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Stock photo: On a wooden table, a red-handled rubber stamper rests on a manila envelope, out of which a piece of white paper is showing, with the word "Denied" stamped on it. The envelope rests partially on a computer keyboard.
Opinion

Insurance Redlining Is Back—But We Can Fight It

For decades, insurance regulators have resisted requiring the kind of disclosures that are now routine around mortgage lending. But that might change.

Reported Article

Housing Advocates Design a Better Homecoming for People Leaving Incarceration

Programs that offer reentry housing for formerly incarcerated people often replicate jail or prison settings. How can housing providers do better?

Concept image of hourglass with blue sand about halfway through the funnel, on a wooden tabletop next to the corner of a red-bordered calendar showing the last few days of the weeks (7-11, 14-17, etc.) including the 31st of the month.
Reported Article

Housing Equity in Limbo—Why Hasn’t Biden Finalized an Update to AFFH?

Last year it seemed like a new Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule was imminent, but it never happened. And now it’s late enough in the term that if it were finalized, next year’s Congress could invalidate it.

HOLC map of Oakland, California, with areas shaded in red, blue, yellow, and green. Around the edges of the map, in tiny type, are listed all the streets of the city. At the top, in elegant lettering, reads "Thomas Bros./Map of/Oakland/Berkeley/Alameda/San Leandro/Piedmont/Emeryville/Albany." The lettering gets smaller as it goes down the list. Inset into the top right of the map is a black-and-white map of Hayward.
Opinion

Redlining Maps Didn’t Affect Neighborhoods the Way You Think They Did

Home Owners’ Loan Corporation maps have long been blamed for racial inequities in today’s Black neighborhoods, but recent research shows that’s misleading.

Two parallel rows of massive columns, as of a courthouse or other official building, seen from one end. Perspective makes them appear to almost meet in the far distance.
Reported Article

Are Race-Based Lawsuits Affecting Community Lenders?

Shelterforce spoke with community-lending leaders and experts about the current mood across the sector. What, if anything, are organizations planning to do to avoid becoming the next target?

A white man with light brown hair and beard in suit and tie stands at a lectern in front of a bright backdrop in shades of pink and lavender. The words "Just Economy" are printed in light blue as part of the abstract design. The visible part of the sign on the lectern front says "NCRC/National/Community."
Reported Article

KeyBank and NCRC Are Back Together. What’s Different This Time?

The nonprofit is giving the big bank a shot at proving it’s not the “worst” for Black borrowers. But after getting burned by the lender during the last community benefits agreement, what guardrails can NCRC put in place to ensure KeyBank keeps its promises?

Interview

Not Only Building Buildings: The Black Community Developers Group

A conversation with Leatrice Moore, executive director of Black Community Developers Group, about the need for BCDG and plans for the future.

A young family of three seen from the back as they look at a house. From right: A light brown-skinned man with shaved head and chin whiskers in a blue chambray shirt and khakis points to the house, at something out of frame. His other arm is around a black-haired woman in a narrow-striped button-up white shirt over blue jeans. One of her arms is around the man's waist; with the other she holds a small dark-haired child in a pale blue top and black leggings and no shoes. The house is white with brown window trim, and a sold sign in one window.
Opinion

Targeting First-Generation Homebuyers Is a Great Way to Direct Downpayment Assistance—And It Could Be Better

The proposed program could shrink the racial homeownership gap while serving a wide cross-section of people. But it only addresses some of the results of past discrimination.

A row of small, two-story houses with pitched roofs on a paved street. They alternate in color between yellow and medium gray, and some have shrubs in the front yards. There are no cars n the street.
Reported Article

Soaring Property Insurance Rates Threaten Affordable Housing Development

Rapidly rising insurance premiums are forcing affordable housing developers to cut back on programming, lay off staff, and even sell. To add insult to injury, some insurers also seem to be adding penalties or withdrawing coverage for housing voucher holders.

Organizing

A Catalyst for Change in Oakland: Annette Miller

Community organizer Annette Miller has turned personal tragedy into a force for good. This video is part of Shelterforce’s Women of Color on the Front Lines series.

LIHTC

LIHTC: Are Little Changes Enough? A Shelterforce Webinar

There are reforms and expansions of Low-Income Housing Tax Credit afoot. But some in the field argue that we need to change the tax credit model of financing housing more deeply—or move away from it entirely. Join scholars and organizers as they discuss these issues and explore a path forward.

A young woman in gold-rimmed glasses looks skeptically at a sheet of paper. She is across a table from an older woman in a peach top whose back is to the camera. The young woman has wavy brown hair with red overtones and wears a top that's light on top and dark below the shoulders. They're in a brightly lit meeting room.
Reported Article

Common Homelessness Assessment Leads to Racial Disparities in Housing Placements

Intake questions about past evictions and mental health stopped families of color from accessing long-term housing support, but agencies in Arizona and elsewhere are asking new questions.