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  • Comment Detail

  • Date: 10/17/22
    First Name: Sabrina
    Last Name: Davis
    Organization: KC Tenants
    City: N/A
    State: N/A
    Attachment: N/A
    Number: RIN-2590-AB21

  • Comment

    Dear Director Thompson and FHFA team,

    My name is Sabrina and I live in Kansas City Missouri. I’m writing in response to the FHFA Multifamily Enterprise Housing Goals Proposed Rule Comment Request: ‘Community Support Requirements, (No. 2022–N–11) Multifamily Enterprise Housing Goals Proposed Rule.

    I'm 63 year old disabled woman, and I never thought I'd be insecure with my housing situation. In the past 2 years I've been displaced by a greedy landlord that put profit over me his renter, which left me homeless for 8 months. After a lengthy court battle that resulted in a big win for me, I'm still housing in secure. The rent has continually gone up year after year and I ask myself why, the landlord says it's because supplies cost more, it cost more for maintenance etc. Well I know that can't be true, because every apartment or house I've rented needed much overdue repairs. I've moved 6 times in the past 15 years and everytime I moved I thought I was moving to a better home when actually I was moving into something even worse. I call that , jumping from the FRYING PAN straight into the FIRE.

    I currently rent a house with 3 other people that I didn't know before I moved on with them. I'm 63 and this is the first time in my life that I have roommates. I'm grateful, without them I could not afford the rent, nor would I qualify. The rent in Kansas City has gone up so much that I don't qualify for ANY TYPE OF HOUSING and that is unconscionable!

    The rent is too damn high and I’m counting on FHFA to take every possible action to regulate rents for all properties with federally backed mortgages. If our public money is financing the business of making money on our homes, the least that you can do as a regulator is attach conditions to these resources that benefit the people. FHFA has successfully taken bold action in the past to help protect tenants during COVID-19 and to look out for residents of manufactured housing, and I am counting on FHFA to take similar action to help tenants like me during this time of intense economic hardship.

    I am a member of KC TENANTS and a leader with the Homes Guarantee campaign. The Homes Guarantee campaign is led by over 52 tenant-led organizations from all corners of the country. We have a long term vision for a world where everyone has access to safe, sustainable and TRULY affordable housing. In the short term we are organizing to win an executive order on rent regulation from the President— see more here: https://damnhighrent.com

    Thank you for your attention to this matter. If you would like to get in touch with me, please contact Grace White, the Homes Guarantee Organizer at g.white@peoplesaction.org.
    Sincerely,
    Sabrina Davis