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Comment

My name is Alicia Hurtado and I am a tenant living in Chicago, IL. I am a member of the Homes Guarantee Campaign.

In 2023, there is not a single state where a worker employed full-time at the federal minimum wage can afford a modest two-bedroom apartment. This is unacceptable. Nationally, median rent has surpassed $2,000 for the first time ever, and for many people, myself included, living with family or roommates is a necessity in order to allow for financial security.

We must create protections to keep people housed with dignity. 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,
Alicia