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  • Comment Detail

  • Date: 07/31/23
    First Name: Katie
    Last Name: Fire Thunder
    Email: 14katiefirethunder@gmail.com
    Organization Type: other
    Organization: Bozeman Tenants United + Homes Guarantee Campaign

  • Comment

    My name is Katie and I am a tenant living in Bozeman, Montana. I am a member of Bozeman Tenants United and the Homes Guarantee Campaign. I grew up in low in come family housing. In 2020, right before the covid out break, our rent was raised and we had to scramble to find a new place to live. My family and I could no longer live in the town we called home. I have since moved back to Bozeman, however my rent being raised and being forced to leave my community again is a constant fear.

    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,
    Katie.