Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer recently denounced a real estate company for its “predatory” practices in buying more than one-hundred apartment buildings in Brooklyn. Speaking to a group of tenants and other disgruntled rabblerousers, Schumer said, There is nothing more despicable than these predatory real estate equity firms trying to make billions of dollars on…
Background: Sen. Bernie Sanders has stated the fundamental position of the housing justice movement when he said, “I believe that every American should have a fundamental right to safe, decent, and affordable housing.” Providing every American with safe, decent, and affordable housing is what the movement means by housing justice. If justice means treating individuals…
Housing activists frequently demand that long-time residents of a community have a voice in new development within a neighborhood, particularly when gentrification threatens to change the character of the area. In many instances, they lobby government officials to force a developer to “negotiate” with community representatives. But these “negotiations” are simply a cover for extortion….
Political pundit Adam Johnson takes issue with a trend among landlords to “rebrand” themselves as “housing providers” because “landlord” is a feudal term. He writes, But landlords do not comprise a vulnerable or protected class; they are not dispossessed, historically marginalized, or a minority group in urgent need of reclaiming their humanity. Conveniently, Johnson ignores…
In November, a “Right to Food” referendum will be on the ballot in Maine. If approved, the Declaration of Rights in Maine’s constitution would be amended: All individuals have a natural, inherent and unalienable right to food, including the right to save and exchange seeds and the right to grow, raise, harvest, produce and consume…
Reliable Properties, the owner of a 24-unit apartment complex in Kansas City recently informed residents that their leases would not be renewed. The owner wants to renovate the units to take advantage of rising rents in the area. Many of the residents are elderly and have lived in the complex for years. They are obviously…
Charlie Simms, the owner of a development company in Ohio, makes a point that needs to be included in discussions regarding affordable housing. Housing advocates consider affordable housing to mean below market rate housing. However, as Simms writes, “When builders and developers speak of affordable housing we’re talking about how to build homes that the…
Since March 2020, we have been subjected to an endless series of mandates and prohibitions. Businesses were ordered to close. We weren’t allowed to have large gatherings, even in our own homes. Some states—such as Texas and Florida—have prohibited private businesses from requiring their employees to be vaccinated. Biden has proposed a law to require…
A week after taking office, Biden set a goal of conserving 30 percent of America’s land and water by 2030—a plan called “30 by 30.” Currently, about 12 percent of the nation’s land and 25 percent of its waters are permanently protected from new development or resource extraction. Biden took a large step towards his…
In an opinion piece on Politico, housing advocates Cea Weaver and Paul Williams argue that “democrats would be fools to slash Biden’s housing plan.” At a proposed cost of $327 billion, that housing plan, along with other entitlements proposed by Biden, are part of “long-overdue expansions of the welfare state.” Not surprisingly, the authors do…
Sometimes, a guy just wants to have fun. This past week, President Biden announced that after a two-year sabbatical because of the pandemic, Burning Man will officially return in 2022. The nine-day event will be held on the White House lawn beginning August 28. When asked how 70,000 people were going to fit onto the…