Housing

WASHINGTON – This week, Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., introduced the Crisis Housing Act establishing a new automatic housing assistance program to provide emergency rental assistance vouchers to households during natural disasters or economic recessions.  “When responding to an unforeseen disaster... Read More

MIAMI — As the tail end of one of the most active hurricane seasons in history nears, Miami-Dade County appears once again poised to emerge unscathed. The region dodged hurricanes and tropical storms that posed a potential threat to South... Read More

WASHINGTON — Nearly 25 years ago, President Bill Clinton vowed to “end welfare as we know it,” and Congress bought in, passing landmark legislation designed to help millions of low-income Americans find work and get off the rolls for good.... Read More

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic created a global economic downturn, the U.S. faced a mounting affordable housing crisis. In March, the National Low Income Housing Coalition estimated that the U.S. needs at least 7 million more affordable units to sufficiently house extremely... Read More

WASHINGTON — Douglas Waterbury owned or managed dozens of rental properties in and around Oswego, N.Y., and for decades he allegedly used that power to demand sexual favors from financially strapped tenants and applicants who were desperate for a place... Read More

PROSPER, Texas — When half a dozen California families arrived in a limo-style bus for a daylong tour of suburban homes for sale north of Dallas on a recent Saturday, the sun was shining but the temperature had dipped below... Read More

WASHINGTON - Two months ago, Cincinnati City Councilmember P.G. Sittenfeld told attendees at the NewDEAL Leaders Conference in Washington that he had a plan to remove a significant barrier to housing affordability in his city. This week, he and his... Read More

WASHINGTON - Rep. Kathleen Rice, D-N.Y., is leading a congressional effort to urge the U.S. Justice Department to open an investigation into potential fair housing violations exposed in a recent report in Newsday, a Long Island newspaper. Using undercover testers... Read More

WASHINGTON — More and more people are living on the streets, in makeshift encampments or their cars — what the federal government calls “other places not suitable for human habitation.” While Washington, D.C., lawmakers are sympathetic and ready to increase... Read More

Young people facing homelessness as they age out of the foster care system soon could have easier access to federal housing vouchers. Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, is joining with Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, a Republican, to propose legislation... Read More

WASHINGTON - Rep. Norma Torres, D-Calif., vowed to fight housing insecurity in her district and across the United States following her elevation Thursday to co-chair of the New Democrat Coalition Housing Task Force. Rep. Torres joins fellow co-chairs Rep. Denny... Read More

WASHINGTON - The New Democrat Coalition endorsed four pieces of housing legislation it sees as "actionable solutions" to help Americans who are struggling to find homes in a market in which they are increasingly scarce and increasingly expensive. The endorsements... Read More

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Cities and counties in Southern California will have to plan for the construction of 1.3 million new homes in the next decade, a figure more than three times what local governments had proposed over the same period,... Read More

WASHINGTON - Representatives John Katko and Anthony Brindisi have launched a bipartisan effort to hold the international commission that manages outflows from Lake Ontario accountable for recent historic flooding. Katko, a Republican, and Brindisi, a Democrat, have gotten the Government... Read More

In the wake of a scathing, bipartisan letter from lawmakers, the Department of Veterans Affairs says it will refund $100 million in fees erroneously charged to thousands of exempted veterans who participated in the VA Home Loan Program. In June,... Read More

PORTLAND, Ore. — When Oregon’s political leaders debated solutions to a housing crisis that was forcing renters from their homes and sending prices through the roof, they had a central goal in mind: avoid the fate of their neighbor to... Read More

DETROIT — Dwight Smith never thought much about the six-foot-high wall that snakes a half-mile through his northwest neighborhood near Eight Mile. He became aware of it as a middle schooler in the 1950s, when classmates talked about which side... Read More

CLYDE, N.C. — It’s birthday party time here, which means there are gifts and cupcakes and some chartreuse juice the children slurp with lip-smacking gusto. Everybody sings “Happy Birthday” to the birthday girl: the little littles, the tweens fresh from... Read More

Cities with fewer than 200,000 residents grew faster than larger metropolises between 2017 and 2018 as high housing prices chased many people away from big cities and their closest suburbs. The biggest cities grew by a collective 326,000 people, less... Read More

LOS ANGELES — Two years ago, Los Angeles began testing an alternative to homeless shelters called safe parking, giving people living in their cars a secure spot to sleep at night. The first site was quickly deemed a success, so... Read More

WASHINGTON — Public housing authorities say they were blindsided by a proposed federal rule banning many immigrants from receiving housing assistance — and, they said, they will fight to keep it from being implemented, even if that means ending up... Read More

For the second time in five days, a conservative Republican member of the House has blocked a long overdue $19 billion disaster bill. Representative Thomas Massie, R-Ky., said that if Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic leaders had thought the... Read More

This week, U.S. Representative Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, and U.S. Representative David McKinley, R-W.V., introduced the Clean Up Our Neighborhoods Act of 2019, authorizing the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to make grants to states to eliminate residential and commercial... Read More

This week, U.S. Representatives Brad Schneider D-Ill., Susan W. Brooks R-Ind., Jennifer Wexton D-Va., and Brian Fitzpatrick R-Penn. introduced legislation to extend clear and consistent non-discrimination housing protections to LGBTQ individuals. H.R. 2402, the Fair and Equal Housing Act of... Read More

WASHINGTON — For those who’ve been locked up in prison for years, finding a home on the outside can be rough. Parole restrictions may limit where former inmates can live. Public housing and housing vouchers may be off-limits, and many... Read More