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My name is Charlie, not only am I a tenant, I am also a legal assistant that works in eviction court in Rochester, New York.

In the process of my work, I have seen an explosion of eviction cases after the end of COVID eviction protections. This is the result of massive spikes in rent, low wages, and a deficit of affordable housing. The majority of those that are affected by evictions are single mothers. Children are not only traumatized by losing their home, but it also affects their education. Studies show that children that experience eviction are much more likely to miss classes and eventually drop out of school. Even being brought to court to respond to an eviction case can jeopardize tenant's jobs and their ability to find a new home. With the current cost of rent, even those making above minimum wage need multiple jobs to afford to have a place to live. Often, the only affordable properties are those with significant health and safety violations that landlords refuse to address.

Beyond the affordability of rent, the lack of good cause protections, leave tenants vulnerable to lease terminations that they have no recourse for. Tenants that have lived in a unit for decades that have never missed a month of rent are at risk of being evicted at a landlord's whim, and with the current housing crisis even 90 days notice is not enough time for them to find a new home, let alone move decades worth of possessions.

During and post pandemic, many foreign corporations have begun buying homes in Rochester, often with confusing and obfuscated names and contact information. This leaves tenants unsure of how to get maintenance issues addressed and how to pay rent. A landlord registry would create transparency and ensure tenants know who owns the property that they live in. This can also help prevent bad actors from attempting to scam vulnerable people by posing as landlords who do not actually have a connection with a property.

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 these rent stabilization measures, the FHFA should prohibit evictions without good cause, ban discrimination based on source of income, enforce and expand existing protections against discrimination based on protected class, require safe and accessible housing conditions (including repercussions for those that violate health and safety codes), 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,
Charlie