Everyone deserves to have a stable home. 63 local elected leaders across the country joined Local Progress’ eleven Housing Steering Committee members in submitting a public comment for the Federal Housing Finance Agency, urging action on tenant protections. Local elected officials have been paving the way in making sure renters have secure, stable housing. As more and more renters across the country face skyrocketing rents and possible displacement, renters’ rights are not just necessary, but practical and commonsense solutions.
The letter supports the Homes Guarantees’ recommendation to apply the following nine requirements to all enterprise-backed multifamily properties:
- Prohibit evictions without good cause
- Ban source of income discrimination
- Ensure tenants have the right to organize
- Limit annual rent hikes to 1.5 times the Consumer Price Index or 3%, whichever is lower
- Enforce and expand existing protections against discrimination
- Require safe and accessible housing conditions
- Create a landlord registry
- Require fair and standardized leases
- Create an Office of Tenant Protections to enforce these rights in all properties with federally backed mortgages
The federal government can and should reinforce the work being done at the local level while also filling gaps in tenant protections across localities. Across the country, local leaders have passed policies to protect their communities from price increases, discrimination, eviction, and retaliation. Rent stabilization provides renters with financial stability by limiting the rent hikes landlords can impose. More and more localities have been passing this key policy, including Cudahy, CA, Montgomery County, and St. Paul. Philadelphia and other localities have adopted source of income protections, to protect low-income tenants from housing discrimination. Good cause eviction policies, which entitle tenants to a right to lease renewal and limit evictions to only those with “good cause,” have been in place in localities like Washington DC, Seattle, and Berkeley. Localities like Austin, San Jose, and Seattle have also adopted protections for tenants’ right to organize with their neighbors and form tenant unions without fear of retaliation from their landlords. Enforcement agencies, like the one in Kingston, NY, are necessary to ensure that any federal tenant protections are followed. And the federal government has a unique opportunity to protect residents in states that have preempted localities from enacting tenant protections, like those in Austin and Nashville.
Local governments have been leading the way to find innovative and creative solutions to keep their neighbors in their homes. The federal government has the opportunity to reach millions of tenants by extending those protections to enterprise-backed multifamily properties nationwide. Localities have proven it’s possible, now it’s time for the federal government to follow their lead.
