The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has received more than 200 comments so far in response to its Request for Input (RFI) regarding establishing tenant protections at multifamily properties with FHFA-backed mortgages (see Memo, 6/5). National organizations and tenant leaders are calling for a robust response to the RFI, as any renter protections created by FHFA could cover a significant share of renters across the nation. Advocates have until July 31 to weigh in with FHFA to demand and help shape strong renter protections. NLIHC has several opportunities for tenant leaders and other advocates to engage, including a sample comment letter, an organizational sign-on letter, and a weekly Renter Protections working group.
Since the RFI was announced, housing advocates have taken action to translate tenant frustrations into feedback regarding potential federal renter protections. NLIHC hosted a comment party via Tenant Talk Live on June 12, when tenant leaders and other advocates drafted suggestions and discussed which protections were most urgently needed. NLIHC’s renter protections working group has met twice and will continue to meet on Wednesdays at 4 pm ET throughout the month of June to inform and strengthen NLIHC’s comment letter. PolicyLink hosted a webinar, “Securing Our Housing Futures: Tenant Protections for Federally-Backed Homes” on June 15 to inform participants about the RFI, discuss various tenant protections, and offer strategies for submitting comments. Speakers on the webinar included Tara Raghuveer, director of Homes Guarantee, Marie Claire Tran-Leung, evictions initiative project director at the National Housing Law Project, and Thomas Silverstein, associate director of the fair housing and community development project at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.
Take Action
NLIHC urges tenant leaders and other advocates to respond to relevant questions in the RFI; you do not need to respond to every RFI question, just those that you have some experience with or have ideas about. In addition to responding to the RFI questions, you can offer other suggestions for providing strong tenant protections. Remember: comments will be made public on FHFA’s website, so please do not include personal identifying information.
Take action by:
- Submitting your own comments by July 31. It is crucial that FHFA hear from you and as many tenant leaders and other advocates as possible in support of renter protections. Use NLIHC’s sample comment letter and resources from www.tenantcomment.org to craft your comments and submit them using a direct portal here.
- Signing your organization on to NLIHC’s national support letter calling on FHFA to create strong federal renter protections.
- Joining our weekly working group on Renter Protections on Wednesdays at 4:00 pm ET to help inform and strengthen NLIHC’s comment letter. Register for the weekly meeting here.
Read more about the Federal Housing Finance Agency and NLIHC’s opportunities for engagement at: https://tinyurl.com/mr473235
Read submitted comments on FHFA’s website (choose “Tenant Protections” in the drop-down menu): https://www.fhfa.gov/AboutUs/Contact/Pages/input-submissions.aspx