Comment Detail

Comment

The "Free Market" or "Fair Market" approach to rental housing and home ownership is failing normal working people in all 50 states. Overwhelmingly employers are giving more money back to shareholders than they are to living wages of working citizens. This is bad when the employers themselves are inflating the prices of goods for profits that don't get invested back into everyday people. The commodification of housing that follows a "market" does not follow the average wage of people under "the middle class" or even follow those at the impoverished level. It follows arbitrary guidelines that are created by developers that can charge seemingly whatever they want. Housing is one of the most basic needs in our economy. We can't participate in the economy of work if we have no place to live. We are at a time where we need our government to protect us from profiteering landlords and businesses. It concerns me to see a 100% or more increase in price for loft and 1 bedroom apartments in my area of Kansas City over 5 years. It concerns me that there more housing rented at prices for those making over $60,000 annually than there is for those making under $40,000. It concerns me that the county is profiting off arbitrary property tax rate increases after giving billions of tax incentives to unaffordable developments. Below I have included some things you could consider to help add protections for tenants. We can't only be at the whim of companies that have access to unlimited amounts of capital, but someone making less than $60,000 can't even get approved for a mortgage in this economy.

Rent regulations: Protect tenants from and limit egregious rent hikes.
Good cause eviction: Prohibit evictions without good cause, ensuring every tenant has the right to a lease renewal. Good cause is defined as serious and repeated lease violations provable in a court of law.

Ban source of income discrimination: Prohibit landlords from discriminating against tenants based on their source of income including federal housing assistance (i.e., vouchers).

Freedom from discrimination: Enforce existing laws that prohibit landlords from denying a tenant rental housing based on race, physical or mental ability, and family make-up, and expand protections to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, immigration status, conviction and/or arrest history, bankruptcy history, eviction history, or credit score.

Safe, quality, accessible housing standards: Require all landlords to keep their properties in good condition, and to ensure homes are accessible for people with disabilities. No renter should have to live in an inaccessible home or in housing conditions that put their health and safety at risk.
Landlord registry: Tenants should have access to information about their landlord including their name and phone number.

Tenant right to organize: Tenants have the right to form tenants’ unions or resident councils free from fear of retaliation from the landlord or managing agent. Ownership and management representatives must not interfere with the creation or actions of tenant organizations.

Fair leases: Landlords must use standardized and clearly defined leases free of abusive terms.
Office of Tenant Protections: A team charged with protecting tenants and enforcing their rights in properties with federally backed mortgages.

Tenant Leadership: The FHFA must continue to engage with and follow the leadership of tenants and people directly impacted by the rental market.

Equity: Racial and social equity must be explicit goals of all regulations.

Mandatory Requirements: Tenant protections should be applied to all landlords with a federally backed-mortgage and all rental properties, including larger multifamily properties and smaller one-to-four-unit properties. Tenant protections should not be incentivized or volunteer based.

Enforcement: Landlords who violate FHFA’s tenant protections should be found to be in technical default and should not be eligible for future loans.

Thank you