Homelessness Law Blog

Most days, when it isn’t sweltering hot, my co-workers and I head to the park near the Law Center to enjoy lunch together.  We spread out our blanket and trade snacks and stories without giving a thought to the privilege we have to do so.  Around the country the very act of sitting and staying awhile in the park, or sharing a meal, can lead to expensive fines and, possibly, time in jail.

In our country, one known for both great abundance and great waste, the simple act of sharing food with someone experiencing homelessness has become a crime.  Some cities impose restrictions such as arbitrary numbers of people that can be served a meal in a park or on which days groups can do so.

How can a city expect a group to decide which four days of the year they want to show compassion and use their resources to provide another human being the basic necessity of food?  How can anyone restrict or penalize someone for providing another the nourishment they need to survive?  It is not only being done, but is a growing trend.

Research has shown that some cities fear that providing food to homeless men and women in their city will enable those individuals to remain homeless, or that local businesses will be affected negatively by homeless peoples’ presence.

What cities should fear is that they have stopped looking at people experiencing homelessness as people.  They are daughters, sons, mothers, fathers and friends that do not have somewhere to live.  They live each day with uncertainty about their safety, and where their next meal might come from.  Cities must work collaboratively with service providers to meet food and shelter needs in their communities.

Check out the Law Center’s new report, A Place at the Table, on food sharing restrictions and the innovative alternatives to restrictions that are being implemented around the country to meet hunger needs.

-Sarah Shubitowski, Hunger Fellow

Photo credit: Leroy Skalstad, formerly homeless veteran

It’s no secret that the foreclosure crisis has had a tremendous impact on the United States. In 2008, state and local homeless groups reported a 61 percent rise in homelessness since the beginning of the foreclosure crisis. But what may surprise you is that 40 percent of families facing foreclosure-related eviction are not owners, but renters.  Worse, 7 million households living on extremely low incomes are presently at risk of foreclosure.

Thanks in part to a report issued by the Law Center and the National Low Income Housing Coalition at the beginning of 2009, the federal government and a number of states have taken action.  The Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act (PTFA) was signed into law by President Obama in May of last year, and it affords tenants unprecedented federal protections – including the right to 90-days notice prior to eviction or, in many cases, the right to stay in their home until the end of their lease.

But as the law will eventually expire and does not negate state law when it offers renters better protections, it’s important that steps be taken at the state level too.  We’re happy to report progress on that front!  Since the release of our 2009 report, 16 states have enacted new renters’ rights laws, and 21 states have proposed legislation pending.  This helps fill gaps in PTFA’s protections, and assures security for renters in the long-term, in the event that PTFA is not renewed past its 2012 sunset.

There’s still a lot to be done, though.  As you’ll discover in our new report, Staying Home: The Rights of Renters Living in Foreclosed Properties, renters’ rights are being violated across the country.  New property owners (often banks) are many times failing to inform or misleading renters about their rights, or even illegally evicting them.  Federal and state regulators must get more involved to curb these trends, exercising their oversight of banks and, when appropriate, litigating to ensure compliance with the law.

To read our new report, click here. Please circulate it widely.

-Andy Beres, Grant Writer/Communications Assistant

Photo credit: respres