Comment Detail

Comment

Uncontrolled rent hikes have led to thousands of my fellow Californians becoming long-term unhoused. It is shocking to see how a lack of government regulation has resulted in Californians priced out of housing in their own hometowns. This is certainly not unique to California — it is a ghastly occurrence nationwide. However, due to the incredible demand for housing in this economically dynamic region, landlords can get away with charging scandalous rents to high earners. The result, as anyone who has lived here for several decades can tell you, is that ever more people have been forced to survive on the streets, and in cars, and in motels, with no hope of affording rent where they live and work. This problem will not go away until our government holds landlords accountable and guarantees tenants freedom from predatory rent increases. Rent control is vital for all American tenants, period. We all deserve to afford dignified housing — it is a basic human right, and homelessness is unconscionable in a society as wealthy as our own. The government-backed loans which all taxpayers finance must be conditioned by strong protections for tenants against eviction without serious and repeated lease violations; unaffordable rent increases; negligent property management; discrimination based on source of income, race or other social factors; and retaliation for tenant organizing. Americans need an Office of Tenant Protections to ensure that everyone in this country has access to safe, affordable, and equitable housing.