Comment Detail

Comment

The Honorable Sandra Thompson
Federal Housing Finance Agency
Washington, D.C.
Director Thompson,
Thank you for the opportunity to provide feedback on the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA)
Request for Informaton on tenant protectons. My name is Nicole Jackson, and I am a tenant in Hartford CT Asylum Hill
community. I'm an individual advocate fighting for myself & all disabled people organization. I am writng to share my experience and to urge FHFA to take bold acton to create not only tenant protections but protections for disabled people paying rent & securing a new apartment is concerned. Because there are no laws that stop landlords from evicting disabled people. Washington D.C knows we have no control over when we receive our SSDI income. I fall into the 2nd Wednesday of every month, which is usually after the 10th rent due date & if there's a federal holiday the SSDI income is delayed by 2-3 days. This put millions of us in jeopardy of losing our housing every month. I have to leave my apartment in November with nowhere to go. Due to a predatory landlord discriminating against me by not allowing me to utilize the online portal to pay rent, demanding I mail a check. Which, they knew would cause me to mail the check on the 10th & they would receive it late. All because I found out their maintenance man was illegally entering my apartment. Now I have 2 evictions on my record because the 1st one was fraudulent & they had to withdraw it. Yet it remains on my record which shouldn't be allowed. The 2nd eviction was initially stating non payment which wasn't true because I paid, they just received the check late. This type of predatory serial eviction filing landlord is causing economic distress, unnecessary hardship, homelessness, high crime rates, creating unsafe neighborhoods.
We must have clear, strong, and enforceable renter protectons for households living in private rental propertes & those with federally backed mortgages. Given the broad reach of FHFA’s work, any renter protectons creted by FHFA should
cover a significant share of renters across the naton and put America on a pathway towards stronger
protectons for all renters.
Federal renter protectons are critcally needed to address the power imbalance between landlords and
renters that puts renters at greater risk of housing instability, harassment, and homelessness and fuels
racial and gender inequity.
To help ensure greater housing stability, FHFA should create new renter protectons for households living
in private propertes & those with federally backed mortgages, including:
1. Source of income protectons to prohibit landlords from discriminatng against households
receiving rental housing assistance such as Secton 8 Housing Choice Vouchers, or Supplemental
Security Income (SSI / SSDI), or local rental assistance. Because HUD isn't enough so that individuals & families can have greater choice about where to live. Waiving the 3x-4x income requirements per amount of rent because SSDI recipients only get one check a month. Literally leaving us out in the cold on the street. Blighted properties should rehabbed & set aside specifically for non-elderly disabled & low income people. Providing safe housing that our incomes can actually afford.
2. “Just cause” evicton standards, which limit the causes for which a landlord can evict a tenant or
refuse to renew a tenant’s lease when the tenant is not at fault or in violaton of any law.
3. Rent gouging protectons to stop landlords from dramatcally and unreasonably raising rents.
4. Requirements to ensure housing is safe, decent, accessible, and healthy for renters and their
families.
I thank you in advance for your much advocacy passing laws that will protect disabled people receiving SSDI & low income families to be able to secure safe housing & live with dignity & in peace.