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  • Comment Detail

  • Date: 07/31/23
    First Name: Rachel
    Last Name: Towery
    Email: toweryrachel@gmail.com
    Organization Type: other
    Organization: Bozeman Tenants United + Homes Guarantee Campaign

  • Comment

    Rachel / Bozeman, MT. As a MSU student I worked 3 jobs while going to school full time to be able to live while going to school in Bozeman. I was so stressed out I developed multiple health issues of which I still struggle with. I believe housing is a human right and that landlords should be held accountable for the abuse they’re committing.

    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.