New York Democratic Rep. Carolyn Maloney staunchly advocated for a rent cancelation bill throughout 2020, but fell silent a year later when the bill came back up after her recent financial disclosure showed her potentially earning over $1.1 million in rent income.
Maloney, the chair of the powerful House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, was one of 30 co-sponsors of the Rent and Mortgage Cancelation Act, a bill that would have suspended such payments throughout the federal emergency declaration brought by the coronavirus pandemic. She persistently called on Congress to pass the bill in the final months before the 2020 elections, though it had little chance of ever becoming law. (RELATED: Supreme Court Sides With Landlords On Eviction Moratorium Case)
We must also pass the Rent & Mortgage Cancellation Act of 2020, to ensure millions are not evicted or foreclosed upon after this crisis. #CancelRent
— Carolyn B. Maloney (@CarolynBMaloney) July 10, 2020
In 2021, however, Maloney neither sponsored nor advocated for the bill’s passage when it was reintroduced.
Her financial disclosure, filed Thursday, showed that she earned between $171,005 and $1,167,500 from six rental assets over the last year. The collective value of Maloney’s properties fell between $3,065,006 and $12,150,000, according to the disclosure.
Maloney’s office didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment on whether her rental earnings contributed to her change in support for the bill. She represents New York City’s Upper East Side and has served in Congress since 1992. (RELATED: Federal Judge Upholds Biden’s Eviction Moratorium Despite Having Doubts About Its Legality)
Maloney is not the only lawmaker who has profited from rental properties while calling for rental payments to be suspended; Democratic Reps. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts collectively made as much as $65,000 from rentals last year, according to their financial disclosures that were first reported by Fox News. Unlike Maloney, however, Tlaib and Pressley still co-sponsored the bill when it was reintroduced.
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