Homelessness Law Blog

It’s disturbing that millions of people have lost their homes to foreclosure, but at least you’d think that foreclosures would mean more available, affordable homes for low-income renters on the verge of homelessness.  Sadly, you’d be wrong.  Renters lose in the foreclosure crisis too.

One article from Minnesota takes a hard look at the common misperception that foreclosures make renting more affordable.  The reality is that rental costs are increasing, even though the cost of buying a home is falling and banks are holding countless unoccupied and non-revenue producing homes that are costly to maintain.

In Minnesota, for example, statewide rents increased an inflation-adjusted 7 percent from 2000 to 2009 while the income of renters fell 21 percent.  That’s a one-fifth decrease in income.  What would you have to cut out of your budget to live on one-fifth less?  For Edward G. Robinson, the answer is food.  After rent and utilities, Robinson lives on $20 per month.  To get by, he eats at a Dorothy Day drop-in center. (more…)

This morning, the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness announced the release of Opening Doors: Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness. The plan, which will be the Obama Administration’s official policy position on homelessness, will give direction to the federal agencies and guidance to state and local governments. 

The plan does a great job of outlining the issues.  It’s comprehensive, covers all populations, and acknowledges different federal definitions of homelessness and their importance — as opposed to the Council’s past tendency to recognize only the HUD definition of homelessness.  The goals are also good; this is the first federal government document to explicitly call for preventing and ending family homelessness in ten years. (more…)

Last year, the Law Center was instrumental in helping to pass the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act. This major victory for homeless advocates everywhere requires, among other things, that the federal government submit a Federal Plan to End Homelessness to Congress by May 2010.

Now through March 15, you have the ability to offer the government your comments and suggestions on how we should end homelessness in America by going to the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness’s new online forum.

We encourage you to add your voice to the dialogue today.