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My name is Noelle and I am a tenant living in Kansas City, MO. I am a member of the Homes Guarantee Campaign.

This month alone, I have moved twice-- once due to separating from my partner, and another because my landlord knowingly moved me into a unit that was infested with roaches and rats. After transferring my lease to another building, I realized there was a known mouse infestation. Both of these buildings were financed through federally backed mortgages. In total, I have spent nearly $1,000 in moving and pest control products-- 4.5% of my pre-tax income. That is on top of rent that I can barely afford.

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,
Noelle Broughton