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Comment

Rent has been raised in my complex by nearly 200% over five years, from approximately $850/month to over $1500/month. These rent hikes come at the hands of a new, notoriously unresponsive management company. We tenants have seen none of this money invested into our complex. A pool—promised to be fixed in 2018 when it broke—was only excavated recently when the damage threatened the nearby road. It remains a hole. The grounds have not been maintained in years, with planter boxes disintegrating by the pothole-filled parking lot and overgrown fencing. Our apartments are repaired to a bare minimum, which leads to only more leaks, water damage and infestations. But most importantly: these rent hikes threaten to drive out retired, elderly tenants of more than 30 years. Two have already been refused new leases, and a third will not be able to afford any further hikes. These grandparents cannot afford the rising costs of living, and cannot afford to go back to work. Without strong and rapidly implemented tenant protections, we are consigning them, and thousands like them, to the streets. We need rent regulation. We need good cause eviction, and a reinforced right to organize. We need transparency from our landlords, and we demand better.