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  • Comment Detail

  • Date: 07/29/23
    First Name: Chasity
    Last Name: Martinez
    Email: cmartinez@faithinactionnv.org
    Organization Type: other
    Organization: Faith in Action Nevada

  • Comment

    Hello,

    My name is Chasity Martinez and I am a tenant living in Reno, NV and I work as a community organizer with Faith in Action Nevada. I want to submit comment to request for more tenant protections for renters like me on the federal level.

    We know that across the country, prices of rent are increasing and it’s been more and more difficult to keep people housed. In Reno, I’ve seen our unhoused population skyrocket along with the yearly count on deaths as many are forced to live outside and face the elements. I have not personally experienced homelessness and I currently have an affordable rent as I split with two roommates and one owns the home. But I know that I don’t have any other options, even if I’d like to live on my own or move in with a partner, settle down, start a family - all of that seems like just a dream as I look at rent prices increase more and more and even with a stable job not knowing if I could afford to rent here. Aside from the rent, I’ve heard numerous horror stories from peers about scrupulous landlords in some of these lower income housing areas. Some will tack on any fee they like and have little accountability. Through my organizing work, we partnered with many other organizations this past Legislative Session to fight for tenant protections and rent caps in our State. Unfortunately, many of those bills did not pass or were vetoed. This is why we need leadership on the federal level to enact basic protections and provide stability to residents and families.
    I’m joint with others from the Homes Guarantee Program to ask that 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.

    I believe all these are necessary to make it easier to attain housing AND keep people housed. In record high temperatures across the country, it’s more important than ever that every person have fair and equitable access to housing.

    Sincerely,

    Chasity Martinez