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My name is Nikita Perumal and I am a tenant living in Lexington, KY. I am a member of KY Tenants and the Homes Guarantee Campaign.

I have been a renter all of my adult life, and know firsthand the pain of constant rent hikes from landlords. While I've had access to enough income that these rent increases have not impacted me too acutely, that level of security is increasingly rare in here in Kentucky, especially among people my age. It's unfair and unjust to allow landlords to do this, particularly when FHFA has the power to prevent it. Just last week here in Lexington, I spoke to a number of residents at Preakness Apartments, a federally backed property, who told stories of their rent being raised to the point that they were forced to upend their lives and move out, even as the properties had incredibly substandard conditions.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency and Sandra Thompson need to immediately protect tenants by universally limiting annual rent hikes in properties with federally backed mortgages, to no more than 1.5 x the consumer price index, OR, 3%–whichever is lower. The FHFA should also prohibit evictions without good cause, ban source of income discrimination, require safe and accessible housing conditions, as well as fair and standardized leases.