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  • Comment Detail

  • Date: 07/31/23
    First Name: benjamin
    Last Name: finegan
    Email: benjamin@bzntenantsunited.org
    Organization Type: other
    Organization: Bozeman Tenants United + Homes Guarantee Campaign

  • Comment

    My name is benjamin and I am a tenant living in Bozeman, MT. I am a member of Bozeman Tenants United and the Homes Guarantee Campaign.

    Last year my mother's rent in her 'affordable' apartment was raised and she was forced to move out of town even after she got a 2nd job as a bank teller. So many friends and loved ones have had to leave my city because rent is unaffordable.

    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.

    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, benjamin