Category: Housing
How your shadow credit score could decide whether you get an apartment
The vast tenant screening industry is subject to less regulation than credit scoring agencies, even though experts warn that algorithms could introduce racial or other illegal biases that can prevent people from getting housing. by Erin…
Reno Seeks to purchase motels as affordable housing instead of letting developers demolish them
The mayor of Reno did little to stop the razing of motels that housed low-income residents or to replace lost units. Following a ProPublica investigation, that may change. by Anjeanette Damon For more than…
Suspicious of fixes for affordable housing and health care
by Wade Rathke November 19, 2021 New Orleans A headline that promises to offer a “fix” for those of us who want affordable housing and healthcare has to rate as a “must read” in my…
Reno developer plans to demolish motel that serves as housing lifeline
Jeffrey Jacobs has been buying and demolishing Reno motels for years. He promises the low-income tenants who live there he’ll find them a better place. Displaced residents of the Castaway Inn paint a fuller picture of…
He Tore Down Motels Where Poor Residents Lived During a Housing Crisis. City Leaders Did Nothing.
by Anjeanette Damon, photography by David Calvert, special to ProPublica November 12, 2021 Co-published with Reno Gazette Journal For most of his life, Ernest Block has managed to stay one step ahead of homelessness. When he…
Homeownership gap widens
by Wade Rathke September 28, 2021 New Orleans When I wrote Citizen Wealth, published in 2009, I proudly recorded the role that ACORN played in increasing the homeownership rate of Black and Hispanic Americans…
The fight for rent control is global
by Wade Rathke September 25, 2021 Pearl River Talking to Sydnee Blum, ACORN’s head organizer in eastern Canada on Wade’s World, she told a shocking story of a member in one of the neighborhoods who…
Trump-appointed judge strikes down pandemic eviction moratorium
‘The CDC Must Appeal Immediately’ The pause on evictions was put in place to help stem the spread of Covid-19. by Andrea Germanos, staff writer Friday, February 26, 2021 A Trump-appointed federal judge in Texas on…
‘Eviction moratorium is not enough’: 200+ groups demand rent cancellation, debt relief
“To prevent an eviction disaster and the public health crisis that would come with it, we need immediate action that provides full debt relief.” by Andrea Germanos, staff writer Thursday, January 4, 2021 A diverse coalition…
Report shows corporate landlords received public funding yet still kicked out tenants
In Arizona ‘Subsidizing the Spread of Covid’ “Giving ‘Covid relief’ to those most likely to evict is like giving money to stop climate change to oil barons—it makes the problem worse.” by Kenny Stancil, staff writer…
Sanders slams Trump’s intransigence as millions lose unemployment lifeline
‘Unbelievably Cruel’ “People are losing their extended unemployment benefits,” said the senator from Vermont. “They’re going to be evicted from their apartments because the eviction moratorium is ending.” by Brett Wilkins, staff writer Sunday, December 27,…
Homeless squatters vs. gentrifiers
by Wade Rathke December 21, 2020 Pearl River Congress passed a skinny stimulus bill for $900 billion to win the “better than nothing” award for 2020. Whoopee! The bill does promise a bit of cash…
Rent squeeze
by Wade Rathke December 16, 2020 Atlanta As the team visits one family after another in apartment complexes in metro Atlanta, after we talk to them about voting, early and by mail, we have been…
Millions of tenants ‘headed for absolute disaster’ after new year, owing average of nearly $6,000 in rent and utilities
“This is like a Charles Dickens novel. It’s an evolving story of how people at the bottom are suffering.” by Julia Conley, staff writer Tuesday, December 8 Without a coronavirus relief package centered on helping working…
A deputy prosecutor was fired for speaking out against jail time for people who fall behind on rent
Arkansas prosecutor Josh Drake called the state’s criminal eviction statute “cruel” and “unconstitutional.” Criminal charges against tenants falling behind on rent have continued, even as the pandemic has worsened. by Maya Miller and Ellis Simani An…
Amid deadly and intensifying pandemic, and massive unemployment, Kushner-owned company moves to evict hundreds of tenants
“We don’t need slumlords running our country—we need to cancel rent and ensure that housing is a human right.” by Jake Johnson, staff writer Thursday, November 5 An apartment company co-owned by President Donald Trump’s senior…
New Trump WH guidance on eviction moratorium a blow to renter protections and public health
Issued ‘When No One Was Looking,’ “Public health evidence is clear: Eviction increases Covid-19 deaths and spread.” by Kenny Stancil, staff writer Wednesday, October 14 In a largely overlooked move late last week, the Trump administration—following…
The Kushners’ Freddie Mac loan wasn’t just massive, it came with unusually good terms, too.
Despite a history of underperforming properties, Kushner Companies received a near-record sum from a government-backed lender. Should it default, taxpayers could be forced to foot much of the bill. The agency says politics played no role….
The vultures are circling the housing market
by Wade Rathke September 21, 2020 New Orleans Following right behind the crisis that tenants are facing with the eviction situation clouded in different courts and interpretations and no stimulus in the offing, mortgage holders…
CDC’s eviction ban, please and maybe
by Wade Rathke September 16, 2020 New Orleans I didn’t want to be right on this, but from any reading of the Center for Disease Control’s federal eviction ban, it was clear that it was going…
Community land trusts could help heal segregated cities and reduce homelessness
Efforts to build wealth for Black Americans could focus on property ownership. Matt McClain/The Washington Post via Getty Images by Mark Roseland, Arizona State University and Christopher Boone, Arizona State University American cities represent part of the…
Navigating the eviction relief labyrinth
by Wade Rathke Saturday, September 5 Pearl River All of the headlines read that the Center for Disease Control (CDC) had directed no evictions for the rest of the year. Before we do the happy…
Trump eviction moratorium only delays—doesn’t prevent—housing crisis
“While an eviction moratorium is essential, it is a half-measure that extends a financial cliff for renters to fall off when the moratorium expires and back rent is owed.” by Kenny Stancil, staff writer Wednesday, September…
Number of unemployed people struggling to cover basic needs has nearly doubled since GOP killed $600 Federal boost
While Senate Republicans push for a “skinny” coronavirus relief bill, half of jobless Americans couldn’t pay for basic expenses in August, up from 27% in July. by Jessica Corbett, staff writer Wednesday, September 2 After Senate…
