Tag: HUD

Canaries in the Coal Mine: HUD’s Failure to End Childhood Lead Exposure in Federally Assisted Housing

The Petrie-Flom Center Staff Leave a comment

by Anna Aguilar and Sidney Lee

In 1971, Congress tasked the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) with establishing procedures to “eliminate as far as practicable” the dangers of lead poisoning. Yet, HUD has repeatedly fallen short of accomplishing this. More than 50 years later, for children in federally assisted housing in the United States, lead exposure is hardly a thing of the past. Government inaction by HUD has consistently marred efforts to eliminate lead poisoning. HUD typically only takes action to prevent lead poisoning in federally assisted housing when compelled by Congress or a government watchdog. Protecting the health of children should not be reserved only when an agency is compelled to do so – especially when delay places children in jeopardy.

Any amount to lead exposure is hazardous, and young children – especially those under age six – are at particular risk. Even small amounts of lead can cause severe and irreversible harm to the brain. For the 3.6 million children currently living in homes with lead-based paint, each day is a gamble with their health.

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Housing Equity Week in Review

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Here’s the latest news from housing law and equity, for the week of November 6-10, 2017:

  • The Public Health Institute released a study that calculates the number of children with lead poisoning in the United States.
  • A new law in Seattle will prevent landlords from screening tenants based on their criminal history, via The Regulatory Review.
  • “It’s time to stop ignoring our crumbling housing code enforcement” — coverage of APHA2017 sessions on housing code enforcement, featuring CPHLR Director Scott Burris and the Five Essential Public Health Law Services Framework developed in collaboration with ChangeLab Solutions and the Network for Public Health Law, via Public Health Newswire.
  • San Jose has a new plan to get downtown landlords to clean up their vacant storefronts using a pilot program that would create a registry of vacant buildings and fine property owners who are neglecting their properties, via NextCity.
  • Civil rights groups are fighting the suspension of a HUD rule they say helps low-income families move to better neighborhoods, via CityLab.
  • Texans voted to loosen some of the tightest home lending restrictions in the country. via Governing.

Housing Equity Week in Review

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Here’s the latest news from housing law and equity, from the week of August 21-28, 2017:

  • Economists from the Federal Reserve of San Francisco show the enduring negative effects of redlining on communities of color, via the New York Times.
  • The Atlanta Black Star published a review of the impact and persisting health effects of segregation on communities of color.
  • A new report by the Urban Institute shed light on the costs of segregation for metropolitan regions. Read a review of the report on How Housing Matters: https://howhousingmatters.org/articles/what-are-the-costs-of-segregation/
  • New York Magazine ran an expose about HUD under the leadership of Ben Carson
  • As relief efforts continue in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, we are reminded by the July 2016 piece on privately owned subsidized housing in flood areas in Houston, via the Houston Chronicle.

Housing Equity Week in Review

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Here’s the latest news in housing law and equity, for the week of August 15-21, 2017:

  • The Urban Institute has released a new tool about using fair housing data. The report contains details on data sources related to demographics and segregation, housing, land use, disability, education, employment, environment, health, and public safety.
  • The Washington Post reports that California lawmakers are planning on putting housing as a top priority after the summer.
  • Richard Rothstein, author of the critically acclaimed book The Color of Law, writes an op-ed for the LA Times about the role law plays in maintaining racial segregation in Los Angeles.
  • From the Brookings Cafeteria Podcast: How past racial segregation predicts modern-day economic (im)mobility.
  • Durham County, the county with the highest eviction rate in North Carolina, is taking on the eviction crisis by launching an eviction diversion program. Story via IndyWeek.
  • Bill de Blasio signed the first law in the nation to establish a right to counsel for the poor in housing cases. Story via CityLab.
  • New York Magazine and ProPublica collaborate on an in-depth look into Ben Carson’s HUD.

Housing Equity Week in Review

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Here is our weekly round-up of developments from the world of housing law and health. For the week of August 7-14, 2017:

  • HUD released its “Worst Case Housing Needs” report to Congress providing national data and analysis of the problems facing low-income renting families. CityLab offers a summary of the report here.
  • Is California’s housing laws making its housing crisis worse? Natalie Delgadillo at Governing analyzes the impact of the 1985 Ellis Act, which allows landlords to mass-evict tenants in order to leave the rental business.
  • A new study from University of Hawaii researchers finds homelessness and inadequate housing are major causes of unnecessary hospitalizations. Read more.
  • HUD is inviting paper submissions for a symposium on housing and health. Submissions will be accepted through September 30. Full details here.
  • A new Colorado law requires landlords to give 21-days notice of rent increases and lease terminations, via HousingWire.
  • Amy Clark at the National Housing Conference offers an explanation of YIMBYism — “yes, in my backyard” — via NHC’s Open House blog.

Housing Equity Week in Review

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Below is our weekly review of news and publications related to housing law and equity. This week — July 17-23, 2017 — included news about zoning, segregation and lead poisoning:

  • Dr. Herbert L. Needleman died on July 18. Dr. Needleman was a pioneer in the study of the impacts of lead on children’s cognitive ability. Dr. Needleman’s research was a catalyst for wide ranging safety regulations. His obituary appeared in the Washington Post.
  • Jake Blumgart of PlanPhilly writes for Slate on the neighborhood that he grew up in, the persistence of microsegregation, and the importance of continuing to push for diversity in neighborhoods.
  • ThinkProgress published a series of articles about lead poisoning.
  • Toledo considers Rochester, NY and its success in reducing the incidence of lead poisoning as a model, via the Toledo Blade.
  • The National Apartment Association and the National Multifamily Housing Council released a new report on the need of affordable housing units to meet demand in US metro areas by 2030.
  • After a long battle between the Westchester, NY, and HUD, the department decided that zoning in Westchester is not exclusionary, although similar data was rejected multiple times in the past. Story via the Journal News.

Housing Equity Week in Review

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Affordable housing was the biggest topic of conversation last week, May 29-June 4. Here’s the week in review for housing equity and the law:

  • Vox published an interactive tool with “Everything you need to know about the affordable housing debate.” It covers issues from “What is affordable housing?” to gentrification, section 8, and zoning.
  • California’s State Senate and Assembly passed multiple laws to tackle the affordability crisis in California cities. Laws include more funding and relaxed regulation to build affordable housing units. Coverage via KQED.
  • Last week, HUD secretary Ben Carson said that, to a large extent, “poverty is a state of mind.” Today, Carson clarified that “state of mind” is just one component. Affordable housing advocates like Diane Yentel, of the National Coalition of Low Income Housing, responded that housing poverty is due in large to HUDs budget, not state of mind. Coverage via NPR.
  • The mortgage interest tax deduction is a controversial program that many critique as being beneficial mainly to the rich. Eliminating the mortgage interest tax deduction could make houses much more affordable. CityLab offers a way to make homes 10 percent more afforable.
  • Five hundred people lined up to try to get an apartment in a 88 unit development in Philadelphia, shedding light on the city’s affordability and homelessness crisis. Coverage via Philly.com.

Housing Equity Week in Review

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We’re back this week with more news from the field of housing law and equity. Here’s the  latest for the week of May 22-29, 2017:

  • The Atlantic ran an investigative piece on one of the largest lead crises in the history of the US – New Orleans in the 1990s.
  • The Mayor of Denver revealed an action plan of 30 short-term items to address housing affordability in the city using a holistic approach. The plan spans renter eviction assistance, employment opportunities, guidance for LIHTC, mental health counseling, and many more. Coverage via the Denver Post.
  • The New York Times’ Editorial Board confronts the proposed 15 percent cut to HUD’s budget, saying it “cuts the poor.”
  • Allowing land banks to be established is a legal lever to handle blight properties. However, having a land bank is not enough by itself. The experience of different cities can teach us plenty! NextCity covers the New York land banks.
  • There is an ongoing debate in Ohio about the state government’s role in lead poisoning prevention. After Cleveland announced a rental inspection program and Toledo passed a lead inspection ordinance, Ohio republicans are attempting to preempt local efforts to address the issue. Cleveland.com has the story.

Housing Equity Week in Review

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Lots of news from the past week in housing equity and law. Check out the latest in the field from the week of April 10-17, 2017:

  • In his first television interview as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Ben Carson talked about the rich’s obligation to help the poor and the importance of private sector involvement in planning of housing policy. Coverage from NY Times.
  • Ben Carson’s listening tour arrived in Miami, where he then got stuck in an elevator at a public housing complex. Some advocates hope that this will be a live example of the need for more funds to maintain these facilities, via CBSNews.com
  • Chronic nuisance ordinances continue to be a driver for eviction, but do they have a disparate impact against victims of domestic abuse? Via the NY Times.
  • Baltimore is taking a new approach to neighborhood revitalization. Can it be done without gentrification? Via the Nation.
  • The Atlantic’s CityLab published a New Urban Crisis Index map!

Housing Equity Week in Review

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The HUD budget was the big story the last week of March in housing law and equity. Here’s the week in review for March 27-April 2:

  • The largest story in housing is still the looming HUD budget cuts. The New York Times ran a story of a couple in Ohio, living well below the poverty line, who used the HOME Investment Partnership Program to renovate their home to make it habitable. The next year they voted for Trump. Now, Trump’s proposed budget is considering eliminating the HOME Program.
  • Secretary Ben Carson is currently on his listening tour. The first stop of the tour was Carson’s home town, Detroit (story via the Detroit Free Press). None of the Assistant Secretary positions have been filled so far.
  • Seattle’s stable, livable but expensive, housing market is undergoing a crisis and a dramatic spike in homelessness. The mayor started challenging the powers that be, seeking more input from renters and low income residents and not exclusively from affluent homeowners. Would this shakeup of traditional power lead to solutions to the crisis? Story via NextCity.