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Three children eating spaghetti at a kitchen table. One, wearing a striped shirt, is dangling a strand of spaghetti in the air and eating it from the end. The child on the right has a very messy face, and at left, a child in a high-chair is holding a spoon or fork.
Fair Housing

Proposed AFFH Rule Doesn’t Address Renters Directly—But It Should

Renters’ rights are fair housing rights. Before publishing a final Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule, HUD must specifically address the needs of renters. Here’s how.

Two-story brick apartment houses surrounded by evergreens and deciduous trees. At right are several parked cars. A woman in a pink top and gray leggings is raking leaves along the curb.
Policy

Albany’s Good-Cause Eviction Law Worked—Before the Courts Blocked It

As local tenant protections face judicial backlash across New York, tenants are pushing for a statewide version of the law.

An extreme close-up of a dollar bill showing the dome of the U.S. Capitol
Policy

Federal and State Dollars Could Be Used to Force Change in Exclusionary Towns

Strict zoning policies keep housing unaffordable. But there are strategies governments can implement to change exclusionary housing policies and promote the construction of more affordable housing.

A group of about 30 people stand in a large room with marble architectural details. All are smiling broadly. Three are holding signs: one says "#RightToCounsel" and two others say "Law Students for RTC."
Community Control

Three Ways AFFH Has Advanced Housing Justice

Grassroots organizers have used the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule to strengthen communities in the past. These examples show what we should advocate for in a new AFFH rule. 

Environment

Public Housing Must Be a Part of Fair Housing Planning

Because their programs provide the most deeply affordable housing in the country, public housing authorities should be both supported in improving fair housing outcomes and held to account when they fall short.

Housing

Why Bangor’s Affordable Housing Policies Won’t Address Homelessness

After the population of unhoused people in Bangor increased during the pandemic, the city put forward a series of affordable housing solutions. But the new policies may harm unhoused residents rather than help them.

A black and white photo of seven people protesting racial discrimination in housing on a street corner, as a 1950s-era Buick drives past. The signs read "Stop racial discrimination now!"; "I support open housing"; "Don't patronize picture floor plans"; and a hand-lettered sign says "There can be no innocent bystanders." Most of the people in the photo are people of color; two are hidden by their signs.
Fair Housing

AFFH’s Bumpy Road to Overcoming Segregation

The Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule was intended to force communities to take action to address housing segregation and discrimination. How has the rule evolved throughout the years, and will a proposed new rule finally put some teeth into the legal concept?

Fair Housing

AFFH: Third Time’s the Charm?

What’s the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing provision? How has it been enforced in the past? And what do fair housing advocates think of the proposed changes? Shelterforce’s new Under the Lens series—New AFFH Rules: What You Need to Know—explores that and more.

The card for Women of Color, an interview with Kea Mathis.
Organizing

Through Her Eyes: Community Organizing in Detroit

Kea Mathis organizes alongside tenants—mostly Black, women-led households—to create and support affordable, quality housing. “It is very hard . . . as a Black woman here, to be the one to try to ask the question first or stand up first,” says Mathis.

A 1953 postcard advertising a model home, a small Cape Cod with a stone front and two dormer windows. The side of the house is painted red.
Policy

Reforming Zoning in a Racist Market Still Worth It

In a racist society, markets cause racist housing outcomes, but nonetheless the influence of land use regulation shouldn’t be ignored.

HUD

Louisiana to Drop Lawsuits Against Katrina Survivors Over Recovery Grants

Louisiana sued thousands of homeowners for not following the rules in how they spent recovery grants. After a joint news investigation, the governor announced that the state won’t try to collect the money.

At left, tall apartment towers. At right, trees, In foreground, several mostly submerged cars in brown floodwaters, under a blue sky.
Policy

How the Inflation Reduction Act Can Protect Low-income Renters From Climate Change

Climate change is an especially large threat to low-income residents. The Inflation Reduction Act offers a chance to act.