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  • Comment Detail

  • Date: 06/17/23
    First Name: Amy
    Last Name: Gatto
    Email: amy@power-la.org
    Organization Type: N/A
    Organization: POWER

  • Comment

    My name is Amy, and I'm a tenant living in Norwalk, California. I am a member of the Homes Guarantee Campaign.

    I have lived in Norwalk for six years, and my rent has increased every year I've lived in that apartment, even in 2020 at the height of the pandemic. In the past two years, my rent has increased by over $300, which is forcing me to move out of my apartment. Los Angeles County is in the middle of a severe affordable housing crisis, and tenants being pushed out of their homes like me are feeling the affects of this.

    The FHFA should protect tenants like me by limiting annual rent hikes in properties with federally backed mortgages. These limits should be applied universally as a requirement to all federally backed mortgage programs.

    The FHFA should also prohibit evictions without cause, ban source of income 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 2023, there is not a single state where a worker employed full-time at the federal minimum wage can afford a modest two-bedroom apartment. This should not be the way hard working Americans are forced to live.

    Sincerely, Amy