NLIHC’s national HoUSed campaign – and its nearly 2,000 member organizations – have a key opportunity this year to advance a major priority in the campaign’s policy agenda: strengthening federal renter protections to address the power imbalance between landlords and renters. The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) issued on May 30 a Request for Input (RFI) on how the agency can create and enforce renter protections for households living in rental properties with federally backed mortgages. NLIHC will draft a comment letter in response to the RFI and invites advocates to join a weekly Renter Protections Working Group call being held Wednesdays at 4 pm ET. Register for next week’s June 14 meeting here.
Because more than 12 million renters live in properties with federally backed mortgages, any renter protections created by FHFA could cover a significant share of renters across the nation and put the country on a path towards stronger protections for all renters. Landlords and business interests will come out in full force to try to stop FHFA from protecting renters, so it is critical that advocates take action and make their voices heard. Advocates have until July 31, 2023, to weigh in with FHFA to demand strong renter protections by submitting a public comment and by signing on to the national support letter!
Background
Strengthening and enforcing renter protections is a key pillar of NLIHC’s national HoUSed campaign to advance the anti-racist policies and achieve the large-scale, sustained investments necessary to ensure renters with the lowest incomes have an affordable place to call home. Federal renter protections are needed to address the power imbalance between renters and landlords that puts renters at greater risk of housing instability, harassment, and homelessness and that fuels racial inequity.
FHFA agreed to consider renter protections as part of the Biden-Harris administration’s Blueprint for a Renters Bill of Rights, which was released in January 2023 after a months-long effort to gather input from stakeholders. In meetings with senior White House officials, NLIHC President and CEO Diane Yentel and NLIHC’s Tenant Leader Cohort urged the administration to take decisive action, including actions to establish renter protections for households living in properties with federally backed mortgages.
NLIHC’s top priorities for federal renter protections include:
- Source-of-income protections to prohibit landlords from discriminating against households receiving housing assistance and to give families greater choice about where to live.
- “Just cause” eviction standards and the right to renew leases to help protect renters from housing instability.
- Anti-rent gouging protections to stop landlords from dramatically raising rents.
- Requirements to ensure housing is safe, decent, accessible, and healthy for renters and their families.
At a minimum, any renter protections established by FHFA should be:
- Informed through continued engagement with renters and directly impacted people.
- Focused on racial and social equity as an explicit goal.
- Mandatory for all landlords and all rental properties, including multifamily and one-to-four-unit properties with an existing or future federally backed-mortgage.
- Paired with strong enforcement. Landlords who violate renter protections should be found to be in technical default and should not be eligible for future loans.
Take Action Today!
Join 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.
You can also support federal renter protections in the following ways:
- Submit a public comment by July 31. It is critical that FHFA hear from you and as many advocates as possible in support of renter protections! Resources to help advocates craft your comments, including a sample comment letter, and a direct portal to submit comments are available here.
- Sign on to NLIHC’s national support letter, calling on FHFA to create strong federal renter protections.
- Call on advocates in your community to participate! Share information with your networks and encourage renters and advocates to demand federal renter protections.