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My name is Eric and I am a tenant living in Lexington, KY. I am a member of the Homes Guarantee Campaign.

There are very few affordable housing options available in our city. And by affordable I mean for individuals making even $70,000/year. Rental costs have gotten out of hand in our city because there are not enough rental units. This means many units are priced out of most people’s reach. As a working professional in our 30’s, we have to consider living with friends, family members, or choose units that are too small and in poor condition. Not enough is being done to supply working americans with housing. We are the backbone of the US economy and essential to the world economy yet we are not given a decent place to live. That is shameful.

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,
Eric