One of Arlington’s advisory panels is considering a push to require local landlords to make their rent increases public annually.

The legislative subcommittee of the county government’s Housing Commission has included the proposal on a list of potential 2027 legislative priorities.

“It shouldn’t be secret information,” Kellen MacBeth, who chairs the Housing Commission and serves on the legislative subcommittee, said at a May 26 meeting. “From a consumer and tenant perspective, you should be able to see the history of rent increases at a building before you choose to live there or not.”

“Right now, it’s shrouded in mystery,” MacBeth said.

State law currently does not allow localities to demand that type of financial information from landlords. A 2020 bill to set up a Virginia Residential Rental Property Registry overseen by the state government died in committee and has not been brought back up.

Jason Schwartz, a subcommittee member, said Virginia may not have embraced the effort, but “there are some cities that do.”

The concept floated at the May meeting revolved around General Assembly action giving localities the option of setting up registries, if they choose.

“The first step probably would not be publishing the rents,” Schwartz said.

MacBeth said it was too early to determine whether the subcommittee would recommend the proposal to the full Housing Commission. The panel needs to “do some more research and come back and see if we really want to move forward,” he said.

In 2020, Del. Delores McQuinn (D-81) proposed creating a statewide rental registry, with financial penalties for landlords that did not comply.