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My name is Lilly, and I am a tenant living in Bozeman, MT. I am a member of the Homes Guarantee Campaign.

I am moving in with one of my brothers to a federally subsidized apartment complex. The rent has been hiked in this place the past several years, and rates were raised right after we secured this unit, so while we have avoided a higher cost so far this year, we know what to expect come next summer. I am securely employed with a job that pays well enough for the area, but we will not be able to afford these buildings if rent hikes much more. I know someone living in the same buildings who pays around 1500 (700 less than what is now standard), and it was much lower when they moved in in 2008. They are grandfathered in, but are still paying a lot for what they have. I grew up in this town, and rent for this amount of space used to be maybe 600 or so. I have seen and heard horror stories. We need better housing, now.

The rent is too damn high. 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, Lilly