Skip to main content

  • Comment Detail

  • Date: 08/01/23
    First Name: Michael
    Last Name: Stumpf
    Email: michael_stmpf@yahoo.com
    Organization Type: other
    Organization: Homes Guarantee Campaign

  • Comment

    My name is Michael and I am a tenant living in Chicago, Illinois. I am a member of the Homes Guarantee Campaign.

    When I moved to Chicago in 2013 I paid $325/mo for half of a two bedroom apartment. Today, I pay more than double that at $820/mo. As a result, I have had to work well over 40 hours/week since wages are stagnant. I have also racked up consumer debt and will not be able to repay my Federal student loans next month, though I would prefer to. I know I am not alone in being affected negatively by unnecessary rent hikes. I am a tax-paying American citizen and demand that the Federal government do everything in their power to intervene on behalf of struggling tenants nationwide.

    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,