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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speakers at a podium.
Tenant Organizing

Tenant Protections Undone: How Florida Organizers Are Moving Forward

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill that overrode dozens of local tenant protection laws won there in recent years. How are housing organizers in Florida fighting back? And what can other organizers do if they live in a state that is hostile to tenant protections?

Ten smiling people of varying ages and skin tones, all clad in purple T-shirts, stand at the far side of a garden, all of them holding shrubby green plants in black pots to be planted in the dark-brown newly turned soil. Toward the near side of the garden, a shovel lies waiting to be deployed. Behind the garden is a brick building with a mural showing adults and children raising their arms, mouths open in song or chant.
Policy

Supreme Court Decision: Good for Homeowners, Bad for Land Banks?

A SCOTUS ruling that protects a homeowner’s equity may end up benefiting speculators and hurting land banks.

A Black woman, wearing a white scarf and black robe and holding a microphone, speaks inside a room. Sitting are four people listening, and others are standing in the back.
Equity

Preparing Underinvested Communities for New Funding

Underinvested communities are at a disadvantage when it comes to attracting and deploying funding. The Center for Community Investment is helping to change that.

Open door to a new home with key and home shaped keychain.
Housing

A Critical Look at the Section 8 Program, a Webinar

In September, Shelterforce’s Shelby R. King was invited to participate in a virtual “Housing Hangout.” Panelists discussed the history of the Section 8 program, its strong points and failings, and ideas for large-scale reforms.

An across-the-street view of a large domed building with broad steps leading up to the pillared front. Two people on the sidewalk are taking a photo, and two others are strolling by. The sky is a deep autumnal blue and the trees lining the plaza are in bright fall reds and oranges.
Homeownership

West Virginia Tackles Vacancy With Tax Reform

In 2018, Shelterforce wrote about the Center for Community Progress’s recommendations for tax reform in West Virginia to address vacancy. Guided by CCP’s suggestions, the state auditor’s office has recently passed two laws to change its tax sales process and keep properties in use.

A night view of San Francisco, with a dark blue sky and golden lights shining in all the windows.
Policy

San Francisco Is Fighting to Keep Its Homeless Sweeps Going—With or Without Shelter

Courts are curbing cities’ ability to threaten, cite, or arrest people merely for being homeless. Now states and cities are searching for loopholes to avoid the injunctions.

View from across the street of a row of six apartment buildings, all three stories, in varying brick shades. All have square patches of lawn in front and wrought-iron fences with gates. At far right is parked a silver sedan. There are no people in the photo.
Housing

How It’s Working: Laws That Help Tenants and Nonprofits Buy Buildings

Shelterforce checks in on three communities that have passed policies giving tenants and nonprofits first dibs on purchasing property. Are these policies keeping residents in their homes?

Equity

Holding Redlining’s Perpetrators Accountable

Richard and Leah Rothstein talk about their new book, Just Action, inspired by readers of The Color of Law who asked what could be done about the enduring effects of a century of unconstitutional housing discrimination.

A group of people stand around a person with a megaphone. There are signs in the back of the room.
Policy

What Happened to Rent Control in Minneapolis?

Minneapolis voters gave their city council the power to enact rent control by ordinance. Two years later, the future of rent control is still in limbo.

A stylized drawing of an urban scene done in the style of a blueprint. A crane looms over rows of buildings.
Policy

Will ‘Critical Race Theory’ Attacks Undermine Urban Planning Education?

Laws meant to restrict professors from discussing how race has shaped public policy could target the factual discussion of housing policy and its history—but professors say they don’t intend to go along.

Several people in winter clothing stand outdoors on a sunny day holding signs. At center, a light-skinned woman in late middle age holds a sign that says "Safe Homes for All," written in red paint. Other people, partly visible, hold printed signs calling for rent control. Behind the protesters are hemlock trees and beyond them, partly visible, are tall buildings.
Policy

‘Renters Are Struggling’: Economists Back Tenant-Led Push for Federal Rent Control

“We have seen corporate landlords—who own a larger share of the rental market than ever before—use inflation as an excuse to hike rents and reap excess profits beyond what should be considered fair and reasonable.”

A small, one-story, gray-shingled cottage with a red door and white trim, with overhanging trees on the left and right.
Policy

FHA Changes Could Make ADU Construction More Affordable

The Federal Housing Administration may soon allow homeowners to count projected rent toward their qualifying income to build an accessory dwelling unit. While ADU advocates call the change “monumental,” the proposed policy isn’t perfect.