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Comment

My name is Ben and I am a tenant living in Washington. D.C. I work in affordable housing professionally and have witnessed the horrendous conditions of substandard housing and the impact that evictions can have on families. I urge the Federal Housing Finance Agency to implement and enforce strong tenant protections so that they can live in their homes safely and without the fear of being evicted unjustly. I believe that housing is a human right and that the federal government should have the responsibility to be an advocate for those who are unable to voice their fears and problems.

I strongly urge the Federal Housing Finance Agency to 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,

Ben