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  • Comment Detail

  • Date: 07/25/23
    First Name: Liliana
    Last Name: Baiman
    Email: lbaiman@populardemocracy.org
    Organization Type: other
    Organization: Center for Popular Democracy

  • Comment

    My name is Liliana and I am the mother of a tenant living in Houston, TX. I am a member of the Homes Guarantee Campaign.

    My mother has rented for years and her rent has increased over time. Houses that were once for sale in her neighborhood are now being rented by corporate landlords! Enough is Enough! It's time for renters and tenants to get some relief from these predatory practices and landlords.

    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,
    Liliana Baiman