Read on Twitter
The @joebiden administration must make safe, affordable, decent housing a priority. Today, millions face eviction, only 1/4 of eligible people receive federal assistance, housing is unhealthy, discrimination is rampant, affordable housing is dwindling...On day 1, Biden must:
1. Enact a nationwide #eviction moratorium that stops all stages of eviction, applies to all renters, is enforced & uniform & for duration of pandemic. More here: https://www.nhlp.org/wp-content/uploads/Transition-Eviction-Order.pdf
2. Enact a stimulus w/ retroactive rent relief to address mounting rental debt and close the rent burden gap until affordable housing is available to all. Any program should require that landlords agree not to evict tenants & have a low bar to entry. See: https://nlihc.org/sites/default/files/Best-Practices-for-State-and-Local-Emergency-Rental-Assistance-Programs.pdf
3. Seal eviction records and prohibit credit reporting, especially during the pandemic. Even when a tenant wins a case, eviction is a legal record that prevents families from safe and decent housing, employment, home ownership and public housing, among other harms.
4. Create a nationwide "just cause" and "clean hands" eviction standard. No cause eviction often masks discriminatory evictions and results in displacement and the negative consequences. Without clean hands standards, units may have substandard conditions threatening health.
5. Reinstate and strengthen the Affirmatively Further Fair Housing Rule to guarantee an end to housing discrimination on the basis of race, gender and familial status. Add source of income and require inclusionary zoning.
6. At least until we eliminate the social construct of eviction and secure a right to housing for everyone, provide a right to counsel to ensure tenants' rights are upheld and they don't suffer the consequences of an imbalanced, inequitable system.
7. Support property owners with tax and mortgage assistance and automatic forbearance and foreclosure moratoriums.
Ultimately the @JoeBiden administration must immediately address root causes of the housing crisis: stagnant wages, rising rents, lack of federal financial housing supports & few tenant rights. AND it must tackle the effects of decades of racially restrictive housing policy. ASAP
This is just the urgent start. If @JoeBiden administration doesn't prioritize safe & decent housing for all Americans, the eviction & housing-related health crises will only surge, increasing economic, racial & health injustice & guaranteeing severe harms for future generations.
This is just a snapshot of the critical work that needs to be done & I haven't touched on steps @hudgov @FannieMae @FreddieMac must take.
@NLIHC @NHLP @OppStartsatHome @NLCHPhomeless have all issued outstanding 100 day statements:
https://www.opportunityhome.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/OSAH-Biden-Transition-Memo-FINAL.pdf https://www.nhlp.org/advocacy-and-litigation/advocacy/
@NLIHC @NHLP @OppStartsatHome @NLCHPhomeless have all issued outstanding 100 day statements:
https://www.opportunityhome.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/OSAH-Biden-Transition-Memo-FINAL.pdf https://www.nhlp.org/advocacy-and-litigation/advocacy/
