Fall 2015 cap history of housing timeline 2 by Scott Valentine

20 1830 1840 1850

Mexican American War (1846-1848)

1860

American Civil War (1861-1865)

1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930

WWI (1917-1918)

Great Depression (1929-1933)

1940

WWII (1941-1945)

1950 1960

President Johnson pressured to sign Civil Rights (Fair Housing) Act of 1968

1970

Vietnam War (1965-1973)

1980 1990

Gulf War (1990-1991)

2000

War in Afghanistan (2001-2014)

Great Recession (2007-2008)

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 HEARTH Act of 2009 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010

Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008

American Homeownership and Economic Opportunity Act of 2000 Community Renewal Tax Relief Act of 2000

Public Housing Reform Act (QHWRA)

MAHRA Mark-to-Market

Native American Housing Assistance and Self Determination Act of 1996

Housing Community Development Act GRPA

Fair Housing Amendments Act HUD Reform Act National Affordable Housing Act (Cranston-Gonzalez) Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990

McKinney Act

Housing and Urban Recovery Act

Housing and Community Development Act of 1978

Housing and Community Development Act of 1977

Housing and Community Development Act of 1974

Rehabilitation Act of 1973

Great Fire of 1871 New York

Emergency Home Finance Act

HUD Act of 1968 Fair Housing Act

The New Deal (1934-1938)

Model Cities Act

Department of Housing and Urban Development Act

US Housing Act of 1954

US Housing Act of 1949

Servicemen’s Readjustment Act (GI Bill)

US Housing Act of 1937

Cholera Pandemic (1849) New York

Federal Home Loan Bank Act Homeowners’ Loan Act; National Industry Recovery Act of 1933 National Housing Act of 1934

Tenement House Law of 1901 (New York)

Tenement House Act of 1867

Tenement Housing (1800s) Public Housing (1936- present) HOPE VI (1992- present)

Martin Luther King Jr assassinated (1968) Choice Neighborhoods (2010- present)

HUD created (1965)

2010 202

how public housing works

how public housing began

what makes public housing different

who lives in public housing

eligibility requirements

a brief history

public housing versus other subsidy types

a look at current statistics

Public housing is limited to low-income families and individuals. An HA determines your eligibility based on: 1) annual gross income; 2) whether you qualify as elderly, a person with a disability, or as a family; and 3) U.S. citizenship or eligible immigration status. If you are eligible, the HA will check your references to make sure you and your family will be good tenants. HAs will deny admission to any applicant whose habits and practices may be expected to have a detrimental effect on other tenants or on the project's environment.

The need for federally-subsidized housing was first met in the 1930’s as part of president Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal Initiative. The public housing program in particular was designed to alleviate harsh conditions experienced by the working poor exacerbated by the Great Depression. All of the programs under the umbrella of the New Deal were guided by the “3 R’s”: Relief (for the unemployed and poor), Recovery (of the economy to normal levels), and Reform (of the financial system to prevent a repeat depression).

step one

“It is our duty now to begin to lay the plans and determine the strategy for the winning of a lasting peace and the establishment of an American standard of living higher than ever before known. We cannot be content, no matter how high that general standard of living may be, if some fraction of our people—whether it be one-third or one-fifth or one-tenth—is ill-fed, ill-clothed, ill-housed, and insecure.”

application As public housing projects are owned by local HAs, an eligible party must begin by filling out an application form with their desired HA. It is possible to apply for housing with multiple HAs. The application requires detailed information about each household member’s personal information, income, occupation and relation to head of household as well as contact information for your current and previous landlords, employers, and banks.

FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT 1944 MESSAGE TO THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES ON THE STATE OF THE UNION

Most HAs have quite long waiting lists that are only periodically open for new applications. Depending on the location desired, average time spent on waiting lists can range from 7 months to 2 years and these waits are typically much shorter than those in voucher programs. Though the system is structured in a first-come, first-served manner, HAs do have the ability to grant priority to parties such as elderly, victims of domestic violence, or disabled persons.

Capital Fund

The Capital Fund provides funds to housing authorities to modernize public housing developments.

household with disability

Demolition/Disposition

non-elderly, non-disabled, with children

The Demo/Dispo program was created in an effort to help eliminate old, run down public housing.

elderly non-elderly, non-disabled, without children

Homeownership

A Public Housing Authority (PHA) may sell all, or a portion of, a public housing development to eligible residents or resident organizations, for purposes of homeownership, provided that a Homeownership Plan has been submitted by the PHA and has been approved by HUD.

HOPE VI

Since 1993, HOPE VI has been the engine driving the revitalization of the Nation's most distressed public housing developments by providing grants and unprecedented flexibility to address the housing and social service needs of their residents.

FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES 1933-1945

Housing Choice Vouchers (Formerly Section 8)

step two

screening & waiting lists

Many people lump all federally assisted housing under the term "public housing." Actually public housing is only one of several Federal programs that provide low-cost shelter to low-income families. The distinguishing characteristics of public housing are: (1) assistance is provided on the basis of housing units available for rental by low- and very low-income families and individuals; (2) the Federal Government provides financial assistance for the construction (or acquisition), rehabilitation, and operation of buildings for use as rental housing for the poor; and (3) it is owned by an independent local agency, established according to State law, called a Public Housing Agency.

Allow very low-income families to choose and lease or purchase safe, decent, and affordable privately-owned rental housing.

current stigmas

The infamous image of the Pruitt-Igoe housing project in St. Louis is one that has greatly tarnished the reputation of public housing in the US. After WWII as thousands of people, largely minorities from the southern states moved to city centers for employment, many local housing authorities were overwhelmed. Unable to keep pace with the rising population and unforeseen maintenance costs, several high-profile projects, such as Pruitt-Igoe failed and Public Housing, as an experiment, was deemed a disaster. This is not however, the full story. In reality, the vast majority of projects were successful in keeping at risk populations above extreme poverty. Additionally, these projects became home to many thriving communities.

Mixed-Finance Public Housing

30%

Mixed-Finance public housing allows HUD to mix public, private, and non-profit funds to develop and operate housing developments. These new developments are built for residents with a wide range of incomes, and are designed to fit into the surrounding community.

13%

Provides project-based rental assistance for low income families. The program was repealed in 1991 and no new projects are authorized for development. Assistance is limited to properties previously rehabilitated pursuant to a housing assistance payments (HAP) contract between an owner and a Public Housing Agency (PHA). Project-Based Section 8

MTW is a demonstration program that allows housing authorities (Has) to design and test ways to give incentives to families to become economically self-sufficient, achieve programmatic efficiencies, reduce costs, and increase housing choice for low-income households.

placement

21%

Moderate Rehabilitation

Moving to Work Demonstration (MTW)

step three

35%

Public Housing

Section 202

Section 811

Vouchers

HOUSEHOLDS BY RACE

Operating Fund

Once a party has been placed and accepted a public housing unit, the tenant is generally expected to pay 30% of his/her gross adjusted income. The only way in which they might be evicted in through a violation of the lease or program rules. Eviction from a property may result in ineligibilty for public or other subsidized housing in the future.

The Public Housing Operating Fund provides operating subsidies to housing authorities (HAs) to assist in funding the operating and maintenance expenses of their own dwellings, in accordance with Section 9 of the U.S. Housing Act of 1937, as amended. The subsidies are required to help maintain services and provide minimum operating reserves.

black other

Develops and implements plans which address HUD?s high risk rental housing subsidy programs. The ROSS program links services to public housing residents by providing grants for supportive services, resident empowerment activities and activities to assist residents in becoming economically self-sufficient.

Image: Pruitt-Igoe, 1972

Source: us department of housing and urban developmenthuduser.org

41%

black

Rental Housing Integrity Improvement Project (RHIIP)

Resident Opportunities and Self Sufficiency (ROSS) and Neighborhood Networks (NN)

40%

hispanic white

white

10%

hispanic other

25%

Source: NLIHC tabulations of Public Use Microdata Sample. www.huduser.org/portal/pumd/ index.html.

sit tight and we’ll be back to you in about 2 years...

do you have children?

yes

are you employed? yes

nice! but who will you choose?

yes yes

can you afford a realtor? are you a us resident?

yes

are you a legal immigrant?

it’s for an assignment...

yes

now we’re on to something

need advice?

stigma? why not? are you over 65?

you’re kidding!

yes

why are you here?

other?

yes

are you poor? gone to hud.gov?

not to worry...

meanwhile...

oh, you were asking for a friend?

general confusion? are you buried in debt?

yes

are you over 65?

so you need a

no no

yes

are you single?

yes

have you considered low income housing?

yes

public housing? maybe you could try craigslist

section 8?

home and you have no idea where to start...

do you qualify for any assistance?

yes

let’s ask siri

have you tried google? no

wanna talk to someone real?

are you a student?

me neither...

yes

do you rent currently? no

do you live with your parents?

section 202? still nothing?

yes

none of the above? section 811? yes

are you a convicted felon?

then perhaps...

are you disabled?

lihtc? no

project-based? are you homeless?

yes

so, what’s the problem?

the history of fair housing

the new rule

the key problems

the (potential) solutions

our thesis

homeownership vs stakeholdership

Public Housing was never intended to be a permanent solution; it was designed to get people back on their feet. Instead, nearly 70 years after the first projects were opened, what we have seen is generations of people that have grown up in these developments. As a result, the program that was initially designed to lend a hand has become, in many ways, an oppressive crutch. What we would like to ask in this project is: How can we begin to engage residents of these communities not as recipients of a federal program but as peers, stakeholders, and partners in pursuance of the ephemeral “American Dream”?

PRESIDENT LYNDON JOHNSON WITH MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. IN 1966

Chicago Open Housing Movement

The Fair Housing Act was first passed in 1968, shortly after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King. It’s purpose has been to prohibit systemic patterns of discrimination based on race, color, religion and national origin. Discrimination based on sex was added in 1974. In 1988, the law was comprehensively amended to include discrimination against people because of disability and familial status. This law is maintained by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). People who feel they have been violated may file a complaint with HUD. HUD will conduct an impartial investigation of the claim within 60 days of it’s filing. However, the general authority for all enforcement of activities under the Act is quite broad. When violations of this law are established, remedies under the Fair Housing Act may include a compensatory reward for damages to the victim(s) of discrimination, orders for comprehensive corrective action, and awards of punitive damages to victims or civil penalties to the government. The law also extends its reach into the design and construction of housing facilities. Some remedies this law has enforced have required the retrofitting housing that has already been constructed to make it comply with the Act's design and construction requirements. timeline of important fair housing events 1968- Congress Responses to the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and passed the Fair Housing Act 1972- Providing the limited mechanisms in place to enforce the Law, the Supreme Court called HUD's role in enforcing fair housing "minimal." 1974- Equal Credit Opportunity Act is passed. Prohibited discrimination in home mortgage lending practices including the practice of "redlining" (a lender's practice of limiting the neighborhoods in it does business based on the race or national origin of the people who live there); discrimination in underwriting (applying different standards for assessing an applicant's creditworthiness based on race, national origin, or other protected characteristics); and predatory lending (charging exorbitant rates to or imposing other exploitative lending practices upon individuals who lack the necessary credit history for a loan from a "prime" lender). 1977- The Community Reinvestment Act is passed. Offered an additional tool in the battle against redlining and similar practices, by encouraging banks and thrifts to invest in all segments of the community from which they collect deposits, including minority neighborhoods. 1987- HUD estimated that as many as two million instances of housing discrimination were occurring each year. 1988- Under President Regan the Fair Housing Act is amended to include protection against discrimination in housing to families with children, people with disabilities, reform the enforcement with oversight by the Justice Department and established a system of administrative judges who have the authority to award actual damages and civil penalties up to $50,000. 1994- Fair Housing Enforcement becomes priority in the Clinton Administration because of a significant increase in complaint filings. President Clinton increased funding for private fair housing initiatives, reaffirmed commitment to the use of disparate impact theory under the Fair Housing Act, and expansion of the fair housing testing program under the leadership of the Justice Department (which, in turn, helped trigger new pattern-or-practice filings). 2000- National Census showed only conditions had improved slightly. All aspects of segregation that civil rights had sought to undo, residential housing segregation has been the most intractable as the census showed relatively little change in residential segregation patterns, despite the nation's growing racial and ethnic diversity. 2008- Banking crisis and home market bubble collapses; bringing into sharper focus the lack of regulations, ethics and oversight seen in banking’s fair lending, a right that was suppose to be protected by both the Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974 and the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977, where very few Americans can make the American dream of home ownership a reality without a loan a major loan.

"The average white person continues to live in a neighborhood that looks very different from those neighborhoods where the average black, Hispanic, and Asian live. For example, the average white person in metropolitan American lives in a neighborhood that is almost 83% white and only 7% black. In contrast, a typical black individual lives in a neighborhood that is only 33% white and as much as 54% black."

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA AND HUD SECRETARY JULIÁN CASTRO, 2014

Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing

The new rule will… -Streamline process to analyze local fair housing -Set fair housing priorities and goals

This new rule extends the already embedded affirmative action obligations in both the Fair Housing and the Civil Rights Acts of 1968. What HUD foresees happening with this new rule will provide a more comprehensive and a more participatory approach by putting in to practice a new tool, the Assessment of Fair Housing(AFH) tool. The AFH asks residents to assess four areas: community segregation, concentration of poverty, access to opportunity, and Disproportionate housing needs. This tool provides those in public housing the ability to lend their voice and will help HUD take meaningful actions to overcome historic patterns of racial segregation, promote fair housing choice and to foster inclusive communities that are free from discrimination and social injustice. A central tenement to this new rule is identifying and removing those barriers that restrict access to opportunity. By addressing these issues collectively, a more integrated and balanced living pattern will emerge thus transforming racially and ethically concentrated areas of poverty. In conclusion, this new rule aims to effect all program participant’s and the related programs of housing and urban development. The AFH process requires program participants to set goals. These goals must be specific to housing and community development processes. The process is as follows:

One Two Three Four Five

Distribution of AFH Tool to program participants Collection and then analysis of data participant’s collected Review of AFH tool and its outcome within 60 days Written approval or disproval of proposed changes (must be consistent with HUD and Civil Rights Requirements for fair housing) Goal identified MUST inform the strategies and actions of the the Consolidate Plan, the Annual Action Plan, the PHA Plan, and the Capital Fund Plan.

2010 LEWIS MUMFORD CENTER ANALYSIS OF U.S. CENSUS CAMDEN, NEW JERSEY

major take-aways

Fair Housing Act Problems -Has showed limited success addressing segregation of minorities -Has yet to improve integration of communities -Fails to address the financial barriers that bind poverty to low-income housing -Fails to address social capital, where residents can feel part of a and/or the community -Does not provide residents with opportunities to fulfill full potential of overcoming the now believed inhereted cycle of poverty -Has created more racial and socio-economic devisions through programs liked Mixed-Fiance Public Housing, ROSS and NN

There are a number of programs dedicated to promoting homeownership among public housing residents. In an address given at the 2014 Bipartisan Policy Center 2014 Housing Summit, Secretary Julián Castro communicated HUD’s support for these efforts, “The best place to start is homeownership. In fact, it’s time to remove the stigma associated with promoting homeownership.When done responsibly, it strengthens communities and boosts our economy. It helps families put down roots and secure their financial futures. In short, it’s a cornerstone of the American Dream.” In some cases, local PHA’s are selling some of their housing stock to residents or other eligible parties. In other cases, this federal assistance to promote ownership is provided through loans or counseling. But what if homeownership isn’t right for everyone? How might those funds be reallocated to help people invest, pay for other costs (such as healthcare or education), or directly benefit their communities?

social capital vs financial capital

We are hypothesizing an inverse relationship between the reliance on social capital and the accumulation of financial capital. Meaning, as an individual accumulates more wealth, her need to depend on interpersonal connections decreases. A mother who can afford to pay for a babysitter would not need to have a strong relationship with her next-door neighbor, for example. On the other hand, the bonds and communities formed within public housing projects, the social capital created, does have real value. Thus, it would seem incomplete to propose a solution whose goal is only to enable the resident to amass enough financial capital to leave the irreplaceable bonds she has created. How do you weigh the need to cultivate social capital against the need to generate financial capital? Might there be a way to merge both of these endeavors within a resident-run cooperative?

Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Rule Problems -HUDs role telescopes back to 1974, where they have minimal stake in enforcing the use of the AFH tool -Fails to present a plan of how they will recruit participation -Fails to address the lack of access to internet in the majority of housing projects (without the internet all the FFHF tools are unusable) -Fails to integrete with pre-existing programs such as RHIIP, ROSS, WTW and NN -Unclear of how tool will be utilized by Mixed-Income Public Housing , Section 8 participants, and Public Housing Residents Image: Pruitt-Igoe, 1967