May/Jun 1994
Issue #75
Organizing and Getting Results
In Baltimore, some tenants found that not only were they paying high rents for to live in decrepit apartments, promised repairs would never materialize thanks to the protection their landlord would get during bankruptcy procedures. With the help of the Community Law Center and other nonprofit groups, the tenants organized. In bankruptcy court, they argued that repairs were owed them in exchange for their rents, and that made them “creditors” as surely as those to whom the landlord owed money. The judge agreed. An article about a group of squatters in New York City who find and rehabilitate “abandoned,” city-owned buildings. They work long, hard hours under dreadful conditions. They pour sweat and dollars into their efforts. And they believe that all this gives them the “right” to call their new homes theirs. And Peter Dreier writes about the National Voter Registration Act, which allows us to register when we apply for or renew our driver’s license, among other places
Turf Wars
Squatters, or homesteaders, in New York City renovate abandoned buildings – and then try to prevent eviction by the city.
Start Your Engines: The Housing Movement and the Motor Voter Law
The Motor Voter law, which associates voter registration with drivers licenses, can improve voter turnout and could have important ramifications for the housing movement.
Holding Landlords Accountable
When landlords file for bankruptcy, can tenants get any protection or repairs?
In This Issue
A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to repeat a rite of citizenship – voting. For just about two decades, I’ve been stepping into the booth, drawing the curtain […]
Shelter Shorts
ACORN Tenant Union Launched in Public Housing One of the worst legacies of the Reagan-Bush years is the state of the nation’s public housing. While the need for low-rent housing […]
Pro-Integrative Housing
The Suburban Racial Dilemma: Housing and Neighborhoods, by W. Dennis Keating, 1994 Philadelphia: Temple University Press. 288 pp $49.95 cloth, $22.95 paper Reviewed by Donald L. DeMarco All across America, […]
NHI Activities
Things move fast around here. Carole Norris, National Housing Institute’s newest board member, has just joined the National Congress of Community Economic Development as vice president. She can be reached […]
Washington News and Views
Community Reinvestment Act Reform Update In July, 1993, President Clinton requested that the four banking agencies begin a comprehensive review and overhaul of the regulation for the Community Reinvestment Act […]