Tag: 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…
In San Francisco, hundreds of homes sit vacant
In spite of a growing Department of Homelessness with an annual budget of $598 million, eligible people still wait months or even years after being approved for assisted housing. Meanwhile, hundreds of units remain unused. by…
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…
All-cash companies. Too good to be true?
Even if these companies are not intrinsically predatory, their play for the most part seems to be using their databases to get around the exorbitant real estate agent, appraisal, and closing fees, and I suspect collect…
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…
Slave-built infrastructure still creates wealth in US, suggesting reparations should cover past harms and current value of slavery
by Joshua F.J. Inwood, Penn State and Anna Livia Brand, University of California, Berkeley Sunday, February 14, 2021 The Port of Savannah used to export cotton picked by enslaved laborers and brought from Alabama to Georgia…
‘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,…
The government promised to return Ancestral Hawaiian land, then never finished the job
Native Hawaiians are still waiting for state and federal officials to fulfill the promises of land legislation that was signed into law 25 years ago. “Justice delayed is justice denied,” said one former governor. by Rob…
Low-income voters showed up for Biden. Now they need relief.
People didn’t turn out in record numbers in a pandemic to vote for a return to normal. By Sarah Anderson, Margot Rathke November 12, 2020 Joe Biden is headed to the White House, and he has…
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…
1.3 million new unemployment claims spotlight consequences of refusing relief package
“As Trump and his Senate allies prioritize advancing their radical judicial agenda, millions of Americans remain jobless, families are battling food insecurity, and tens of thousands of small businesses are shutting their doors for good.” by…
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….
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…
Survey shows nearly half in US suffering serious economic hardship—and situation ‘going to get worse’
“There is nothing for the people we surveyed who earn under $100,000 a year to fall back on.” by Kenny Stancil, staff writer Friday, September 11 As the United States endures its six month of the…
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…
Eviction fears mount as grace period for federal moratorium expires
‘Coming to a Town Near You.’ “It is morally obscene that the American people have to rely on GoFundMe to pay for rent and food,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). by Kenny Stancil, staff writer Tuesday,…
Millions stuck at home with no plumbing, kitchen or space to stay safe
Laura Ungar and Elizabeth Lucas, Kaiser Health News May 12, 2020 In nearly half a million American homes, washing hands to prevent COVID-19 isn’t as simple as soaping up and singing “Happy Birthday” twice while scrubbing….
Pandemic is pushing Wall Street suburbs and home garden space
by Wade Rathke New Orleans Rumor or reality? I wasn’t sure. My daughter had heard from a real estate agent who specializes in New Orleans historic districts like the French Quarter, Marigny, Bywater, and elsewhere…
Tens of thousands take part in Covid-19 rent strike across US on May Day
“People aren’t striking because they don’t feel like paying rent. They’re striking because they can’t pay rent.” by Jake Johnson, staff writer Friday, May 1 Tens of thousands of people across the United States are expected…
