Tag: rent

Who Can Afford Housing in Madison, Wisconsin?

The city is growing fast and building a lot of housing. But the new housing isn’t keeping pace with the need, especially for high-income and extremely low-income earners.

Egg Prices and Rents—What Do They Have in Common?

Avian flu gave companies cover to price gouge. Could the attention to lack of housing supply do the same for landlords?

Instead of Toys, These Organizers Want You to Give Rent Money

Rent for Moms is a fundraising campaign looking to help 50 single Black moms in select cities retain or obtain housing by Christmas. Under...

Fighting Back Against Corporate Landlords—A Shelterforce Webinar

Shelterforce recently hosted a conversation about how to fight, and win, against corporate landlords and their extractive business models. Watch the video or read the transcript.

Mid-Lease Rent Hikes Surprise Affordable Housing Tenants

Residents of two LIHTC developments in Northern Virginia were informed that their rent would be increasing in 30 days, even if their leases weren’t ending for months. Is this part of a larger problem?

Minneapolis, St. Paul Voters Say ‘Yes’ to Rent Stabilization

Despite an all-out effort by the housing industry to stop them, two rent stabilization initiatives were given the green light following this month’s vote.

Universal Housing Vouchers: A Promise or a Pipe Dream?

President Biden promised to expand the Housing Choice Voucher program so that everyone who qualifies for a voucher gets one. What exactly would that change entail, and how long could it be before we see it happen?

Tenant Advocates Win as Security Deposit Bill Is Vetoed in Baltimore

Baltimore's mayor vetoed a “Renter’s Choice” law after housing advocates warned of the predatory potential of selling deposit alternatives to struggling tenants.

Now and Then: Rent Control, Rental Assistance, and Universal Vouchers

In the second installment of updates to Shelterforce articles of old, we check in on how well some of the recommendations, predictions, and worries about rent control, rental assistance, and universal vouchers have aged.

Security Deposit Alternatives: The Misleading Marketing of ‘Renter’s Choice’

Dozens of cities and states are considering legislation allowing alternatives to upfront security deposits, such as "security deposit insurance." The only problem? It's not actually insurance.

Housing Organizing in the Year of the Pandemic

California housing organizers reflect on what changes, and what stays the same, during a pandemic.

We Need Emergency Rental Assistance to Address COVID-19 Fallout

Stimulus funding should be prioritized to stabilize the housing market by providing emergency rental assistance, with adequate resources allotted for state and local governments in a timely and efficient manner.

Relief from the Rent

Rental assistance has been included in the House Democrats’ financial package. It would be none too soon for the people left out of overwhelmed state and local efforts.

What Would It Mean to Cancel Rent?

The growing organizing demand raises a host of questions for the affordable housing movement.

Nonprofit Housing Providers Face Down COVID-19

As organizers struggle to get strong eviction moratoriums passed and enforced around the country, there’s one sector where evictions during the pandemic were not...

Ilhan Omar Proposes Bill to Cancel Rent, Mortgage Payments During Pandemic

A bill announced today by Rep. Ilhan Omar would release tenants and homeowners from housing payments until the national emergency is lifted, and would make up the losses to landlords and lenders through a federal fund.

HUD Urged to Make Tenant Income Adjustments Automatic by April 1

Preventing catastrophe when eviction moratoriums lift requires reducing tenants' rent quickly—which advocates say is fully within HUD's power.

An Eviction Moratorium Is Not Enough—Suspend Rent

What will people do when they’re expected to pay back rent after the crisis is over? Eviction moratoriums are not enough to prevent a homelessness crisis.

Rents Will Only Go So Low, No Matter How Much We...

Why doesn't market rate housing seem to bring rents down to where the lowest income people can afford them?

Q: Does Airbnb Cause Rents to Increase?

A: Yes! Since hosts can make 50 to 200 percent more on short-term rentals than on long-term rentals, Airbnb affects purchase prices as well.