Skip to main content

  • Comment Detail

  • Date: 07/31/23
    First Name: Lowcountry
    Last Name: Mutual Aid
    Email: lowcountrymutualaid@gmail.com
    Organization Type: other
    Organization: Lowcountry Mutual Aid

  • Comment

    Federal Housing Finance Agency
    400 7th St SW, Washington, D.C. 20024

    July 31, 2023

    Re: Tenant Protections for Enterprise-Backed Multifamily Properties Request for Input
    From: Lowcountry Mutual Aid

    Thank you to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and Director Thompson for issuing a Request for Information (RFI) on tenant protections in properties with federally-backed mortgages.

    We are writing on behalf of Lowcountry Mutual Aid. A community-care project designed to redistribute funds and cultivate a network of solidarity in the face of economic inequality and state violence. We want to urge the FHFA to create tenant protections for federally backed-properties.

    There is not a day that goes by there is not a request for assistance for rent in South Carolina sent out to organizations. We have seen an increase in asking for support due to the low-wage jobs and high rental costs. It is, for this reason, we strongly encourage you to add all of these protections to ALL federally backed properties.

    Rent regulations: Protect tenants from and limit egregious rent hikes.The FHFA should limit annual rent hikes to 1.5 times the Consumer Price Index or 3%, whichever is lower, in Enterprise-backed properties. These rent increase limits should be applied universally and as a requirement. Limits on rent increases will protect tenants from eviction and/or homelessness by creating a schedule for reasonable and gradual rent increases.
    Good cause eviction: Prohibit evictions without good cause, ensuring every tenant has the right to a lease renewal. Good cause is defined as serious and repeated lease violations provable in a court of law.
    Ban source of income discrimination: Prohibit landlords from discriminating against tenants based on their source of income including federal housing assistance (i.e., vouchers).
    Freedom from discrimination: Enforce existing laws that prohibit landlords from denying a tenant rental housing based on race, physical or mental ability, and family make-up, and expand protections to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, immigration status, conviction and/or arrest history, bankruptcy history, eviction history, or credit score.
    Safe, quality, accessible housing standards: Require all landlords to keep their properties in good condition, and to ensure homes are accessible for people with disabilities. No renter should have to live in an inaccessible home or in housing conditions that put their health and safety at risk.
    Landlord registry: Tenants should have access to information about their landlord including their name and phone number.
    Tenant right to organize: Tenants have the right to form tenants’ unions or resident councils free from fear of retaliation from the landlord or managing agent. Ownership and management representatives must not interfere with the creation or actions of tenant organizations.
    Fair leases: Landlords must use standardized and clearly defined leases free of abusive terms.
    Office of Tenant Protections: A team charged with protecting tenants and enforcing their rights in properties with federally backed mortgages.

    Again, thank you for your attention to this matter. If you have any questions or would like to follow up, you can reach us at lowcountrymutualaid@gmail.com

    Sincerely,
    Lowcountry Mutual Aid