landlords from requesting that tenants sign NDAs. Requiring NDAs is already banned under current law, but this bill bans requesting NDAs as well given the power imbalance between landlords and tenants.
- Expands NDA protections to cover all housing services. Current protections only extend to the start of a lease, renewal of a lease, or end of a lease.
- Ends the loophole that allows landlords to require NDAs for legal settlements. A loophole under existing law means landlords are allowed to require NDAs in connection with legal settlements.
This bill is endorsed by the National Military Families Association and the Military Housing Coalition.
“Our servicemembers and military families shouldn’t have to put up with mold, lead paint, and infestations,” said Senator Warren. “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.”
“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,” said Congresswoman Sara Jacobs. “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.”
Senator Warren has been in a leader in raising concerns about problems with privatized military housing and led the push to protect military families:
- In July 2024, Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.) led colleagues in calling out the Department of Defense (DoD) for failing to protect military families living in military housing operated by private companies under the Military Housing Privatization Initiative (MHPI).
- In May 2024, Senator Elizabeth Warren led an annual hearing highlighting personnel priorities for the Department of Defense (DoD) and the military services for the coming year, including military housing and child care.
- In April 2024, Senator Elizabeth Warren questioned Army Secretary Christine Wormuth on the need to increase military housing availability and the damaging impact of non-disclosure agreements between private landlords, servicemembers, and their families on housing safety at a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
- In December 2023, Senator Elizabeth Warren announced further enforcement of the Tenant Bill of Rights for military families as one of the key priorities secured in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24), as well as creating a working group of DoD officials and military families to ensure ongoing oversight of deficiencies in privatized military housing.
- In December 2023, Senators Elizabeth Warren, Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), and Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, sent a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin requesting information on the Department of Defense’s (DoD) plans to address the unhealthy prevalence of mold, lead-based paint, and asbestos in housing for America’s servicemembers.
- In October 2023, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) sent a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin raising concerns that Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP) families had to pay out of pocket to modify their homes to meet their families’ needs and asking for additional information about DoD’s oversight of the program.
- In June 2023, Senator Elizabeth Warren, along with other Senate Armed Services Committee members, announced the reintroduction of the bipartisan Military Housing Readiness Council Act, which would provide a platform for oversight and accountability of privatized military housing to give military families a voice and bring together experts to ensure military families have the safe housing they deserve.
- In December 2022, Senator Elizabeth Warren and other members of the Senate Armed Services Committee sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin expressing concern over reports that military families are being forced to sign non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) with privatized military housing companies in order to receive compensation for poor housing conditions.
- In December 2022, Senator Elizabeth Warren announced her provisions to require military housing companies to disclose mold and the health effects of mycotoxins before a lease is signed was included in the Fiscal Year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act.
- In August 2022, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) introduced the Military Housing Readiness Council Act, legislation that would ensure oversight and accountability on safe housing conditions for servicemembers and military families. The legislation would create a Military Housing Readiness Council comprised of DoD officials, servicemembers, military families, and military housing experts to ensure ongoing oversight of deficiencies in privatized military housing.
- In June 2022, Senator Elizabeth Warren announced the Military Housing Oversight and Service member Protection Act as one of her key priorities for the FY 2023 NDAA. The proposal would ensure medical care for military families affected by unsafe housing by directing DoD to establish a health registry for all servicemembers and families and establishing a presumption of service-connected disability for servicemembers and lifetime medical care for dependents.
- In February 2022 during a Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) hearing, Elizabeth Warren pressed Pentagon nominees for tough oversight as they improve military housing conditions
- In July 2021, Senator Elizabeth Warren announced improving military housing as one of her key priorities for FY 2022 NDAA
- In January 2021, Senator Elizabeth Warren requested Defense Secretary Austin for his public commitment to respond and make a priority to her requests about military housing issues during a SASC hearing
- In March 2021, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) wrote to Defense Secretary Austin, and Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge, continuing the lawmakers' investigation into whether the largest military housing providers under the Military Housing Privatization Initiative are complying with federal laws that protect Americans with disabilities.
- In December 2020, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) questioned the five largest private military housing providers about their reported failure to provide adequate housing to families with disabilities.
- In May 2019, Senator Elizabeth Warren released the findings from her three-month-long investigation of the Military Housing Privatization Initiative and of five private companies that have contracts with the military services to provide on-base housing under the program. She sent letters to then-SASC Chairman James Inhofe (R-Okla.) and then-Ranking Member Jack Reed, and to the Secretaries of the Army, Navy, and Air Force, to provide each with the results of her investigation, revealing how and why private military housing developers failed to meet basic housing standards, which in some cases resulted in severe health problems for military families.
- In April 2019, Senator Elizabeth Warren and then-Representative Deb Haaland introduced the Military Housing Oversight and Service Member Protection Act, a comprehensive bill to address a series of disturbing reports revealing unsafe and unsanitary conditions in privatized, on-base housing for military personnel and their families.
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