Alliance for Housing Justice is proud to join renters across the country in calling on the federal government to ensure common-sense protections for tenants in federally financed properties. On July 31, 2023, AHJ submitted a letter to The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), which regulates Fannie and Freddie and is now deciding whether to condition government-backed loans on a set of tenant protections. According to ProPublica, "Large private equity firms accounted for 85% of Freddie Mac’s 20 biggest deals financing apartment complex purchases by a single borrower." Our public funds should ..read more

Last Month, Alliance for Housing Justice joined the California Reinvestment Coalition and 33 other organizations in sending a letter to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) urging regulators to prevent Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from financing loans that contribute to displacement and poor living conditions for low-income tenants and tenants of color. According to a report by ProPublica, "Large private equity firms accounted for 85% of Freddie Mac’s 20 biggest deals financing apartment complex purchases by a single borrower." Our public funds should not be used to support private equity ..read more

On March 11, President Biden signed into law the American Rescue Plan, a nearly $2 trillion package of funding to help us recover and move forward from the heath and economic crisis brought on by COVID-19. In addition to direct cash aid to families, the Plan contains $40 billion in desperately needed funding for housing. The money will start to flow in the coming weeks and be locally administered by states, counties, cities, and local Public Housing Authorities. Additional guidance for many programs are expected in the coming weeks from the Department of Treasury and other Administration depar ..read more

On May 16, 2022 the Biden White House released a plan to “Ease the Burden of Housing Costs.” While many of the proposals in the announcement were short on detail, some important priorities were raised while others remained conspicuously absent. The Administration must, with all of its funding and policy decisions, prioritize those that are suffering the greatest housing burden: low income people, people of color, and other marginalized communities. To that end, all policy shifts must include mandates for strong tenant and fair housing protections; the removal of housing from the speculative m ..read more

On Thursday, the Supreme Court upheld a lower court decision halting a pandemic-related federal eviction moratorium implemented and enforced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Upward of 1.2 million households are expected to face eviction for nonpayment of rent over the next two months, and almost three-quarters of these tenants are people of color. Only 11% of the $46.5 billion rental aid program allocated by Congress has been distributed to tenants facing eviction by state and local governments. These factors create a perfect storm that leaves tenants in danger of losin ..read more

(Washington, D.C.) — The American Jobs Plan's proposal incentivizing local governments to reform zoning laws could have unintended negative consequences for low-and-middle-income families, including increased displacement, while failing to dismantle segregation in higher-income communities, according to a letter sent by the Alliance for Housing Justice and over 100 partner organizations to the Biden administration and members of Congress on Wednesday. “Local exclusionary zoning is one of the foremost drivers of residential racial segregation and inequality of opportunity in our society, and th ..read more

This times have been hard on everyone trying to stay safe and stay home. Small landlords depend on rent payments to make ends meet — but these landlords understand that there's no way forward as individuals — we're all in this together. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29fTfXTqWOI&t=54s ..read more

Late yesterday, HUD announced plans to roll back Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH), a legal requirement of the Fair Housing Act that requires communities and public housing authorities to take steps to overcome historic racial discrimination and housing segregation and to promote fair housing choice and foster inclusive communities free from discrimination. In response to this HUD decision that would harm millions of economically vulnerable people, housing advocates with the Alliance for Housing Justice released the following statements: "Today's latest HUD proposal published by Sec ..read more

Home is where we make memories. It's where we raise our kids, dream our dreams, enjoy our retirement. It's where we all, regardless of our race or immigration status, deserve to feel safe and secure. But a new proposal from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) would rip home away from tens of thousands of children and their families if allowed to go into effect. At the direction of the White House, HUD Secretary Ben Carson has issued a proposed rule that would evict existing mixed-status families from Section 8 and public housing. Mixed-status families are made up of people wh ..read more

Landlords have both a legal and moral responsibility to accept Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) funds and to not pursue non-payment evictions according to a letter sent Monday to the National Apartment Association (NAA) and the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Equitable housing and tenants’ rights are a vital necessity for communities of color, women and people with disabilities across the nation, never more so than now as the delta variant causes COVID-19 infection rates to skyrocket. NAR and NAA members can support national fair housing efforts and avoid lawsuits by accepting and imp ..read more