Comment Detail

Comment

The ease to which landlords are able to obtain monetary assistance from the federal government with so little checks to their power over tenants is a great injustice. As a tenant who has worked for over two years with tenant advocacy groups I have both personal experience and second hand experience of the consequences landlords and unchecked privatized housing has over working people in this country. The cost of living has greatly increased for me and many South Carolinians to the point where we are making monetary sacrifices regarding food/health/commute/lifestyle expenses just to keep up with rising rental prices so that we are not left houseless. Landlord interest groups and private housing conglomerates argue that it is necessary to raise rent prices to get "fair" returns on investments. The fact of the matter is, if landlords don't raise rent, they lose out on profit; if tenants can't pay their rent, they lose their LIVELIHOODS. The stakes have never been higher for tenants across the country and it's only going to get worse so long as the government prioritizes profits over people. Housing is a human right, not a commodity to be bought and sold. I am sending this comment requesting the FHFA increase conditions on property managers and landlords requesting loans that include concrete and common sense tenant protections. Make it so landlords must adhere to basic standards to prevent needless evictions, discrimination, dramatic price hikes, tenant organizing retaliations, among many other unnecessary violent actions against renters in America.