California Governor Gavin Newsom gave low-income tenants protection from rent gouging, approving statewide rent control legislation today. California is only the third state to do this, following Oregon in March of this year and New York in June. The new limit will not only cap annual rent increases, it will also provide tenants protection from … Continue reading California third in nation to enforce statewide rent control

The Senate Appropriations Committee approved a modest increase in affordable housing and community development funding last week for Fiscal Year 2020. It provides $2.3 billion more than FY 2019 funding levels. This is $11.9 billion more than the Trump administration requested in its FY 2020 budget. This is good news for low-income renters, who would … Continue reading Senate committee approves modest increase in FY 2020 affordable housing spending

HUD recently announced a new initiative to help foster youth secure affordable housing. Foster youth face many challenges once they age out of the system, and one of the biggest is finding somewhere to live when they leave foster care. HUD’s new Fostering Youth to Independence (FYI) Initiative will provide rental assistance and support services … Continue reading HUD announces new housing assistance for youth leaving foster care

Separate decisions made on Wednesday by President Trump and HUD Secretary Ben Carson each put blame on California officials for their homeless population.  Carson rejected a request from California officials that included 50,000 more Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers to address homelessness. And later that day, President Trump told reporters that the Environmental Protection Agency … Continue reading Trump Administration faults CA officials on state homeless crisis

Senator Bernie Sanders outlined a sweeping affordable housing plan in his 2020 campaign for the presidency, calling for a national rent control policy and making Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers an entitlement. Speaking last week at a union hall in Las Vegas, Sanders also proposed funding to modernize public housing, combat homelessness, and strengthen fair … Continue reading Sanders affordable housing plan proposes national rent control

HUD’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a report finding no evidence of misconduct by Secretary Ben Carson related to a controversy surrounding efforts to purchase expensive furniture for his office.  The investigation focused on whether Carson and his wife improperly tried to purchase a dining set that cost $31,561 as part of an office … Continue reading HUD Inspector General finds no misconduct by Carson in furniture controversy

The City of Seattle, Washington adopted new inclusionary zoning policies last spring to push private developers into building more affordable housing. Seattle joins a growing list of other communities that have used zoning regulations to benefit low-income renters. Inclusionary zoning policies were first developed in the 1970s. They were a response to zoning regulations that … Continue reading Inclusionary Zoning: One piece of the affordable housing puzzle