Comment Detail

Comment

I am writing in support of FHFA tenant protections. I work at legal aid and I represent tenants in small towns and rural areas in six counties in central/east central Kentucky. Tenants here face uninhabitable housing conditions; large rent increases; landlord abuse and harassment; discrimination; refusal of landlord to accept vouchers and rental assistance; and unfair and deceptive business practices, including usurious fees, and fraud with regard to security deposits, utility bills, and more. Tenants need regulations that will control rent increases, improve access to safe and accessible housing units, prevent discrimination including discrimination based on source-of-income, and protect the right of tenants to organize. I recently faced a rent increase myself. My previously locally-owned apartment building was purchased by a Berkshire conglomerate which proposed a rent increase and the addition of five new monthly charges/fees, which would have been, in total, a 59% increase in my monthly payment. Although I am fortunate to have the ability to shoulder this financial burden, as a renter I am still experiencing the fear and insecurity attendant to costs unexpectedly rising faster than income, and I am a person with an income 384% of federal poverty. For low-income tenants, rent increases like this are leading to eviction and homelessness. The number of evictions filed in my primary county have increased almost 50% year over year between 2022 and 2023. I implore FHFA to take action to enact tenant protections.