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My name is jesse and I am a bank tenant living in louisville, KY. I am a member of the Homes Guarantee Campaign, and the Louisville Tenants Union.

Until recently, i was a renter and i moved 12 times over the course of 8 years. I could not afford to live in california, where i grew up, and where much of my family still is. I relocated to Louisville where i was able to afford to buy a house, but i am facing extreme hikes in property taxes that may make it difficult for me to stay. Here in Louisville and across the country, my friends and family are struggling with rent hikes and awful housing conditions. Nobody should have to leave the place they call home, but even if they do, they are running out of places to go that are affordable in this county. Our wages are not commensurate with the cost of housing. And even if we find housing, the conditions are all too often unacceptable!

Everyone deserves a safe and comfortable place to live. They deserve to live in a place they love, where their community is. We NEED eviction protections, we need rental assistance, we need to stop rents from increasing, we need to stop gentrification, and we need to require landlords to maintain their properties so that they are safe and comfortable.

Housing is a human right, not a commodity. We need to stop the endless exploitation of tenants, NOW!

Thank you,
Jesse