Comment Detail

Comment

Director Thompson,
Thank you for the opportunity to provide feedback on the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA)
Request for Information on tenant protections. My name is Liz Schnee and I am a tenant and community advocate in Madison WI. I work with parents who experience housing instability and have been in the field for 3 years. I am writing to share my experience and to urge FHFA to take bold action to create
clear, strong, and enforceable renter protections for households living in rental properties with federally
backed mortgages.
Federal renter protections are critically needed to address the power imbalance between landlords and
renters that puts renters at greater risk of housing instability, harassment, and homelessness and fuels
racial and gender inequity.
To help ensure greater housing stability, FHFA should create new renter protections for households living
in properties with federally backed mortgages, including:
1. Source of income protections to prohibit landlords from discriminating against households
receiving rental housing assistance such as Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers, or Supplemental
Security Income (SSI), or local rental assistance, so that families can have greater choice about
where to live.
2. “Just cause” eviction standards, which limit the causes for which a landlord can evict a tenant or
refuse to renew a tenant’s lease when the tenant is not at fault or in violation of any law.
3. Rent gouging protections to stop landlords from dramatically and unreasonably raising rents.
4. Requirements to ensure housing is safe, decent, accessible, and healthy for renters and their
families.
Currently, Wisconsin has eroded tenant protections that severely favor landlords in unjust scenarios. For example, I work directly with single mothers who work full time and work incredibly hard to pay their rent, and work to earn promotions and cut expenses, but saw their rents raise more than 20% in 2022 and 2023 when they renewed their lease. With those severe increases, all the work to earn promotions was eroded and they are paying more than 50% of their income on rent. I have also watched as landlords non-renew tenants who not broken any laws and who are current on their rent, for seemingly no reason. The reason could be racially motivated, or discrimination against people with children, or emotional support animals, or who receive vouchers so they can increase the rent more. There should be just cause protections so that tenants who are following their leases are not forced to find new housing, or become homeless. These are important protections that families deserve to experience more stability for their children to change schools less often, build community with neighbors, and ensure people with vouchers can live in the neighborhoods they wish to live.