NBC Nightly News, December 17, 2023

“A record number of people in the United States are unhoused, according to newly-released federal data. The report found that more than 653,000 were experiencing homelessness, a 12 percent population increase since last year.“ NBC News’ Dana Griffin, December 17, 2023.

I put together a few articles on the current state of homelessness and strange goings on with housing in the U.S., along with basic information on our fair housing laws. All of us should be on the look-out for discrimination in housing—the discrimination the fair housing laws are specifically designed to address—because it still happens all too frequently.

— First up is a December 2023 article from USA Today which supplements the NBC News clip, above, and specifically discusses some of the reasons behind the recent rise in homelessness, like the end of pandemic aid in 2021 and 2022 coupled with the meteoric rise in the cost of rent and other necessities like food and clothing. There was also a moratorium on evictions and foreclosures starting in March 2020 through at least July 31, 2021, which prevented several hundred thousand people in the U.S. from homelessness during that time.

High housing costs continue to be a financial stressor for the poorest Americans. In recent years, more people in the U.S. are rent-burdened, according to HUD, meaning they spend more than 30% or even over 50% of their income on rent…. The U.S. saw such a sharp increase [in homelessness] this year because more people are becoming unhoused faster, according to Ann Oliva, CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness. More people are also becoming homeless for the first time, she said…"More folks are reporting, as they're showing up in the homeless services system, that they're coming directly from a lease."

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/12/15/homelessness-in-america-grew-2023/71926354007/

And… if you want to read a fascinating history of homelessness in the U.S., check out this PBS analysis published in 2017. Apparently, today’s out-of-control homeless problem started more recently than I knew.

— About the strange goings-on with the housing market — a convergence of economic forces is squeezing multiple generations out of home ownership entirely, or leaving them stuck in a “starter” home, much too small for their growing families. According to an in-depth explanation in a New York Times article published earlier this month, it is lower and middle income home buyers who are squeezed the hardest by high mortgage interest rates, surging home prices and extremely low inventory.

[The factors behind this problem are] …the highest borrowing rates in nearly two decades, a crippling shortage of inventory, and a surge in home prices to a median of $434,000, the highest on record, according to Redfin. People who bought their starter home a few years ago are finding themselves frozen in place by what is known as the “rate-lock effect” — they bought when interest rates were historically low, and trading up would mean a doubling or tripling of their monthly interest payments. They are locked in, and as a result, families hoping to buy their first homes are locked out.

— Fair Housing Laws (led by the Fair Housing Act (FHA) signed in April, 1968 by President Johnson) prohibit discrimination in renting and, buying a home. The FHA has been amended over the years to extend protections to gender, gender identity and disability, in addition to race, religion and ethnicity. These prohibitions extend to a variety of scenarios like the following: “a homeowner refusing to negotiate a sale; a landlord failing to make repairs; a mortgage lender denying a loan.”

Despite these laws, complaints of discrimination remain abundant, and in fact, the Times article documents that thousands of complaints are received each year:

…about everything from prejudiced home appraisals to racial steering. In 2022, there were more than 33,000 fair housing complaints received by organizations across the country.

If you think you have been discriminated against as part of a housing transaction, you can file a complaint with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), here. Or check this database for local service offices, listed by state, here.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/31/realestate/what-is-fair-housing.html

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Decent housing is a fundamental human right that millions in our country simply can’t afford, putting nearly 700,000 people on the street or in shelters last year, alone. Millions more are being kept out of the rental and home ownership market because of economic forces beyond their control. Let’s start a discussion of what our government can do, and what we can accomplish as individuals or in groups to solve this problem. Leave your thoughts in the Comment Section below:

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