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My name is Drea and I am a tenant living in Kansas City, MO. I am a member of the Homes Guarantee Campaign.

Kansas City used to be much more affordable when I moved here in 2014. You could rent a two bedroom for less than 800 dollars. It was doable for a student working part time. As the years have gone by the availability of those apartments has decreased or disappeared. It seemed like it happened so fast. In 2021 I started apartment hunting and realized that two bedroom apartments in the same part of town had gone up on average about $400. We found a nice place at a decent, although higher, price than we were paying before. We didn't have to completely leave the area. Our landlord is good and hasn't raised our rent since we've lived here. However, it's entirely his prerogative to raise it or not. I live with two friends and as a freelancer it makes me nervous not to have roommates. Keeping the cost of rent down means that when I have periods of no work it doesn't hit so hard.

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.

Sincerely,
Drea