Skip to main content

  • Comment Detail

  • Date: 07/28/23
    First Name: Onyinye
    Last Name: Alheri
    Email: oalheri@pm.me
    Organization Type: other
    Organization: MD Communities United

  • Comment

    My name is Onyinye and I am a tenant living in Los Angeles, CA. I am a supporter of the Homes Guarantee Campaign.

    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.

    As someone who has faced prior evictions and had to live in shelters with my family, this is a deeply personal issue. The majority of Americans are renting who face similar threats to their wellbeing, and you as an elected official have a duty to us.

    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,
    O