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Comment

My name is Jo, living in rural Western Wisconsin - and I’m a member of the Homes Guarantee Campaign.
Safe, decent, affordable and stable housing is central to healthy child development and educational outcomes, as well as family economic well-being.
Many of my family and friends struggle with the cost of rent – working full time and facing high rent for very small living space.
The rent is too high. Around our country, median rent has surpassed $2,000 for the first time. At this point in time - In 2023 - no state where a worker is employed full-time at the federal minimum wage has affordable two-bedroom apartments.
I urge the Federal Housing Finance Agency to act on suggestions such as the following:
1. Limit Rent Hikes. 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.
2. FHFA should prohibit evictions without good cause.
3. FHFA should ban source of income discrimination.
4. FHFA should enforce and expand existing protections against discrimination.
5. FHFA should require safe and accessible housing conditions.
6. FHFA should create a landlord registry and require fair and standardized leases.
7. FHFA should 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.
Thank you for your consideration of these comments.
Sincerely,
Jo