Fannie Mae (Fannie) and Freddie Mac (Freddie), the Government-Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) released on August 28 additional information about the previously announced tenant protections to which FHFA committed in July (see Memo, 7/15). Fannie and Freddie both released FAQs and policy frameworks in response to new multifamily lease standards that require new borrowers to provide tenants with (1) 30 days’ notice of any rent increases, (2) 30 days’ notice of any lease term expiration, and (3) a minimum of five days for late rental payments. In a statement released in July, NLIHC President and CEO Diane Yentel observed that “FHFA’s announced changes provide a bare minimum of tenant notification but fail to provide any of the protections needed to address the pressing challenges renters face in today’s brutal housing market.” Read Fannie’s press release here and Freddie’s press release here.
The policy standards will apply to all multifamily properties for which new loan applications with Fannie or Freddie are signed on or after February 28, 2025. Fannie Mae’s press release notes that the additional FAQ document and policy framework (also called the “policy grid”) will provide additional transparency to tenants and help lenders and borrowers implement the new requirements. Freddie Mac’s press release quotes Kevin Palmer, head of Multifamily for Freddie Mac, as explaining that “[a]lthough many borrowers already exceed these minimum standards, all will be required to meet the standards to obtain GSE financing in the future. The details we released today are intended to give lenders, borrowers and other market participants clearer expectations with regard to how we will implement, monitor and enforce the new requirement.”
NLIHC urges FHFA to immediately implement clear, strong, and enforceable renter protections, including those in the National Tenants Bill of Rights published last month by NLIHC, the National Housing Law Project, and the Tenant Union Federation, to prevent housing instability and homelessness, redress long-standing racial and social inequities, and advance housing justice. We encourage individuals, organizations, elected officials, and candidates for elected office to endorse the National Tenants Bill of Rights here.
Top priorities for FHFA renter protections, as outlined by NLIHC and the NLIHC-led Tenant Collective in response to FHFA’s Request for Information on Tenant Protections, include:
- Source-of-income protections to prohibit landlords from discriminating against households receiving housing assistance and to give families greater choice regarding 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.
Strong and enforceable renter protections are critical to any comprehensive strategy to end America’s housing and homelessness crisis. Other needed solutions, as outlined in NLIHC’s national HoUSed campaign, include investments to bridge the gap between incomes and housing costs through universal rental assistance, build and preserve homes affordable to households with the lowest incomes, and prevent evictions and homelessness through emergency rental assistance.
Read Fannie Mae’s press release here and Freddie Mac’s press release here.
Read more about the National Tenants Bill of Rights here. We encourage individuals, organizations, elected officials, and candidates for elected office to endorse the National Tenants Bill of Rights here!