THE CLOSER: New solutions to old problems: creating efficient and effective affordable housing...
It’s no secret that there is a nationwide housing crisis. According to the National Low Income Housing Council, “there is a shortage of more than 7 million affordable homes for our nation’s 10.8 million...
Banning demon coal
One mystery of U.S. politics is why Al Gore, California billionaire Tom Steyer and the green lobby view President Obama as a disaster for global warming. Maybe nobody could satisfy their ambitions. But the...
State of Multifamily Financing
With uncertainty about what the reform of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will bring, mandatory reductions in their portfolios scheduled for 2010, and questions about the capability of FHA to handle greatly expanded loan...
Why free enterprise is about morals, not materialism
For years, we thought we had won. After all, almost no self-respecting public figures call themselves socialists anymore. With the advent of the New Democrats, even America's progressive party was on board with free...
The new housing problem facing low-income renters
There’s a new problem facing low-income individuals seeking affordable housing: Even if they have a housing choice voucher to subsidize rents in the private market, landlords do not want to accept voucher tenants. A...
Death and taxes
If you're planning on dying soon, you might want to hurry up. It's that other certainty of life you'll want to watch out for. The estate tax, which taxes the inheritance you pass on...
Restoring America’s exceptionalism
Regulatory relief and reform
To restore incentive and encourage growth we must reduce the regulatory burden on our economy. There is a place for regulations that ensure safety and soundness and protect people from danger,...
The time the federal government built a flawed housing project and tore it down...
On the 50th anniversary of the demolition of Pruitt-Igoe, it’s nearly impossible to understate the failure of the St. Louis public housing project.
Famed architect Minoro Yamasaki, who would go on to design the World...
Canceling rent won’t solve housing woes
As Americans stagger through a bewildering pandemic summer, buffeted by shutdowns and job losses, millions face each coming month with an additional dread: making their rent payments.
In response to the crisis, numerous states and...
A climate action plan for affordable multihousing
To reduce the deadly threat of climate disruption, it is essential to rein in polluting energy use, especially the wasteful conventional consumption of electricity in buildings. Currently, large multifamily residential buildings represent a huge...
The future of housing
While our industry has often been slow to adopt new technologies, the opposite, of course, is true of the electronics industry. As such, I decided to attend the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) held earlier...
Sec. Ben Carson’s approach to affordable housing might work
The new Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Ben Carson, aims to succeed where the Obama administration failed. Carson’s department intends to revise one of the landmark housing policies implemented by the Obama administration,...
New lawsuit in Seattle: Housing ordinance is unfair and unconstitutional
Seattle’s Fair Chance Housing Ordinance, passed by city council in 2017, forbids landlords from considering applicants’ criminal histories when selecting tenants. In other words, landlords cannot base a rental decision on concerns over their...
NMHC weighs in on HUD
After considering the Administration’s goal as well as its previous attempts to shoehorn minorities into largely homogenous communities in which they otherwise could not afford to live, the author comes to this conclusion:
“Seemingly incapable...
Rent control is illegal
New York City recently implemented its far-reaching Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019. That law enacted extensive amendments, all plaintiff protective, to New York’s 1969 Rent Stabilization Law (RSL). The Act imposes...
