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My name is Crystal Obiukwu and I am a tenant living in Columbus, OH. I am a member of the Homes Guarantee Campaign.

Every day I worry about making my tent on time and fear being homeless despite working full time my entire life. Landlords have so much power over tenants with no oversight from the government. Over the pandemic, my landlord refused to let us sign year long leases. I had a pest problem for the 1st time after living in my apartment for a year and a half. Instead of helping me, they kicked me out of my place despite me paying rent on time. I had no way of doing anything about this legally.

I cannot even get a studio apartment on my salary despite making almost $20 an hour. Rent has gone up so much that I would need to make close to $30 an hour to afford a one bedroom while working full time. If rent is not controlled, the U.S. will see a HUGE spoke in homelessness in every state.

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,
Crystal