NOVEMBER 2019 Vol. 06 | Issue 11
Black Millennials & Homeownership
California’s Rent Control Measures
DAN SANDRI Acting Commissioner, California Department of Real Estate
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CONTENTS
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magazine
12. California makes the right move adopting rent control measures ... or does it? 16. Give renters more time and notice before increasing rents. Will this work in California? 22. Impeachment inquiry of president Donal Trump 28. L.A. County votes to draft permanent rent control law for unincorporated areas 34. No such thing as house discrimination! HUD proposes more hurdles to prove housing discrimination 38. Daniel Sandri, acting Real Estate Commisioner, Chief Deputy Comissioner 44. NAREB urges black millennials to become home owners
FROM THE
D
EDITOR ear esteemed readers,
November is right here with us, just one more month to go and we say goodbye to 2019. Can you believe it, just the other day we were celebrating the new year, now we are almost saying our goodbyes? Time flies so fast and so does the opportunities. It is time to get yourself armed, seize that power now, get into a home or invest in real estate before 2019 ends. Folks, this is the right time to take up opportunities in real estate. With the uncertain dynamics of the real estate market, you can never prospect the future. Seize the moment, the power is now. We kick off the month with some encouraging news, for the Black community. Since his inauguration back in August this year, NAREB president Donnell William’s main schema has been to get Black Americans all over the United States into homes. Undoubtedly, the economy of the country has been growing exponentially, unemployment rates have been low but despite all that, the Black homeownership rate has been stagnating, which means hard economic times for the Black Community. The SHIBA report also came out on the state of Black wealth accumulation averring the hiatus between the Black Community and the Non-Hispanic Whites is now larger than it was during the times of the Fair Housing Act. I couldn’t agree more with Donnell Williams that systemic blockages and traps are the major causatives to this variance. We have to do something ourselves because the fact is, for the Black Community, in an economy mostly dominated by White people and evident years of historic bigotry in almost every institution, our only source and true representation 8
of wealth will remain to be our homes or investing in real estate. The people who are apposite to reverse the trend and the long years of oppression are the millennials. According to Donnell, millennials are wellpositioned to influence a wave of wealth creation for the Black Community. The New House Then The Car (HTTC) is a campaign that I know will influence NAREB and so many other Black organizations in the United States encouraging people to first acquire wealth in real estate before indulging in luxurious cars and other forms of liabilities. “NAREB is sounding the alarm. Black homeownership is at a critically low point and could slip even further in large part due to the enormous obstacles faced by Black millennial households attempting to access mortgage credit as stated in NAREB’s 2019 edition of the State of Housing in Black America (SHIBA) report,” said Donnell Williams, president of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB). I think this is a worthy cause worth fighting for. In other news, sometime last month HUD proposed some hurdles that would make it very difficult for someone to prove housing discrimination. Though not as open as it was 50 years ago, today civil rights activists and groups warn that discrimination in housing still exists. It exists in a subtler form that raises the most sophisticated questions, such as; how do you prove discrimination? Who is to be held accountable? How do you interpret the evidence of its existence when it can only be seen in algorithms or government data, than on the ‘for-rent’ sign? Disparate Impact is a legal theory that has guided the FHA for more than 50 years. It refers to the The Power Is Now Magazine | October 2019
practices adversely impacting minority groups without discriminating against them in explicit terms. HUD published a proposed rule that would raise a bar for housing discrimination claims that rely on the most obvious evidence such as the ‘for-rent’ signs. The new rule carves out guidance for automated decisionmaking systems that powers the real estate market. Note that these automated algorithms are the same ones used to pass judgment by the lenders and landlords on credit risk, home insurance and more. It seems the more we take a turn towards the right direction, the more the government and other institutions meant to protect minority group rights are steering the wagon into a cliff. Find out more of this story only in this month’s issue. This year, California lawmakers approved the statewide rent cap, an initiative to address the homelessness and affordable housing crisis countrywide. Dubbed the AB 1482, this bill seeks to bar the landlords from hiking the rents more than 5 percent plus the local inflation. But do we need more rent control policies? Find out more plus our stand on the whole issue of rent control policies. On our cover, we feature the Daniel Sandri, the Acting Real Estate Commissioner/ Chief Deputy Commissioner of DRE who has been the el jefe of the organization since the controversial exit of the Wayne Bell, the former chief of the DRE, then BRE. We spotlight his one year at the helm of DRE and so far, everything seems to be running just fine. I think with a committed leader such as Dan, the real estate industry should be more optimistic about the future. Very protuberant changes are coming where DRE is streamlining the reinstatement process against licensees with disciplinary actions on their licenses. However, this only applies to licenses that are 10 years or older. Read on to find out more about the controversy surrounding Wayne Bells’ exit from BRE and enter Daniel’s new DRE. Other than that, I just want to remind you that Thanksgiving is right around the corner. The festive season nipping at our heels. We are more excited here at The Power Is Now Media, Inc. Honestly, I love the holiday season, so is everybody and I look forward to having quality time with friends and family. Each year, around this time, I like to give thanks for all the blessings that have come into my life and the people who have made this year a great one for us. The Power Is Now Media, Inc. wouldn’t have made it this far without you and for that, I say THANK YOU. Thank you for your continued support since our beginning. Thank you for your strong engagement through the thick and thin that we’ve had to go through over the years. Thank you for always coming back to us for great content and showing the approval of our services. That love is what holds us together making us more dedicated to you. We want the best from you. Please take a moment and share this magazine. Knowledge is power and The Power Is Now. Have a blessed month.
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ACCE Action member Sasha Graham is applauded after speaking before California Governor Gavin Newsom signs AB1482, a statewide rent cap bill, at West Oakland Senior Center in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, October 8, 2019.
CALIFORNIA MAKES THE RIGHT
MOVE ADOPTING RENT CONTROL MEASURES
‌ OR DOES IT?
S
eptember 11th marked a historic moment for the State of California as the lawmakers approved a statewide rent cap, covering millions of tenants, a hallmark initiative to address the homelessness and affordable housing crisis nationwide. The AB 1482 is a bill that seeks to bar the landlords from hiking rents more than 5 percent, plus the local inflation. Inflation varies with the state but it averages to about 2.5 percent in California. The bill also bars the landlords from forceful evictions, providing some sort of a security buffer in the state, which has the highest housing prices and a swelling homelessness population. In the first year of his tenure, Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat led negotiations to strengthen the legislation. The bill creates an unprecedented protection for the renters facing skyrocketing rents and arbitrary evictions in the state. Rent laws and regulations fall under the local
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The Power Is Now Magazine | October 2019
government domain. However, in February, Oregon became the first state in the nation to adopt a statewide rent restriction law. The Tenant Protection Act is stronger than what was implemented in Oregon. The law limits increase in rent to 5 percent, but no more than 10 percent annually. During the campaign to pass the bill, the proponents of the bill including its author, Assembly member David Chiu – A San Francisco Democrat and the chair of the Assembly Housing Committee- described the bill as an “anti-rent-gouging” law rather than a conventional rent control. The ordinance is said to work, or will apply to the cities where there are no rent control laws and expand to the tenant’s protections in those cities. This includes counties like San Francisco, Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Richmond and Berkeley. The law will cover about 8 million renters- half the state’s tenants. The bill comes as a ma jor win and a remarkable comeback for the California’s tenant’s movement, which suffered a ma jor blow last November when the voters rejected a statewide ballot measure that would have allowed the cities to adopt stringent rent control measure. The measure dubbed Proposition 10 would repeal the Costa Hawkins Act of 1995, favored by the real-estate industry that is mostly behind the landlords and their right to raise the rent to market rate on a unit once the tenant moves out, and also bars municipalities from expanding the rent controls to the units built prior to 1995 or to the single-family rentals. The real estate industry spends over $72 million for an onslaught of the propaganda against Prop 10 and that would explain the 59.4 percent to 40.6 percent defeat. The money would go to deceive and confuse voters, including claims that seniors, veterans and other vulnerable groups would be hurt rather than helped by the measure.
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As they run their ads, the real estate industry ignored the fact that proposition 10 didn’t require cities to do anything, but simply gave them the option of adopting reasonable rent regulations. Only 30 percent of the California Households can afford to purchase the $608,660 medianpriced home, according to CAR which only means, renters would need a minimum of $122,960 income annually to make monthly payments of $3,070. This explains why the homeownership rate in California has been slowly declining. More than 17 million Californians rent their homes, and that includes the number of middle-class families. A typical California family needs to earn $34.69 an hour to afford a typical two-bedroom house, this is according to a report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition. During this campaign last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom called for 3.5 million new homes to be built statewide by 2025, that is 5 times the current rate. In February, during his state of state address, he called for action on the skyrocketing rents. Earlier this year, developers rallied behind the SB 50 by Scott Wiener, but the mayors and other local officials objected the bill claiming an infringement on their authority over the land use, while housing and anti-poverty activists objected it claiming that it didn’t add enough housing and they feared it would contribute to gentrification.
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Give Renters More Time and
Notice Before Increasing Rents Will this Work In California? C
ountrywide the California renters pay some of the highest rates, and probably, that wont change in the near future, but the manner in which the landlords proliferates the rents might. The California Governor, Gavin Newsom on October 8,2019 approved the Assembly Bill 1110 by Assembly member Laura Friedman (D-Glendale), which is a bill trying to make sure that tenants have more notice if a landlord wants to raise the rent. The existing edict on housing regulations requires that if a proprietor or a landlord of a residential unit with a month to month tenancy increases the rents by 10 percent or less of the amount of the rent charged to a tenant annually, as specified, he/she shall provide at least 30 days’ notice, before the effective date of the change. The law, taking effect as from January 1, will compel landlords to provide an additional month’s notice when they increase rent on month-to-month tenants by more than 10 percent. “Dramatically rising rents can create significant financial pressure on tenants from across the economic spectrum.” said Assemblymember Friedman. “But for the millions of Californians who are living paycheck-to-paycheck, having more time to plan for a rent increase can mean the difference between staying in their home and eviction.” 16
Understanding How Rent Increases Work
In most states in California, most tenants have a month-to-month rental pact. This is where the tenants agree to pay rent once a month and the rental agreement continues until either the tenant or the proprietor decides to end it. In this type of tenancy, the rent cannot be increased during the first year after the origination of the contract. The other common type of tenancy is the fixed-term tenancy for a definite amount of time. This is what is commonly known as lease agreements. Basically, if you have ever looked a lease agreement, it will state the amount of rent that the tenant must pay while the lease is still in agreement. A lease will also list a scheme for increasing the rent during the term of the agreement. More importantly to note is that if a lease doesn’t specify a method for increasing the rent, no change or alteration in the rent increases during the first term of the lease can occur. As with the month-to-month tenancy basis, rents cannot be increased during the first year. After the first year of tenancy, rent can only be increased as specified in the lease agreement. As I noted earlier, increases under the current law requires increases 10 percent or below for The Power Is Now Magazine | October 2019
a tenant to be given up to 30 days’ notice. In a state like Oregon, the law requires tenants to be given 90 days written notice prior to the effective date of the rent increase. If the fixed term expires, but neither the landlord or the tenant renews is, it automatically converts to a month-to-month tenancy and rents can be increased thereafter with a 90-day written notice.
The rising cost of housing is negatively impacting the communities and residents regardless of the income status. The pressure in the market has caused the rents to rise to an increasing degree and frequency. Without prior notice, rent increases, prompting unexpected outlays results in an immediate strain and financial hardship on millions of the California renters.
What about where you have a week-to-week tenancy? Here, the rules are different. First of all, a week-to-week tenancy have the following characteristics; 1) There has to be a penned down pact that delineates the landlord’s and the tenant rights and responsibilities; 2) Occupancy is charged on a weekly basis and is payable no less frequently than every 7 days; and 3) there are no fees or security accretions, although the landlord can ask for a payment of an applicant screening charges. On a weekly tenancy agreement, the landlord can increase the rent after giving the tenant a 7-day notice.
The state of California becomes the most recent and the second state to cap the residential rents increases statewide. However, going by this inclination, I think its is about time that California renter prepare for elevated housing costs nonetheless.
Rent Control and Increases is Important Especially in California The landlords can’t just wake up and decide, “it’s time to raise the rent” devoid of first notifying the tenant. How much notice of the increase will depend on the lease type and the span and the percent hike. If the landlord breaches the indenture and raises the rent without giving you the notice, you may be able to take a legal action in a civil court. This is a bill that I know will work because for quite a long time, tenants have been squeezed dry, by landlords. With a bill like this, millions of California renters will receive some of the nation’s sturdiest protection against rent hikes and evictions. What’s interesting, this time round, the primary advocacy group for the California landlords is not objecting anything. The bill comes in at a good time, remember, half of the California renters spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing, which most rent expert agree is a “rent burden.” A third of the California renters are considered to be severely burdened. www.thepinmagazine.com
As a Landlord How do you Let Tenants Know You’re Raising Rent Basically, any landlord has a vested interest in the property he/she manages, therefore, this means that they will do whatever it takes to reap maximum profit off the property. This means that sometimes they will increase the rent to excuse for new costs or even increased demand. Which is the situation in the state of California. however, the law vetoes arbitrary rent increases. There is a due process to be followed. There are several reasons justifying rent increases, for instance, rising cost of living which has become so unpredictable in California. another reason, neighborhood improvement and last but not least, property improvements. Therefore, it is good to make the tenants understand your reasons for raising the rents. However, I don’t think landlords should feel bad about it if they are doing to keep up with the market, move up the neighborhood, or even to offset property improvements. Even as you plan to raise the rent, one cardinal rule to always remember is that you don’t want to raise the rent exorbitantly such that you are losing your tenants. That’s where the rent notices kick in. you are legally obligated to provide your tenants with an adequate notice.
17
Why AB 1110 will work in the short term This Legislature is directed to combating the tight rental market conditions by providing the tenants with an additional notice when served with a rent increase of more than 10 percent. The longer notice period particularized in the act provides the tenants with additional time to respond to the rent increases. “The longer notice period is not intended to constitute rent control, nor is it intended as a statement of public policy regarding acceptable or unacceptable levels of rent increases.” Rent increases by landlords are a ma jor contributor to the housing crisis in California. Even though in the long term this paradigm may not work to improve housing situation in California, I think in the short term this will work. What we need right now in the state is a Bill that will support more housing, for instance SB 50.
Vulnerable Groups and Minority Groups are mostly affected by shortage of Housing With AB 1110 or AB 1482, all we are trying to do is to heal the symptoms which will work in the short term, but the root problem will still be there. More people everyday are fleeing the overpriced homes into the streets where they don’t have to be worried about rent or rent increases. Which practically seems to work. To stop these people or more people from escaping to the streets, rent control ordinances will work, but in the short term. Let’s think about the main problem here, which is housing. Supply has been low for quite some time. As a state, we haven’t been building enough, and what’s even worse is that we have the land and space to build but because of strict ordinances restricting building, we are not building. This has led to a tight supply which led to rent skyrocketing to cap this, we need rent cap ordinances. But you see the problem with this model is that we haven’t addressed the main problem which is building more. 18
Rent control is much needed in the state and yes it will work, but only for a short time. This bubble will eventually burst if supply remains to be low. Population is growing steadily; more people are coming to the state given the lucrative opportunities in the Bay Area. At the same time, more people are becoming homeless and fleeing to the streets. It will become even worse for the vulnerable people and minority groups because they are the most affected by this crisis. I like what Oakland has done with Vacant properties and if such a Measure was to be adopted throughout the state, I know it would work. I still think there are a lot of properties lying idle and unutilized. Measure W identifies these properties and lays out an ultimatum to the owners. We need to identify properties that are not in use in California and may be come up with a way to make them usable as rental units. That could work!
Works Cited https://www.forbes.com/sites/chuckdevore/2019/09/13/ poverty-and-affordable-housing-californias-new-rentcontrol-law-will-make-things-worse/#dadf37842815 https://www.forbes.com/sites/adammillsap/2019/09/04/ more-rent-control-in-california-will-make-housingproblem-worse/#21dc7741955e https://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-rent-controlmay-not-be-a-lifeline-for-californias-renters-2019-10-09 https://www.greenresidential.com/let-tenants-know-youreraising-rent/ https://www.osbar.org/public/legalinfo/1250_RentIncreases. htm https://www.brookings.edu/research/what-does-economicevidence-tell-us-about-the-effects-of-rent-control/ https://www.hklaw.com/en/ insights/ publications/2019/10/ californias-2020housing-laws-whatyou-need-to-know
The Power Is Now Magazine | October 2019
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[POWER LEGAL]
Impeachment Inquiry of
President Donald Trump A
fter the Trump’s Ukraine scandal, a new wave of Democrats moved towards impeachment prompting the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to announce that the house will launch a formal impeachment inquiry. The news since then has spread like a wild fire, and obviously there is still much confusion about what entails a presidential impeachment, the impeachment process goes and the likely consequences Trump will face.
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A presidential impeachment in the United States is not a new thing. It has happened twice (to Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton, with Richard Nixon avoiding a certain impeachment by resigning), and it is not the sort of thing that you’d expect to get a lot of details on in high-school history classes. However, I will try to break it down for you so that you may understand what is going on in the country. The Power Is Now Magazine | October 2019
as follows; Impeachment, as Alexander Hamilton of New York explained in Federalist 65, varies from civil or criminal courts in that it strictly involves the “misconduct of public men, or in other words from the abuse or violation of some public trust.” Individual state constitutions had provided for impeachment for “maladministration” or “corruption” before the U.S. Constitution was written. And the founders, fearing the potential for abuse of executive power, considered impeachment so important that they made it part of the Constitution even before they defined the contours of the presidency.
What Is Impeachment An impeachment is a statement of charges leading to a trial. It is to official misconduct what an indictment to a crime is. The procedure for impeachment of the executive branch officials, including but not limited to the president was spelled out in the United States constitution www.thepinmagazine.com
However, it is important to understand that impeachment is not the removal of a corrupt or unethical president or official from power, but an adoption of charges by the Congressional House triggering a trial in the Senate. Therefore, Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton were impeached because the House passed articles of impeachment against them; though in the senate, they were both acquitted but the term still applies. The constitution requires two-thirds vote in the Senate to consummate an impeachment removal from office, however, for most parts and procedures, the constitution is particularly silent.
Impeachment Inquiry This is the first step of the impeachment process. It is a process to determine whether the House of Representatives will vote on an impeachment and what would circumstantiate the impeachment. If the inquiry leads to an impeachment, in which ma jority representatives vote yes, the president is impeached, the matter is then sent to the senate for a trial, if in the senate two-thirds of the Senators vote in favor of impeachment, the president would be removed from the office.
So, Is Impeachment Happening Right Now? No. What is happening is the impeachment inquiry. If the House of Representatives decide there there is enough evidence to warrant an article of impeachment, then they will, at which point impeachment will be underway. The difference may sound semantic, but remember that ma jority of the House Democrats are in favor of the impeachment inquiry. At this point, we cannot say with absolute certainty about the number of representatives who will vote to impeach Trump, but so far, 27 have publicly said they want him out. During her announcement, 23
the Speaker of the House said that the six key committees that are already investigating the president’s conduct will continue with the investigations under the umbrella of impeachment inquiry. If the investigations conclude that there is enough evidence for impeachment, the House Judiciary Committee will draw up the articles of impeachment, and latter, the Judiciary Committee and the full House will vote on it. “We are investigating all the evidence, gathering the evidence. And we will [at the] conclusion of this - hopefully by the end of the year - vote to vote articles of impeachment to the House floor. Or we won’t. That’s a decision that we’ll have to make. But that’s exactly the process we’re in right now.” Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY)
What Circumstantiates President’s Impeachment According to the Constitution, Article II, Section 4 specifically mentions “treason” and “bribery” as the grounds for impeachment. In addition, it also provides that “other High Crimes and Misdemeanors” warrants an impeachment. Let’s break this down a little deeper, when the constitution was adopted, the term ‘misdemeanors’ had not assumed its later meaning as a type of criminal offense. But most interpretation of this constitutional language do not require the allegation of a crime to warrant an impeachment, but simply a visible pattern of misconduct deemed by the congress to necessitate impeachment.
How Does It All Begin… The Impeachment? I feel it is important to mention this because there has been a confusion especially with the Trump’s impeachment. When Jerrold Nadler was asked about this whole process in early August by CNN, he said, “we are investigating all the evidence, gathering the evidence…”
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which could be interpreted that the House was already in an impeachment inquiry. In the past presidential impeachments, the House has formally voted to authorize the Judiciary committee to initiate the impeachment proceedings, however, this initial step has been skipped, mostly in the impeachment of judges. After the Mueller Report and the special counsel had finally testified before the congress, there was a deep divide between the House Democrats on whether to “initiate” impeachment proceedings. In fact, the House Speaker and the Chairman of Judiciary Committee voiced their reluctance to go in the impeachment direction. Later, in what I would term as a clever or devious maneuver depending on your view, Nadler let the public know in early August that the committee had already began the inquiry, setting in motion a confusion trail. According to the interpretation of the situation, there was no need to start something that was already happening, or to even put the Democrats on the spot, with a vote to begin the inquiry. The Republicans did complain that some vital step had been left out, but there was nothing they could do about it. While Pelosi’s announcement of a formal impeachment inquiry implicitly endorsed Nadler’s claim that there was actually an ongoing impeachment probe, the Congressional House could return to its original position and formally authorize the proceeding. That’s not the only issue bringing confusion, the scope of impeachment inquiry seems to also bring some sort of confusion. As she held her conference, after announcing a formal impeachment process, Pelosi suggested a phase of operation saying that the impeachment would focus exclusively on the president’s dealings with the Ukrainian President. She indicated that the House Intelligence Committee’s primary responsibility would be to uncover the facts that might or might not justify actual articles of impeachment. The Power Is Now Magazine | October 2019
However, she left the door open, suggesting that if they wished, the Democrats could pursue the articles of impeachment. She held open the possibility that previous examples of president’s “lawlessness” could be a subject of impeachment articles, should the House decide to go in that direction.
Is It Too Late for An Impeachment? Considering that we are already deep in the 2020 election cycle, some Democrats resisting impeachment fear that it is too late for an impeachment. Some actually point to the poor performance of House Republicans in the 1998 midterms, which were largely overshadowed by the impeachment talks. One other thing perhaps overshadowing the process is that there are no clear expectations about the duration or the depth of the impeachment hearings. It would seem that the House Democrats are pursuing the need of a balance for relatively simple and expeditious proceedings with the concern that they might appear to be “rushing to judgement.” But on the other hand, there is already a predetermined pace dictated by the public opinion.
What Are the Odds Of Trumps Impeachment And How Will This End? Well, the odds of Trump being removed from office are very slim. It would take 34 of the 54 senate Republicans to acquit Trump, no matter what Nadler’s committee uncovers, or what the president admits in any of his moment when he believes that his own invincibility overcomes all good judgement. Assuming that Trump is impeached and then acquitted, the saga will conclude in 2020 presidential elections, with either his ejection from office or
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his triumphal reelection. However, I would like to point out that whether or not the current impeachment drive goes anywhere, a secondterm Trump could get impeached. Remember some Democrats are holding off their urge to support impeachment, may be saving this option for later, when the president’s conduct goes from bad to worse. However, I will stress that Trump’s impeachment, or even the impeachment hearings reinforces the sense that 2020 election is a high-stakes referendum based on sprawling corruption, unethical practices, racism and sexual attitudes of the 45th president. The Power Is Now is an advocate for the empowerment of the minority communities all around the United States. We engage with various thought leaders to make sure that you are equipped with knowledge about our economy. We have partnered with First Bank to provide you with products and services that will help you better prepare for the future. We are also advocating for first-time home buyers. The Power Is Now can help you make your homeownership dream a reality. Go to www. neverrentagain.com and get started today.
Eric Lawrence Frazier MBA Vice President and Mortgage Advisor of First Bank NMLS 461807 President and CEO of The Power Is Now Inc. www.thepowerisnow.com
Works cited https://impeachment.guide/ https://www.cbsnews.com/live-news/trumpimpeachment-inquiry-latest-white-house-wontcomply-2019-10-09/ http://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/theimpeachment-process.html https://constitutioncenter.org/interactiveconstitution/blog/the-houses-role-inthe-impeachment-inquiry-process
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[POWER LEGAL]
L.A. COUNTY VOTES TO DRAFT PERMANENTRENTCONTROLLAW
FOR UNINCORPORATED AREAS S
eptember was a month calling to the state legislators to open their eyes to the realities of California renters. I think this year alone, the month of September saw more legislation being passed than ever before. On 10th September 2019, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted in favor of making temporary rent control ordinance permanent. It was a 5-0 decision that was met with some rounds of applause from the public and a bit of
What are unincorporated Neighborhoods Believe it or not, there are hundreds of unincorporated communities throughout the United States. Places like Nevada or Paradise may resemble just any typical neighborhood, but they are actually unincorporated towns. A place like Los Angeles County has so many unincorporated communities which is very understandable. It is a very diverse region with dozens of cities, neighborhoods, and subdivisions. Places like
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“woos� here and there. Basically, what this measure limits steep increases, putting a bar on how much the rent on buildings that were built and open prior to 1995, in exempt of single-family homes, could be raised each year in unincorporated neighborhoods. The amount would change from year to year based on the local Consumer Price Index but it could not exceed 8 percent.
Marina Del Rey and Universal City are often confused as neighborhoods but they are actually unincorporated communities in LA.
Fact; an approximate 2,700 square miles of LA falls under unincorporated territory, which is about 65 percent of the County!
Los Angeles County traverses to over 4,000 square miles. Note that there are still are communities physically located in other counties that are still part of LA, for instance, San Fernando Valley and some parts of the San Gabriel Valley. Surprisingly, many areas that are within Los Angeles County are not administered by LA, these are the Areas called Unincorporated communities.
The term unincorporated first appeared in the United States back in the 1900s, a time when the U.S. had acquired land from outside territories. These lands were known as unincorporated lands, as the government tried to figure out ways through which rules regarding citizenship and constitutional protections. However, the term was used on a temporary basis.
The Power Is Now Magazine | October 2019
The problem with this paradigm is that it was used to separate U.S. territories from the domestic states, more so, it was an allowance for the congress to pass discriminatory laws, especially tax laws on these areas. Let’s go back in history, in 1922, in a court case involving Balzac v. People of Puerto Rico, the court decided that since the territory was unincorporated, locals in these areas, despite having U.S. citizenship, they should be able to determine their own citizenship. Today, these formally unincorporated areas are now considered incorporated. Five of the ma jor U.S. territories include Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, The Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S Virgin Islands. Let me put this in clear terms, an unincorporated city is not PART of any city, therefore, it isn’t legally included under the laws of the state it is located in. however, this doesn’t render unincorporated city law-less and out of control. These cities have their own set of rules and their own local officials, an unincorporated city within Los Angeles is usually controlled by the LA Board of Supervisors, which is
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provided by the County and acts as their city council. However, with only one supervisor on the board acting as a designated “mayor,” 140 unincorporated communities, and 88 unincorporated cities in LA, it is so much easy to see how specific community issues can just be ignored.
The Draft by the L.A. Board of Supervisors More than 160 people turned out to weigh in their opinions, options, and sentiments on the draft measures, with multiple speakers sharing their personal stories about the steep rental prices. The motion gives the county staff until Nov. 12 to conscript a diction for the new ordinance, which is expected to protect more than 100,000 renters. Of importance is the timing of this unanimous vote that came in barely 2 hours after a Statewide Rent Cap approval on all the apartments and some houses and condos that are at least 15 years old. The two measures
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overlap with the rental control measure adopted by the county itself taking antecedence since its cap is lower than the statewide maximum cap. In addition, the state measure will apply to newer buildings than currently allowed under the county laws. About 100,000 people will be affected by the fiat, which covers only the unincorporated areas of the county. Earlier, dozens of rent control advocates had gathered before the passing date to join Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, who championed the proposed ordinance, and mayors from Inglewood and Culver City in calling for rent control as a way to address the intensified inequities. Even though a draft of the county law is still in process, Kuehl’s motion antedates sliding the caps based on the value of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) with a maximum increase of 8 percent. The CPI for Los Angeles County is 3.3 percent. Additionally, the supervisors voted unanimously to allocate $2 million in Measure H funds to instigate phasing in a legal assistance program for the low-income tenants facing court-ordered dislodgments. “Economic issues are the number one reason people become homeless,” Supervisor Sheila Kuehl said in a statement after the vote. “Many people are faced with astronomical rent increases and can’t afford lawyers to fight them. The rent stabilization motion, as well as the eviction defense motion, will help county residents maintain affordable homes in stable communities.” This measure is expected to allow higher rents for luxury units of 2 bedrooms or less and would require the landlords to register rental units and prohibit evictions without due cause, among so many other provisions. The county joins jurisdictions such as the city of LA, West Hollywood, Santa Monica and Beverly Hills in enacting the rent controls. Other cities like Inglewood, Glendale, Long Beach, and Culver City voted various measures this year for tenancy protections. Los Angeles county had let a prior rent control law lapse
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year ago but now becomes the sole state with rent stabilization measure in place. “… I think that it’s an unfair shift to individuals that may be vulnerable “ The measure doesn’t come without extensive research, it is a culmination of about 2 years of study. The first half of 2018 was spent examining rent control before recommending the county to enact such an ordinance. Earlier, the County adopted a temporary rent cap of 3% on a 4-1 vote despite raucous efforts by the landlords and the apartment associations to block the measure. The main opposition to the measure was Kathryn Barger who voted against the bill saying that she could only support such a measure if it was amended to guarantee landlords the ability to raise rents on vacant units among other safeguards. On Tuesday however, Barger said she had changed her position regarding rent cap because the new measure “strikes a balance between the need to assist struggling families from being priced out of their units as rents continue to increase and the landlords who are providing that housing.” “I feel as though a compromise has been made,” Barger told City News Service. “When I hear the stories about landlords increasing (rents) by over 100% … I think that it’s an unfair shift to individuals that may be vulnerable.”
Unpacking the New Los Angeles Measure There seems to be confusion because the measure overlaps the statewide rent cap. The new Los Angeles law allows the landlords to continue to seek a return on their investment by allowing capital pass-throughs for repair and maintenance costs and other capital improvement projects. What the new law will do is that it will limit the
The Power Is Now Magazine | October 2019
annual rent increases to change the Consumer Price Index for the previous year if the inflation rate is between 3 percent and 8 percent. The maximum rent increase would be 3 percent if the inflation is between 1 percent and 3 percent and inflation plus 2 percent if the inflation rate is below 1 percent. No rent increases would be allowed if the CPI declivities by more than 2%. The measure also enacts “just cause eviction” provisions, which simply means that the landlord cannot order a tenant who hasn’t violated his or her lease to move unless it is moving into the unit, revamping, demolishing or taking it off the rental market.
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Costa-Hawkins Act allows rent capping to apply to apartments built before February 1995. “For far too many, a dramatic rent increase directly leads to homelessness,” Supervisor Hilda Solis said in a statement. “And many renters in L.A. County’s unincorporated communities saw positive benefits from the interim ordinance.” “California is at the doorstep of enacting strong, statewide renter protections - safeguards that are critical to combating our state’s housing and costof-living crisis,” Governor Gavin Newsom said in a statement. The California Apartment Association strongly objected to the measure arguing that small landlords need suppleness to raise rents to cover the costs correlated with maintaining and improving their properties. According to Fred Sutton who handles public affairs for the association, the measure would only make things much more expensive.
Works Cited https://la.curbed.com/2019/9/9/20857320/la-countypermanent-rent-control-unincorporated https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2019/09/10/rent-controlordinance-approved-for-unincorporated-areas-of-la-county/ https://www.neighborhoods.com/blog/what-is-anunincorporated-area https://www.dailynews.com/2019/09/10/supervisorsapprove-permanent-rent-control-in-unincorporated-l-acounty/ https://caanet.org/l-a-county-votes-to-draft-permanentrent-control-law-for-unincorporated-areas/
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Your loan officer should be as invested in your home as you are. Let’s feather your nest. First Bank Mortgage offers three tips to help you on the path to homeownership! 1. Start by checking your credit score. Your credit history is an important factor when you decide to apply for a loan. The score reflects how well you manage your debt. It’s important to discuss this, and other factors, with your First Bank home loan consultant. If you find that your credit score is too low, there are a number of steps you can take to improve your credit score. 2. Get organized. Getting a loan requires a few different documentations including, but not limited to, pay stubs, tax returns, and financial statements. You’ll also need to provide copies of additional monthly payments such as car loans, credit cards, and student loans. Keep all of this in mind, when you begin organizing. If you have this information readily available when you decide to apply for a home loan, it will make the process much more efficient. 3. Start Saving! Set up a designated savings account and start saving as much as you can each pay period to use as a down payment on the purchase of your new home. Although we offer first-time homebuyer programs with little to no down payment, it is still a good idea to have some available funds in reserve to use for a potential down payment, utilities, moving expenses, new home furnishings, or unforeseen emergencies. With some preparation now, you’ll be even closer to rolling out the welcome mat on your own, new home later. We’re here to help answer any questions to help make that dream a reality.
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[POWER LEGAL]
NO SUCH THING AS HOUSING DISCRIMINATION!
HUD PROPOSES MORE HURDLES TO PROVE HOUSING DISCRIMINATION O
ver 50 years ago, the United States enacted the fair housing rule into law. This law aimed to protect individuals and families from discrimination in sale, rental, financing or advertising of housing and housing related products. 20 years later, the Fair Housing law would see its first amendment, which would strengthen by adding more dockets to it. The amendment prohibited discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, disability, family status and national origin.
seen in algorithms or government data, than on the ‘for-rent’ sign?
An attack on Disparate Impact About two weeks ago, the Department of Housing and Urban Development published
The FHA rule essentially was enforced to spot and root out ‘evil and malice’ that was so widespread in the housing industry. This discrimination was often egregious; the-then called Real Estate professionals steered black families away from the white neighborhoods. More often than not, landlords refused to rent black families, and openly, property managers’ racism was plainly listed on the apartment listings. Then, the perpetrators were clear in every motive and intentions. Their intentions were relatively very simple to understand and document, in short, there was nothing to hide. Today, 50 years later, civil right activists and groups warn that discrimination in housing still exists. Though not openly as it used to be, it exists in subtler form that raise the most sophisticated questions. How do you prove that discrimination exists? Who is to be held accountable? How do you interpret the evidence of its existence when it can only be
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The Power Is Now Magazine | October 2019
a proposed rule that would raise the bar for housing discrimination claims that rely on the most obvious evidence such as the ‘for-rent’ signs among others. Technology is a good thing. With an advancement in technology, lives are changed, and in most cases, positively. As the technology continues to play a more important role in the housing market, I am not sure whether this time, lives will be changed positively. All signs point towards a shaky and turbulent times ahead. The proposed regulation by HUD directly aims to replace the Obama-era rule on Disparate Impact, a legal theory that has guided the FHA law for more than 50 years.
Disparate Impact refers to the practices adversely impacting on minority groups without discriminating against them in explicit terms. The Supreme Court has recognized the existence of this form of bias as prohibited under the FHA law. However, the proposed amendment by FHA would substantially raise the burden of proof for parties claiming discrimination. HUD is basing its amendment on a 2015 Supreme Court ruling where the court had interpreted that the policy identified must be an “artificial, arbitrary, and unnecessary barrier” to fair housing. It doesn’t stop at that. The new rule carves out an unprecedented guidance for automated decision-making system that power the housing market. Notably, these proposed algorithms are the same used to pass judgement by lenders and landlords on credit risks, home insurance, mortgage interest rates and more. Under this new law, lenders will not be liable for any effects of an algorithm provided by third parties. This creates a room for biasness to permeate housing market rendering FHA rule powerless. “This is a proposal to very dramatically revise and effectively destroy an existing 2013 civil rights regulation,” says Megan Haberle, deputy director for the Poverty & Race Research Action Council. “This is a core part of the Fair Housing Act, and very early fair housing cases across the country have recognized the discriminatory effects standard.”
Federal Law against outright discrimination The Federal Law is very direct on what entails discrimination, otherwise, the Disparate Impact. In other words, it is illegal for example to design a rental application that has an effect of excluding minorities, even if it wasn’t intended
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to discriminate against them. Raising the bar on such claims makes it harder for people to be held accountable. If, for example banks have underwriting algorithms that repeatedly deny mortgages to seemingly qualified minority group, it would be hard to hold them accountable. Or, if a city has zoning guidelines that make no mention of race still have the effect of racially segregating neighborhoods, it wouldn’t be held accountable. In June, the Housing Secretary Ben Carson said that his department was making an overhaul on the Disparate Impact Doctrine. The new rule was published on Monday triggering a 60-day comment period before being officially implemented. This move by the Trump Administration to tighten the Disparate Impact claims is just a minor cog in a larger battle that goes beyond the limits of housing. Several industry groups have constantly warned that any landlord, company or city official could be accused of discriminatory patterns emerge. “Something has gone badly awry when a city can’t even make slumlords kill rats without fear of a lawsuit,” Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. wrote in a dissenting opinion to a 2015 Supreme Court decision upholding disparate impact claims under the Fair Housing Act. The amendment by HUD responds to the Supreme Court ruling by redefining more strictly how disparate impact might be proved. If Disparate Impact becomes a lesser viable tool, it will become impossible to highlight and curb policies that reinforce segregation. Or the strict policies and decision that widen racial wealth gap. If a person must prove that someone explicitly intended to discriminate, they’ll never be able to police city officials or algorithms who keep that intent silent. “People don’t just say the things they used to say,” said Myron Orfield, a law professor at the University of Minnesota who directs the Institute on Metropolitan Opportunity there. “A black household that makes $167,000 is less
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likely to qualify for a prime loan than a white household that makes $40,000,” Mr. Orfield said, citing analysis of public mortgage data by the institute. “That looks funny. What the banks say in these cases is, ‘It’s the credit histories, and our models explain the differences.’ But you can’t look at those models. They’re proprietary.” In a case where algorithms are alleged to cause a discriminatory effect, the defendant can rebut the claim by providing the inputs to the model and showing that “these factors do not rely in any material part on factors which are substitutes or close proxies for protected classes … and that the model is predictive of credit risk or other similar valid objective.” In its defense, HUD says that the proposal will bring, in its interpretation of the disparate impact standard in line with a 2015 supreme court ruling, where the court held that disparate impact claims can be brought under the Fair Housing Act but said “disparate impact liability must be limited so employers and other regulated entities are able to make the practical business choices and profit-related decisions that sustain a vibrant and dynamic freeenterprise system.”
Works Cited Kriston Capps. “How HUD Could Dismantle a Pillar of Civil Rights Law.” CityLab, CityLab, 19 Aug. 2019, www.citylab. com/equity/2019/08/fair-housing-act-hud-disparateimpact-discrimination-lenders/595972/. Accessed 5 Sept. 2019. O’DONNELL, KATY. “HUD to Propose More Hurdles to Prove Housing Discrimination.” POLITICO, 31 July 2019, www.politico.com/story/2019/07/31/hud-prove-housingdiscrimination-1629826. Accessed 5 Sept. 2019. Radhika Ojha. “HUD Tackles the Role of Algorithms in Fair Housing.” DSNews, 16 Aug. 2019, dsnews.com/dailydose/08-16-2019/hud-algorithms-fair-housing. “Who’s to Blame When Algorithms Discriminate?” The New York Times, 20 Aug. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/08/20/ upshot/housing-discrimination-algorithms-hud.html. Accessed 5 Sept. 2019.
The Power Is Now Magazine | October 2019
DANIEL SANDRI
Daniel Sandri
Acting Real Estate Commissioner Chief Deputy Commissioner
A
s the America was celebrating Independence Day in 2018, The California Real Estate was preparing a final farewell bid to the then Commissioner, Wayne Bells. His departure came moments after the official reinstatement of the Department of Real Estate (DRE) as an independent entity. The reinstatement came after five years as the California Bureau of Real Estate (CalBRE) under the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA). Wayne Bell was appointed commissioner of California Real Estate in February 2013, after serving as the Chief Counsel and Assistant Commissioner for the Legal Policy and Recovery at DRE since 2006. His tenure to the department began with the initial placement of the DRE under the DCA in July 2006. The end of Wayne’s tenure meant the beginning of a new era.
Appointment of Daniel Sandri As the Acting Commissioner Prior to his departure, if you tried to send an email to Wayne Bell at the time of transition from BRE to DRE, you would get an auto-response email with the
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caption “July 9th was my last day as Commissioner.” Following a call from the Governors office, Wayne was informed that the county had decided to take a shift in direction and this meant that his term in office was to be terminated immediately. No further details were given by either the DRE or from the Governors desk as to the nature of the Bell’s departure. The gap in leadership meant that someone had to step in. Daniel Sandri, the former Chief Deputy Commissioner at DRE, confirmed that, amid all the controversy, that he would be taking Bell’s position as the Acting Real Estate Commissioner. While he refuted to comment on the nature of Bell’s departure, he seemed quite confident, indicating his unwavering commitment to restore DRE as an autonomous entity free from the control and oversight of DCA. He further claimed that Bell’s exit would not in any way interfere with the plans. The independence of DRE meant good news, especially for the licensees. This autonomous state meant that DRE would be better positioned to increase its efficiency in areas such as processing
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to Daniel has been very much challenging. “It has been disappointing that it is taking longer than we hoped. There are many differences between operating a Bureau and a Department.” Between 2008-2009, the maximum number of licensees was about 548K. Considering that the number of all the brokers, salespersons, corporations and officers has been around 420K, there hasn’t been much change for a period of time now. This could only mean that the number of brokers has dropped, mostly because of the regulations on the college degrees being used for the experience.
What should we expect from DRE?
real estate licensing and the renewal of applications.
But Who is Daniel Sandri? Daniel became the Acting commissioner of DRE in July of 2018, so he has been in leadership for about a year now. At the time of his appointment to the department, there was no new commissioner being appointed by the Governor, which only means that Daniel will be the el jefe until the governor decides otherwise. The first year of his tenure has already passed and so far, the progress seems great, even though he joined shortly after BRE became DRE, the workload was greatly increased, but nonetheless, “So far we have not had any major problems.”
Working at the Department Working for a bureau is very much different from working for department, which according
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There will be some substantial changes in the department starting from April. The licensees with disciplinary actions on their license that are ten years or older can make a request that the disciplinary actions be removed. “Many licensees are starting the procedure to do this.” However, there is a cost involved where the petitioner’s background has to be investigated. For quite some time now, DRE sold lists of licensees, but under Daniel’s leadership, the lists can now be downloaded from the department’s official website. The lists include Examinee List, MLO List, Broker Associates List, Licensee List (all 420K), and New Licensee List. The fact that the department now facilitates Virtual Call Centers and eLicensing, waiting times have been significantly reduced, in addition “we expect even faster customer service in the future.” Said Daniel Sandri, in an interview with Duane Gomer Inc. He continued “Plus, we are performing proactive Enforcement visits to licensees with restricted licenses and with other issues.”
Works Cited https://www.duanegomer.info/i-meet-the-nicest-people/aninterview-with-dan-sandri-thank-you-sir/ https://www.duanegomer.info/dre/what-is-happening-atdre/ https://journal.firsttuesday.us/the-end-of-the-era-of-waynebell/64729/
The Power Is Now Magazine | October 2019
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NAREB URGES
BLACK MILLENNIALS TO BECOME HOMEOWNERS U
ndoubtedly, the United States has been growing exponentially, but despite the robust economic growth, a sturdy employment rates, and the steadily growing 401(K) plan earnings, Black homeownership rate continues to stagnate, and to some point drop. Recent data from the National Association of Real Estate Brokers, the State of Housing in Black America (SHIBA) report, not only has the Black homeownership rate fell, the hiatus between Black and Non-Hispanic White Household is now larger than it was in 1968.
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The report was released at NAREB’s Issue Forum held during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation- Annual Legislative Conference. The event dubbed “The State of Housing in Black America: Educate, Empower, Motivate” was hosted by Congressman Gregory K. Meeks (D-NY) and served as a launching pad for NAREB’s aggressive, multi-pronged approach to initiate rebuilding Black Wealth through homeownership and real estate investment. “What NAREB has anecdotally known and can now pinpoint are the systemic blockages and The Power Is Now Magazine | October 2019
Black Millennials to become homeowners. According to NAREB, Black Gen-Xers and Millennials may be the key to reversing the downward trend in homeownership for the Blacks. Millennials are better positioned to influence a wave towards wealth creation. This year’s Annual NAREB conference, the president mentioned something really important, which I think will serve the purpose of this mission. The ‘how’ and the ‘why’ will be the key drivers of NAREB’s new House Then The Car (HTTC) campaign. The campaign will set off with community events starting late October targeting cities where NAREB’s activism is felt, along with a high concentration of Black Gen-Xers and Millennials.
traps that for decades thwarted the right of Black Americans to become homeowners,” said Donnell Williams, NAREB president. The latest U.S. Census data reported the Black homeownership rate at 40.6% compared to the non-Hispanic White rate of 73.1%, a 32.5% gap. NAREB has now come out very clearly in a bid to encourage www.thepinmagazine.com
“NAREB is sounding the alarm. Black homeownership is at a critically low point and could slip even further in large part due to the enormous obstacles faced by Black millennial households attempting to access mortgage credit as stated in NAREB’s 2019 edition of the State of Housing in Black America (SHIBA) report,” said Donnell Williams, president of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB).
The state of Housing for Black Americans This year’s NAREB annual national convention was convened just days after the U.S. Census Bureau released the second quarter of 2019 homeownership rates where
Black Homeownership rate was at 40.6 percent, the lowest in more than 50 years. “Bold, energetic and effective action must be taken to stop this unthinkable slippage in Black wealth. Homeownership and investment in real estate represent the tools Black Americans in general, and millennials, in particular, can use to build or rebuild their wealth,” said Williams, taking the helm of NAREB, the nation’s oldest minority professional real estate organization. “My plan to reverse the downward slide is to reach the 1.7 million mortgage-ready Black millennials who make over $100,000 annually, but have delayed or not considered homeownership as part of their wealth-building strategy.” Mr. Donnell outlined several measures to rectify the dire homeownership situation, and The House Then The Car is an initiative that seemed to catch most people’s attention. 40.6 percent in comparison with the whites, there is a 30 percent gap. The current rates show that there is a continual loss of wealth for the Black community in America. There is a problem and that’s exactly what NAREB is on point to stop this loss and restore Black Community to wealth building through real estate investment. The Black Community, together with the local leaders and the National leaders need a clear and distinct wakeup call to reverse this trend. What has caused this deeprooted problem? And what are
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the possible solutions? What can we do as a people to prompt home purchase and thus wealth building? During the 2019 congressional Black Caucus conference, expert panelists, suffused in the issues, especially the incongruencies and the likely elucidations to raising the state of Black Homeownership in the country and are very much dogged to working with NAREB on its mission to restore confidence in the real estate market. Further, they antedate on identifying the critical systemic blockages, and come up with a framework for the strenuous advocacy strategies that the lawmakers at every echelon of government need to keep in mind to improve Black homeownership results. “Statistics show that there are 1.7 million Black millennials making $100,000 or more and could improve their financial futures with homeownership or participation in real estate investment opportunities. NAREB is determined to reach them with messages that rebut, yet improve, some of their current lifestyle choices,” he says. What’s more, he adds, homeownership is critical. “One clear message to millennials: Think about a house before you buy the car.” Donnell Williams explains that wealth building is all about making the right smart choices. I agree that homeownership is a lucrative, desirable and easy way to start your journey of wealth creation. I know that it would help us as a community to also engage with the American Dream Down Payment Savings Plan, legislation that will help with home purchase much as the
529 college savings plan.
The Roles of Racial Discrimination in Wealth Creation Gap The SHIBA report of 2019 indicates that racial discrimination is often asserted to be the principle, yet unexplained factor heightening low homeownership rates. The reality is true. Black homeownership has been historically built on a foundation largely made up of various forms of predatory, high-cost and unsustainable home purchase loan products and other deceptive and discriminatory housing practices. The report further notes that while discrimination has had its pound of flesh and played a ma jor role in repudiating affordable and sustainable housing access to the Black Households, discrimination by the individual private markets thespians is unsatisfactory to fully explain the gap between Black and the White Community. “NAREB intends to work on numerous fronts to close the wealth gap. I have served notice by issuing a cease and desist order along with reaching out to organizational and faith-based leaders to join our fight. Homeownership is our right as citizens and not a privilege,” Williams added. “We must educate, empower, and mobilize oursel ves as well as the Black American public. Wealth building through homeownership is indeed possible and we need to make that happen,” he said.
Works Cited https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ robust-us-economy-not-a-boost-for-blackhomeownership-300918110.html http://www.nareb.com/press/nareb-urges-blackmillennials-to-become-homeowners-with-the-launch-ofhouse-then-the-car-initiative-campaign/ http://amsterdamnews.com/news/2019/sep/09/nareburges-black-americans-not-defer-their-dream-/ https://defendernetwork.com/lifestyle/black-realtor-urgemillennials-to-become-homeowners/
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The Power Is Now Magazine | October 2019
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HOME OWNERSHIP By Eric Lawrence Frazier MBA
Home ownership brings stability to individuals and families who have never had a dwelling place that they could call their own. There is something special about owning real estate that is unlike anything else on earth you can own. Real Estate you own is not like cars that decay over time and you have to replace them. Real Estate you own is not like clothes that go out of style and you have to buy new ones. Real Estate you own is not like expensive vacations or experiences that only last a moment in time. Real Estate you own is not like an apartment where the landlord may increase the rent until it’s no longer affordable. Real Estate you own is not like staying at your parents house where you know can’t stay forever. Home ownership is the beginning of wealth that increases over time and becomes your estate & legacy Home ownership is the pride of a mother nurturer and the kitchen her domain Home ownership is the pride of a father provider and protector of his territory and family. Home ownership is the foundation of permanence and the place where life happens, birthdays celebrated, deaths mourned. Home ownership is the place you build memories that can never be taken from you. Memories etched in walls and concrete, experienced in rooms and floors, Memories living in trees and shrubs planted by your hand. Howe ownership is the manifestation of you - your style, your colors, your smell, your stuff, your junk, your memories, your yard and your spaces, your life. It’s the height markers on your first child’s bedroom wall. It’s the hearts drawn in the concrete slabs when you pour your patio floor It’s the birthday parties, and anniversaries in the living room and kitchen. It’s the back yard barbecue with friends, neighbors and family contentions it’s the high school and college graduation, and wedding receptions Its’ the family nights and block parties and the fellowship of family connections Home ownership It’s more than real estate. Land, brick and mortar, wood frame construction and chicken wire. It’s more than money saved, gifts recieved and grants obtained It’s more than the debt you incur to buy it. It’s more than the payments you make to own it. It’s more than the appreciation that comes with keeping it over time. It’s memories, it’s family, and it’s life that can happen in one place Until you say it’s time to move.