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  • Comment Detail

  • Date: 05/31/23
    First Name: Irene
    Last Name: Lawrence
    Email: Lawrence.IreneA@gmail.com
    Organization Type: other
    Organization: Homes Guarantee Campaign

  • Comment

    My name is Irene and I live in Raleigh, NC. I am a member of the Homes Guarantee Campaign.

    The rent is too damn high. There is currently not a single state where a worker employed full-time at the federal minimum wage can afford a modest two-bedroom apartment.The Federal Housing Finance Agency should protect tenants by limiting annual rent hikes to 1.5 times the Consumer Price Index or 3%, whichever is lower, in properties with federally backed mortgages. These limits should be applied universally as a requirement to all federally backed mortgage programs.

    In addition to limits on rent hikes, the FHFA should prohibit evictions without good cause, ban source of income discrimination, enforce and expand existing protections against discrimination, require safe and accessible housing conditions, create a landlord registry, require fair and standardized leases, ensure tenants have the right to organize, and create an Office of Tenant Protections to enforce these rights in all properties with federally backed mortgages.

    Sincerely,
    Irene Lawrence