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Director Thompson,

I have been a Rental Housing provider for more than 40 years and am seriously considering leaving the business permanently. I live in Los Angeles where the majority is renters and they elect radical "woke" representatives who blame all of the voter's problems on me, a senior white man. They have passed vast renter protections and now have a right to council which means that is is practically impossible to get rid of bad tenants who do not follow rules and disturb the other tenants and who sometimes do not pay rent at all. They are given a free attorney and although they will loose their case, particularly when they are not paying rent, the free attorney asks for a Jury trial which costs the owner 5 to 7 thousand dollars and delays the hearing. It is part of a strategy to delay the hearing so much that the owner will just pay to get rid of the tenant. One of the local attorneys likes to begin the discussion asking for $100,000 for the tenant, half of which they take for themselves. A typical settlement is $25,000 paid by the Rental Property owner. This has forced small owners like me to do extensive background checks and to raise our standards because we are way better off financially with a vacancy than with a bad tenant. The unintended consequences of providing "right to council" is that many people simply will not qualify to get an apartment. Unless they have perfect credit, great verifiable references and verifiable on time rent payments/ income owners simply cannot take a chance on them. So in fashioning your "renter protections" be sure to look for the unintended consequences of what you do. You are not in the business to make a bunch of Rent Control lawyers rich, you are in the business of providing housing. Rent controls can work if they are moderate and if the owner can easily cover his increased costs and inflation with yearly increases. The City of Los Angeles has not had a rent increase in 4 years while the costs they charge Rental Property owners like rent control fees have gone up 40% and city mandated trash fees have tripled! Owners just cannot make it under such circumstances.If property owners are not able to enforce house rules or if it is not worth it because of legal fees and payouts, the tenants will just do whatever they want and there will be much unhappiness. I would be glad to discuss all of this with one of you so feel free to contact me.

Thank you for the opportunity to respond to your Request for Input (RFI) on how the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), in its oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, can best provide affordable housing opportunities for renters. Approximately 40% of the National Association of REALTORS®'s (NAR) 1.5 million members own at least one rental housing unit, playing a vital role in providing safe, quality, and affordable housing in neighborhoods nationwide.

As the FHFA examines ways to improve access to affordable housing, it is critical to acknowledge the most significant driver of housing unaffordability is the limited supply of available housing. According to NAR data, the United States has an underproduction gap of over 5.5 million units – a key underlying reason housing costs have increased. On top of this, inflation has increased the prices of goods and services for all Americans. As housing providers strive to provide affordable housing opportunities in their communities, they also contend with rising mortgage rates and increased costs for supplies, services, and maintenance. When inflation is high, the prices of materials increase. That means it becomes exceedingly more expensive for construction teams to build new homes or renovate existing ones. Ultimately, these high costs spill into the housing market and lift home prices for new builds and existing housing.

As REALTORS®, we are committed to upholding the very specific provisions of our contracts with residents, and we often go above and beyond what is required to ensure residents have safe, quality, and affordable places to live. Rental housing is a deeply complex issue that is unique to every community. Creating additional layers of policies to a space that is already heavily regulated by state and local governments will have severe unintended consequences for renters as housing providers are leaving the market in communities where affordable housing is sorely needed.

Affordable housing is pivotal to creating paths to upward mobility for people across the country. I appreciate your commitment to ensuring we achieve this goal without impeding the creation of much-needed housing supply. Richard Klug