June 03, 2021

The US Department of Housing and Urban Development is expected to establish a $100 million initiative to increase Black homeownership in traditionally redlined neighborhoods. The funds would pay for increased down payments given to recipients of Federal Housing Administration loans and would give borrowers instant ownership equity. The Biden administration views this as part of a larger effort to address racial discrimination in housing. 

A state agency in Texas recently announced Houston is excluded from Texas’s allotted $1 billion in federal flood mitigation funding, despite a history of perpetual flooding. Meanwhile, four smaller cities in Harris County received $90 million in total. Some Houston officials and residents believe state partisan tensions played a role in the decision. Shirley Ronquillo, a community activist in Houston’s East Aldine neighborhood, believes the lack of funding is a missed opportunity to provide needed assistance to distressed communities of color: “With the lack of support from the state, the fear is that once again, we’re not going to get the funding that we need and therefore we will continue to flood.”

New Jersey could become the first state to limit how landlords use criminal background checks when considering new tenants. The Fair Chance in Housing Act would require landlords to assess applicants as individuals and provide a conditional acceptance before considering their past convictions. “What we are seeking to make sure is that people who have paid their debt to society are allowed to move on with their lives in a productive way. Access to housing after incarceration is truly a stabilizing force for so many,” says the bill’s cosponsor, state senator Troy Singleton.

Last week, the New York City Council voted to increase the value of rent vouchers for people experiencing homelessness. The new measure would link voucher values to roughly the rates of Section 8. Councilmember Stephen Levin, the bill’s sponsor, says it will help voucher holders access nearly 72,000 additional apartments throughout the city. “While there were concerning concessions built in at the last hour, this is an enormous step towards preventing shelter entry and enabling those in shelter to quickly exit to permanent housing,” said the Family Homelessness Coalition.