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Dir. Thompson,

I am a proud South Carolinian and I can say for sure, the rent is too damn high. I am currently in a battle to stay in the city I've called home for years, Charleston. I've worked in all sorts of fields while living here such as pest control, gig work and other service industries but it is getting harder and harder to live where the higher paying jobs are. I am a hard worker who wants nothing more but enough money to have a place of my own and no stress about paying my bills. As I type this on the evening of July 31st, I made my final $53 I needed to pay my rent tomorrow. I will have a place to live for another month.
We need the federal government to step in and put rent caps and tenant protections in place or risk a complete loss of the working class. Some things the FHFA should consider are
1) Rent regulations: Protect tenants from and limit egregious rent hikes.
2) 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.
3) Ban source of income discrimination: Prohibit landlords from discriminating against tenants based on their source of income including federal housing assistance (i.e., vouchers).
4) 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.
5) 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.
6) Landlord registry: Tenants should have access to information about their landlord including their name and phone number.
7) 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.
8) Fair leases: Landlords must use standardized and clearly defined leases free of abusive terms.
9) Office of Tenant Protections: A team charged with protecting tenants and enforcing their rights in properties with federally backed mortgages.

Thank you for your time

Matt