DSA NY House hopeful unveils radical housing plan to take buildings away from so-called bad landlords

A far-left New York House hopeful backed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani vowed to “take buildings away” from so-called slumlords and implement nationwide rent control if she’s elected to Congress.Democratic Socialists of America candidate Claire Valdez — who is running for the open 7th House District seat in Brooklyn and Queens – unveiled her radical housing plan Thursday, slamming building owners and the real estate industry.“The federal government has spent decades helping the real estate industry make billions off of working people,” Valdez, a Queens state Assembly member, claimed in a statement.“My housing platform serves New Yorkers who work hard to pay their rent, not the landlords who raise,” she said.The plan explicitly calls for the government to seize property from bad building owners, declaring, “there is no right to be a slumlord.”“When absentee landlords refuse to maintain safe conditions, the federal government should work with tenants to convert these buildings to public or community ownership,” her campaign platform states.But the agenda contains little to no details about how Valdez plans to implement her proposed socialist platform — which mirrors that of Mamdani’s administration — on a national scale.She called for “universal rent control,” and to amend the low-income housing tax credit to protect long-term rent stabilization.“Rent control must be expanded not just to every New York tenant but to every tenant in the country,” she said.Morning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more.

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Never miss a story.The former labor organizer also vowed to fight to fully fund federal voucher programs and pass a national good cause eviction law — preventing landlords from evicting tenants without proof of lease violation.Valdez is one of three DSA-backed congr...