Comment Detail

Comment

Hola! How are you? My name is Jaimie and I am a tenant living in Jupiter, Florida. I am a member of the Homes Guarantee Campaign.

The rental situation in my state is debilitating. People in my community are in much worse situations that myself, but even with a dual income, my husband and I would not be able to afford the rent in our area. We got lucky and found a landlord who is only charging $2000 a month for a 2 bedroom/2 bathroom townhouse. We got lucky....a lot of people across the county are not so lucky. People just a few towns over, or even a few miles west, have been forced to move out of their apartments and into hotels, motels or even their cars. Mostly those who live in less-affluent areas or areas that are not populated by a majority of white people. No one should be forced out of their homes when they have full time jobs and work 40+ hours a week. This is inhumane.

The bottom line is, 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.

Thank you for your time.
Jaimie