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  • Comment Detail

  • Date: 07/27/23
    First Name: Cassidy
    Last Name: Moore
    Email: cmoore@ashevillehabitat.org
    Organization Type: other
    Organization: Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity

  • Comment

    Federal renter protections are critically needed to address the power imbalance between landlords and
    renters that puts renters at greater risk of housing instability, harassment, and homelessness and fuels
    racial and gender inequity.

    To help ensure greater housing stability, FHFA should create new renter protections for households living
    in properties with federally backed mortgages, including:
    1. Source of income protections to prohibit landlords from discriminating against households
    receiving rental housing assistance such as Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers, or Supplemental
    Security Income (SSI), or local rental assistance, so that families can have greater choice about
    where to live.
    2. “Just cause” eviction standards, which limit the causes for which a landlord can evict a tenant or
    refuse to renew a tenant’s lease when the tenant is not at fault or in violation of any law.
    3. Rent gouging protections to stop landlords from dramatically and unreasonably raising rents.
    4. Requirements to ensure housing is safe, decent, accessible, and healthy for renters and their
    families.

    I have seen what happens in communities without strong, enforceable tenant protections. In Buncombe County, where I live, we are experiencing an dire housing crisis. More than 1 in 3 issued housing vouchers go unused each year due to source of income discrimination. That is millions of federal dollars going unused each year that could help house some of our most vulnerable neighbors and stabilize our communities. The area's demand for housing leaves people stuck in unaffordable, unstable housing or worse -- without housing at all.

    We urge FHFA to take bold action to implement mandatory, standardized protections – paired with
    strong enforcement – for all households living in properties with federally backed mortgages, including
    larger developments and smaller properties. FHFA must continue to engage tenants and directly
    impacted people throughout its process of establishing and implementing renter protections, and
    protections must be centered on racial and social equity as explicit goals. These protections– along with
    to large-scale, sustained investments and anti-racist reforms – are necessary to ensure that everyone,
    including the lowest-income and most marginalized renters, have a safe, quality, affordable, and
    accessible place to call home.