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Researchers are Using AI to Get a Clearer Picture of Housing in the U.S.

Analysts are using artificial intelligence to supercharge their research by allowing them to comb through data faster. Though these AI tools can be error prone, they save time and housing researchers are optimistic about the future.

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Two young women in casual clothes in a modern office. On the far wall, a sign says "AT Research & Design Lab/Provided in Memory of Carol Ann"—with the rest of the name obscured by one of the women. Pegboard on the adjoining wall holds various tools, and the shelves contain boxes and software.
Reported Article

How Affordable Housing Providers Are Embracing Tech to Manage Housing

New software and web-based applications help speed up the recertification process for voucher holders, give tenants an easier way to request repairs and communicate with staff, and help disabled residents live more independent lives.

A black man, who is wearing glasses and holding a black and white tablet, speaks from a podium. He is wearing a yellow shirt and a brown striped jacket. In front the podium is a purple sign that reads, Responsible AI Symposium.
Reported Article

Training AI to Tackle Bias in the Mortgage Industry

As the mortgage industry becomes further automated, can artificial intelligence be trained to avoid replicating historic bias and expand access to loans for excluded borrowers? Some housing advocates are cautiously optimistic.

Closeup of a young woman in a yellow sweater and white shirt using her smartphone while sitting on a sofa in a bright living room.
Reported Article

Tech Tools Help Tenants Push Back Against Problematic Landlords

We’ve found more than a dozen examples of tenant-serving technology that help renters identify landlords, respond to eviction, fight back against housing discrimination, and more.

A person wearing glasses sits at a table with his hands on the keyboard of a laptop. On the screen is a denial for an application
Reported Article

Tenant Screening: A Billion-Dollar Industry with Little Oversight. What’s Being Done to Protect Renters?

Thousands of companies offer tenant screening tools that promise to make life easier for landlords and property managers. But reports show that the data these companies use is often riddled with errors and relies on information that has no bearing on whether someone will be a good tenant.

An illustration of five people standing in front of a digitized fence. They are all facing a digital fence that is blocking their path to blue high rise homes. Some of the homes have have lights on inside and "Apt. Available" signs in orange. There is a closed fence door.
Editor’s Note

Tech’s Rising Influence on Housing

Shelterforce’s Lillian Ortiz explains what you can expect in our new Under the Lens series—How Tech Is Changing Housing.

View of brown-skinned hands holding a cellphone with charging cable attached. On the ground nearby are power strips with several other phones being charge.
Reported Article

Cellphones Are a Lifeline for Unhoused People—But Barriers Abound

A lack of internet access and charging stations makes it challenging for unhoused folks to maintain a working cellphone, posing a threat to their safety and ability to follow up with service providers or connect with employers.

Reported Article

Rent Going Up? One Company’s Algorithm Could Be Why.

Texas-based RealPage’s YieldStar software helps landlords set prices for apartments across the U.S. With rents soaring, critics are concerned that the company’s proprietary algorithm is hurting competition.

Practitioner Voice

How Tax Assessments are Racist

Between biased property appraisals that undervalue Black-owned properties and biased tax assessments that levy an unfair burden, homeowners of color are flanked by a double-whammy of racism.

Opinion

Making Affordable Housing Easier to Find

We talk a lot about needing more affordable housing—but the affordable units that do exist can be very hard to locate, which hampers fair housing.

Cables plug into the back of a router
Community Development Field

Housers Build Bridges Over the Digital Divide

Internet connectivity has become equally important to households as basic utilities, but millions of people who live in affordable housing still lack access to devices and connections. Housing managers across the country are finding innovative ways to close the digital gap.

Housing

Keeping an Eye on Landlord Tech

The landlord tech industry, while alive and well prior to COVID-19, has ramped up in the past year to develop new ways to accumulate wealth at the expense of tenants. 

CDFIs

CDFIs “Rethink” Systems, But (Hopefully) Not Identity

We are definitely in some danger of losing a connection to the animating social movements that gave rise to the industry.