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Hi there FHFA team!

Grateful for this chance to comment. I heard that y'all were considering conditioning loans to developers and landlords based on a set of tenant protections. I think this 1000% critical. In my home of Montgomery County, our organization Everyday Canvassing has knocked 10,000s of doors in rental complexes. We knock doors not for political campaigns but to build community and connect government officials to the stories and solutions coming directly from their underrepresented community members. And we've seen some crazy stuff tenants have had to deal with that have put them in the financial hole 1000s of dollars, or caused heart, breathing, and other medical conditions as a result of insufficient and inconsistent property maintenance. While canvassing the Fairland Crossing Apartments in Silver Spring, Maryland, we met two different families in 2021 who had been eating out of coolers because their fridge had gone unreplaced for over a month. Everyday that summer those families spent time and money buying ice to keep their cooler stocked. This February in 2023, the Gateway Apartments in Gaithersburg, Maryland were being charged by a third party utility company up to $800 for a 1 bedroom apartment with no unusual or excessive electricity usage. Their meters were unhinged and broken, yet for over a year and up until today many families at Gateway Apartments have not had their meters fixed and their exorbitant bills reduced or repaid. At the same time, many residents from Gateway are losing A/C.

Building in tenant protections to your loans would mean the difference in many renters living healthier and financially stronger lives. If you need more information about what renters are going through in Montgomery County, MD, we are happy to share more info.

Thank you for your consideration, FHFA team!
Augustin (Tino) Fragale

He/Him
Board President, Everyday Canvassing