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  • Comment Detail

  • Date: 07/19/23
    First Name: Sahar
    Last Name: Punjwani
    Email: saharpunjwani@gmail.com
    Organization Type: other
    Organization: Not Me We

  • Comment

    My name is Sahar and I am a tenant living in Chicago, IL. I am a member of the Homes Guarantee Campaign.

    In 2023, there is not a single state where a worker employed full-time at the federal minimum wage can afford a modest two-bedroom apartment. As a college student as well as a tenant, this scares me, because I know that I will have to find a place to live after graduation, and I don't know if I will be able to afford it.

    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,
    Sahar