When a Land Bank Starts a Land Trust
An Ohio land bank adds to its developing power through a nonprofit land trust.
“It’s Like You’re Walking But Your Feet Ain’t Going Nowhere.”
In Texas, evacuees from Hurricane Katrina wonder if their lives will ever get back to something approaching normal.
Private Money, Public Housing: Will PETRA Work?
PETRA, the Obama administration’s $350 million effort to reform public housing, first proposed in February 2010, has many in the housing field skeptical.
Leading the Way to Green
In Virginia, a statewide incentive program has put new affordable housing projects out in front of most market-rate developers when it comes to green design.
One Mission, One Stop for Veterans in Denver
Service providers come together around an ambitious goal to end veteran homelessness in the Denver metro area.
Can the Senate Sway Bush on a Foreclosure Rescue Plan?
As of this writing, the Senate Banking Committee seems to be nearing a consensus on its housing rescue plan aimed at preventing foreclosures on homes that are covered by troubled mortgages. In an election...
What Foreclosure Crisis? Community Land Trusts Offer Secure Homeownership
The current foreclosure crisis that is sweeping our country illustrates how vulnerable homeowners are — especially low- and moderate-income households. Some reports estimate that over 40 percent of foreclosures are occurring with homeowners who...
Foreclosure Nightmare Continues for “Famous” Chicago Renters
Esteban Cruz digs his hands into a big plastic tub of letters and documents bundled and labeled by month.
This mass of paper represents the past year the tenants of his building in Chicago’s...
Single Point of Contact Won
Having a “single point of contact” for borrowers has been a repeated theme among those advocating for reform of HAMP, such as Sen. Jeff Merkley.
According to Treasury, in guidance released Wednesday that applies to...
Amending NJ’s Affordable Housing Law
For four hours yesterday, New Jersey housers, advocates, and legislatures deliberated changes to the state’s affordable housing law, currently enforced by the Council on Affordable Housing, an entity Gov. Chris Christie vowed to “gut”...
DeMarco Blocks Home Recovery, California Attorney General Harris Gets It Right
California Attorney General Kamala Harris recently subpoenaed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for information on their foreclosure proceedings in her state. While it is too early to say what will come from the subpoena,...
Lessons in Revitalization
Having lived in D.C. for nearly a quarter century now, I am still flabbergasted to see white people pushing baby carriages on streets in my old neighborhood on H Street in Northeast. Now a...
Yes They Can. And They Bloody Well Did
As you watch the games of the XXX Olympiad, you should know that something extraordinary has been happening in a low-income neighborhood near the main Olympic stadium. A different kind of flame is being...
Justice in Delaware! Blocked Housing Project to Move Forward
“It’s unfortunate that your organization was in the newspaper today.” The words came to me over the telephone from a prominent funder that supports non-profits in Delaware. The call...
Has the Housing Movement Found Something to Unite Around?
I've been around the affordable housing field for a little while (not as long as many of our readers though I realize), and I've sat through a lot of discussions...
Increasing Rents, Decreasing Units in Affordable Rental Market
I had the privilege of joining Eric Belsky, the director of the Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS) at Harvard University at the launch of its 2013 State of the...
Justice in Delaware, Revisited
The following is an update to a 2012 Rooflines piece by Van Temple about the struggle of a mobile home community evicted from its grounds. Temple's piece ends in...
Lifting the Voices of Housing Voucher Holders
My organization, the Maryland ACLU, recently helped launch a new website, www.housingmobility.org. Who needs another housing website? In fact, yes, there is a need.Until now, housing mobility has not...
Affordable Housing Strikes Back
George Lucas seems to be on a mission to be an affordable housing developer—or at least to use affordable housing to get back at his cranky neighbors.The Star Wars...
The REAL Rental Housing Issue
We know a few things about the majority of very low-income renters: They live in private market housing, not tax credit projects or public housing. They receive no housing subsidies. They are paying far...