ECONOMY  
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Foreclosure Crisis Hits Poor Renters Hard: Evicted Families Have to Fight to Live Together

With foreclosures and job losses dragging down the whole economy, low-income families of color are falling into an even deeper hole.
May 26, 2009  |  
 
 
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Last fall, Yolanda James and her three children were lost in their own city. After foreclosure had forced them from their South Los Angeles apartment, they ran into closed doors at every turn. Aid agencies offered referrals to other offices, but no relief, and neither the shelter system nor the city's high-priced housing market had room for them. James burned through her welfare money to pay for motel rooms and later resorted to sleeping with her children in their car.

"I was, like, two or three different people at one time," she recalled. "I had to get on the grind, to hustle, to make sure my kids--when they get out of school, I could feed them, or I could take them somewhere to shower and bathe for the next day."

Like others in Los Angeles's Black community, James, who is 34, had some ties to public resources: a rent subsidy voucher under the federal Section 8 program, a monthly food stamp allowance and hard-fought experience with the social service system, having worked as an advocate with a local anti-poverty group. Still, she wasn't prepared when the foreclosure wave hit her apartment building. Caught between a delinquent landlord and the bank, James, her 12-year-old son and her two teenage daughters lost their apartment and fell straight through the holes in the city's tattered safety net.

James finally landed an apartment in November 2008 before her housing voucher expired. She said she feels safe for now but is still shaken by homelessness. "I've been a single parent for so long. I've always had a place," she said. "I just felt like I was totally wiped out. Like, 'What the hell happened? I'm not in control of anything.'"

With foreclosures and job losses dragging down the whole economy, low-income families of color are plunging into an even deeper hole. While the mortgage meltdown has devastated Black and Latino homeowners, some of the hardest-hit foreclosure victims did not even own the homes they lost. According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, about 20 percent of properties facing foreclosure in 2008 were rentals, and rental foreclosures are especially prevalent in poor communities and communities of color. In many states, the situation is complicated by a lack of legal protections for tenants against sudden eviction.

The National Alliance to End Homelessness has predicted that at the current rate, the recession will result in 1.5 million additional homeless people within two years. According to the advocacy group First Focus, nearly two million children will be impacted by subprime foreclosures, including some half a million Latino children and more than 280,000 Black children. In a national survey of school systems, several hundred districts reported a surge in homeless children last fall compared to the previous school year.

As displaced families struggle against poverty and a shortage of affordable housing, social service systems--a patchwork of local charities and government agencies--grapple with deep budget cuts. Resources for families are especially sparse in the shelter system, where many programs are designed for single adults. Though the federal stimulus package has boosted funds to address homelessness, including $70 million for educational assistance for homeless youth and $1.5 billion for Housing and Urban Development's Emergency Shelter program, need has far outstripped local resources.

"All the agencies are full. All of the food banks are to capacity in terms of what they can provide for people who are lining up outside their doors," said Susie Shannon of the Los Angeles Coalition to End Hunger and Homelessness, where James worked before being laid off in 2006. "It's a train wreck in slow motion, and it's going to pop all at once."

The trajectory of displacement turns on how much a family has to fall back on. They may avoid full-on homelessness for a few months, often moving in with relatives or friends--until a layoff, hospital bill or some other setback pushes them over the brink.

Sabrina Otis, a Black 35-year-old mother, was skirting the edge of crisis well before foreclosures consumed her city. Her journey began, she said, when she moved to Cleveland in 2001 to escape an abusive ex-spouse. She could not find stable housing initially and lost her five children to foster care for several months. She later settled into a Section 8-subsidized house in Lakewood, a predominantly white Cleveland suburb, but was uprooted again in 2007 during the housing implosion. She was forced to leave, she recalled, after realizing that the landlord was failing to maintain the property and that the house was sliding into abandonment and foreclosure.


Michelle Chen has written for the South China Morning Post, Clamor, INTHEFRAY.COM and her own zine, cain.
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Comments are closed-

Victims of a phony economy
Posted by: xvictor on May 26, 2009 5:57 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
For the last several years, the economy was basically fueled by credit cards, easy mortgage loans and refinancing, and cheap money. The housing construction and finance industries were responsible for the high GDP growth rates for the same period. GDP fueled by ATMs. Former Dumbo Bush's tenure is marked by false claims of a booming, productive economy.

The victims of that false economy are now living in tents. The party's been over.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» It was a bubble Posted by: bonapartist

Comments are closed-

this does not mention the 4% increase Los Angeles allows this year on rents
Posted by: emccready on May 26, 2009 6:46 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
This article does not mention that this year the Rent Stabilization Board of Mayor Villaraigosa permits a 4% increase on rents of covered buildings in Los Angeles, one percent higher than last year when the economy was stronger.

There are more and more vacancies because rents have gone up more than 25% over the last 6 years because of increases mandated by this board. What happened to stabilization...the idea that rents should not go up for a few years to allow people to remain in their apartments in bad times?

Predator/parasitic management companies do nothing to keep rents down...it is against their for profit interest. Old fashioned landlords who used to take in consideration the problems of their tenants hardly exist anymore and people almost never get a break.

It is time for a rent roll back in Los Angeles to address this time of crisis. But where are the politicians? Where is the Mayor of Los Angeles? We have silence to all appeals.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]


Comments are closed-

It ain't easy for poor white families either
Posted by: DaBear on May 26, 2009 10:07 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
When you're poor the difference in melanin composition only determines how you're shat upon by the owning class' system-fail. Either way it's still being shat upon.

Having lived in the truck a half dozen times since 2006, I'm telling y'all from experience.

Rich people best watch their ass... a lot of us are sick of being shat on and being 'xpected to bend over and smile for more. Some folks in this shithole of a country are gonna get their asses beat on by us poor people who are fed up. Starve other for food and housing and you cannot possibly expect to get smiled at no more. Best watch yer tires, your backside... that taillight on that Lexus might be missing...

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» Fully agreed Posted by: bonapartist

Comments are closed-

This is how we weed out the unworthy
Posted by: Hiroak on May 26, 2009 10:47 AM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Poor people are only poor because they don't want to work and fall in line. Corporations are looking out for the wellfare of all and if you want a job there are plenty to go around. Don't be lazy and live in your car get a job with Monsanto and prosper. mwaa haa haaa ha

Break a tail light, hassle the rich, leave hateful notes on the cars of people stupid enough to still have a MaSame/Impalethem sticker. Let the revolution begin in small ways (kind of like American Revolution I did) Make the scum uncomfortable and maybe they will wake up. If not, who cares, the noose works just fine then.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]


Comments are closed-

Homestead Florida. Foreclosed duplex
Posted by: reelectnoone on May 26, 2009 11:55 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I am a land lord in foreclosure. I did not plan it that way. The property was to be my retirement plan and, when sold, was to pay my bills and buy my little retirement home in NE Florida. Enter the bust and the loss of my retirement plans.

Unlike some, I continued to maintain the property and pay the insurance until it ran out recently. I did not pay property taxes because the "wise" people in Miami-Dade property appraisal office deemed the value to have increased even as the real estate market plunged. They now say it is worth $78,000 more than the best offer I ever had when trying to sell it.

Rental incomes took a nose dive when all the migrant builders left town. With increased taxes and insurance and lower rents, the property could not pay its own way and no one will even make an offer. Repairs and empty units ate my credit.

Due to some strange things in the suit, I filed a motion to dismiss, not that I can afford to keep the property, but because it looked like the company suing to foreclose did not even own the note any longer.

I made a written offer to their attorney to avoid foreclosure if they would provide my tenants with a written lease to assure they could remain there if they continued to pay rent as they always have. No response at all.

I do not want to see yet another empty home in Homestead. It is not good for the city, the people and not even for the property itself. Banks don't seem to care that an empty property is a liability and prone to vandalism that just reduces its value more. The rent they could collect would be an offset to the mortgage payment they are not getting now. It would be easier to sell and investment property if it is in good condition and already occupied and generating income.

But trying to talk to a Bank is like talking to the wind...they don't care because Congress is willing to bail them out of their own stupidity over and over again.

I think it is great to see organizations "Squat" in these properties. Better families than drug dealers using them as crack houses etc and kids breaking in to vandalize and steal appliances and the like.

In my mind there is something fundamentally wrong in the minds of bankers. They are no one's friends except their wealthy shareholders.

Do date the foreclosure has not gone through. I will continue to put up road blocks to try to protect my tenants as long as possible. There after I will suggest they contact "Take Back the Land" and squat there.

I will still do what I can to keep the place in good condition for them...screw the banks.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]


Comments are closed-

I'd love to save the world
Posted by: willymack on May 26, 2009 1:48 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
But I don't know what to do
So I'll leave it up to you.
One solution is
Tax the rich
Feed the poor
'Till there ain't no
Rich no more.
This idea is beginning to sound better all the time.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]


Comments are closed-

Ignoring the obvious question
Posted by: advancedatheist on May 26, 2009 1:50 PM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Why do some Americans too stupid to live properly pump out kids they can't afford, then expect other Americans with better managed lives to help pay for them?

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]


Comments are closed-

First step - know your rights.
Posted by: shoosta on May 26, 2009 2:37 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The first example given occurred in California. Two things were wrong with that story, or perhaps just left unsaid. In California, any property owner, even a financial institution, must give a tenant a written 30-day notice to vacate. Also, a section 8 participant in California must be given a 90-day notice to terminate tenancy. Since the woman desribed in the article was a section 8 participant, she should have been given a 90-day notice regardless of the circumstances of the foreclosure. This is not necessarily true for a single family residence, but the article stated that she lived in a multi-family complex, so the owner would have been bound by California law to give her and any other tenants at the complex proper time to vacate. Basically, the first example did not ring true for me. Any advocacy, legal aid or the county housing authority would have informed the woman of her rights and would have informed the current owner of her rights and of their obligations. So, if she had 90 days to find a new apartment, it's very hard to believe that she could not accomplish that. Any tenant can be asked to leave at any time. That's life. It's a hardship, but that's life. Thousands of people throughout the state are having to deal with this same problem of landlords facing foreclosure. It does not happen to one group more than another. Certainly those with very limited incomes face a greater hardship because moving costs are quite high literally everywhere. Articles, such as this one, better serve the cause by telling the truth, or at least the whole story.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]


Comments are closed-

People of color
Posted by: ozonehole on May 26, 2009 6:47 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
It might have been a good article if the author had left out the "people of color" remark in the subtitle.

Believe it or not, there are many "colorless" people who also face economic hardship.

Actually, the only humans I know of who don't have color are albinos. Not that I think a lack of melanin pigment makes them into a privileged ruling class of wealty Wall Street banksters.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]


Comments are closed-

Anthony D'Auria
Posted by: Tony D on May 29, 2009 2:23 PM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Shame on Obama for listening to the over educated economists and actuaries, who are allowing citizens to fall as low as this. Banks will have no reason to exist when the destitute have no money to deposit. They are all digging their own graves and we are all be going down the black hole with them.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]


Comments are closed-

Middle Class - the new face of homeless
Posted by: basicneeds911 on Jun 10, 2009 10:53 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The Middle Class is struggling with stagnant wages, rising debts, increased expenses and job loss. Low income dog & cat owners require immediate pet food assistance.

We feed many homeless people who live in their cars with kids and pets in tow. They are NOT drug addicts.

www.basicneeds911.org

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Alternet Comments:

Comments are closed-

Victims of a phony economy
Posted by: xvictor on May 26, 2009 5:57 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
For the last several years, the economy was basically fueled by credit cards, easy mortgage loans and refinancing, and cheap money. The housing construction and finance industries were responsible for the high GDP growth rates for the same period. GDP fueled by ATMs. Former Dumbo Bush's tenure is marked by false claims of a booming, productive economy.

The victims of that false economy are now living in tents. The party's been over.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» It was a bubble Posted by: bonapartist

Comments are closed-

this does not mention the 4% increase Los Angeles allows this year on rents
Posted by: emccready on May 26, 2009 6:46 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
This article does not mention that this year the Rent Stabilization Board of Mayor Villaraigosa permits a 4% increase on rents of covered buildings in Los Angeles, one percent higher than last year when the economy was stronger.

There are more and more vacancies because rents have gone up more than 25% over the last 6 years because of increases mandated by this board. What happened to stabilization...the idea that rents should not go up for a few years to allow people to remain in their apartments in bad times?

Predator/parasitic management companies do nothing to keep rents down...it is against their for profit interest. Old fashioned landlords who used to take in consideration the problems of their tenants hardly exist anymore and people almost never get a break.

It is time for a rent roll back in Los Angeles to address this time of crisis. But where are the politicians? Where is the Mayor of Los Angeles? We have silence to all appeals.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]


Comments are closed-

It ain't easy for poor white families either
Posted by: DaBear on May 26, 2009 10:07 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
When you're poor the difference in melanin composition only determines how you're shat upon by the owning class' system-fail. Either way it's still being shat upon.

Having lived in the truck a half dozen times since 2006, I'm telling y'all from experience.

Rich people best watch their ass... a lot of us are sick of being shat on and being 'xpected to bend over and smile for more. Some folks in this shithole of a country are gonna get their asses beat on by us poor people who are fed up. Starve other for food and housing and you cannot possibly expect to get smiled at no more. Best watch yer tires, your backside... that taillight on that Lexus might be missing...

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» Fully agreed Posted by: bonapartist

Comments are closed-

This is how we weed out the unworthy
Posted by: Hiroak on May 26, 2009 10:47 AM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Poor people are only poor because they don't want to work and fall in line. Corporations are looking out for the wellfare of all and if you want a job there are plenty to go around. Don't be lazy and live in your car get a job with Monsanto and prosper. mwaa haa haaa ha

Break a tail light, hassle the rich, leave hateful notes on the cars of people stupid enough to still have a MaSame/Impalethem sticker. Let the revolution begin in small ways (kind of like American Revolution I did) Make the scum uncomfortable and maybe they will wake up. If not, who cares, the noose works just fine then.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]


Comments are closed-

Homestead Florida. Foreclosed duplex
Posted by: reelectnoone on May 26, 2009 11:55 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I am a land lord in foreclosure. I did not plan it that way. The property was to be my retirement plan and, when sold, was to pay my bills and buy my little retirement home in NE Florida. Enter the bust and the loss of my retirement plans.

Unlike some, I continued to maintain the property and pay the insurance until it ran out recently. I did not pay property taxes because the "wise" people in Miami-Dade property appraisal office deemed the value to have increased even as the real estate market plunged. They now say it is worth $78,000 more than the best offer I ever had when trying to sell it.

Rental incomes took a nose dive when all the migrant builders left town. With increased taxes and insurance and lower rents, the property could not pay its own way and no one will even make an offer. Repairs and empty units ate my credit.

Due to some strange things in the suit, I filed a motion to dismiss, not that I can afford to keep the property, but because it looked like the company suing to foreclose did not even own the note any longer.

I made a written offer to their attorney to avoid foreclosure if they would provide my tenants with a written lease to assure they could remain there if they continued to pay rent as they always have. No response at all.

I do not want to see yet another empty home in Homestead. It is not good for the city, the people and not even for the property itself. Banks don't seem to care that an empty property is a liability and prone to vandalism that just reduces its value more. The rent they could collect would be an offset to the mortgage payment they are not getting now. It would be easier to sell and investment property if it is in good condition and already occupied and generating income.

But trying to talk to a Bank is like talking to the wind...they don't care because Congress is willing to bail them out of their own stupidity over and over again.

I think it is great to see organizations "Squat" in these properties. Better families than drug dealers using them as crack houses etc and kids breaking in to vandalize and steal appliances and the like.

In my mind there is something fundamentally wrong in the minds of bankers. They are no one's friends except their wealthy shareholders.

Do date the foreclosure has not gone through. I will continue to put up road blocks to try to protect my tenants as long as possible. There after I will suggest they contact "Take Back the Land" and squat there.

I will still do what I can to keep the place in good condition for them...screw the banks.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]


Comments are closed-

I'd love to save the world
Posted by: willymack on May 26, 2009 1:48 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
But I don't know what to do
So I'll leave it up to you.
One solution is
Tax the rich
Feed the poor
'Till there ain't no
Rich no more.
This idea is beginning to sound better all the time.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]


Comments are closed-

Ignoring the obvious question
Posted by: advancedatheist on May 26, 2009 1:50 PM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Why do some Americans too stupid to live properly pump out kids they can't afford, then expect other Americans with better managed lives to help pay for them?

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]


Comments are closed-

First step - know your rights.
Posted by: shoosta on May 26, 2009 2:37 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The first example given occurred in California. Two things were wrong with that story, or perhaps just left unsaid. In California, any property owner, even a financial institution, must give a tenant a written 30-day notice to vacate. Also, a section 8 participant in California must be given a 90-day notice to terminate tenancy. Since the woman desribed in the article was a section 8 participant, she should have been given a 90-day notice regardless of the circumstances of the foreclosure. This is not necessarily true for a single family residence, but the article stated that she lived in a multi-family complex, so the owner would have been bound by California law to give her and any other tenants at the complex proper time to vacate. Basically, the first example did not ring true for me. Any advocacy, legal aid or the county housing authority would have informed the woman of her rights and would have informed the current owner of her rights and of their obligations. So, if she had 90 days to find a new apartment, it's very hard to believe that she could not accomplish that. Any tenant can be asked to leave at any time. That's life. It's a hardship, but that's life. Thousands of people throughout the state are having to deal with this same problem of landlords facing foreclosure. It does not happen to one group more than another. Certainly those with very limited incomes face a greater hardship because moving costs are quite high literally everywhere. Articles, such as this one, better serve the cause by telling the truth, or at least the whole story.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]


Comments are closed-

People of color
Posted by: ozonehole on May 26, 2009 6:47 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
It might have been a good article if the author had left out the "people of color" remark in the subtitle.

Believe it or not, there are many "colorless" people who also face economic hardship.

Actually, the only humans I know of who don't have color are albinos. Not that I think a lack of melanin pigment makes them into a privileged ruling class of wealty Wall Street banksters.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]


Comments are closed-

Anthony D'Auria
Posted by: Tony D on May 29, 2009 2:23 PM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Shame on Obama for listening to the over educated economists and actuaries, who are allowing citizens to fall as low as this. Banks will have no reason to exist when the destitute have no money to deposit. They are all digging their own graves and we are all be going down the black hole with them.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]


Comments are closed-

Middle Class - the new face of homeless
Posted by: basicneeds911 on Jun 10, 2009 10:53 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The Middle Class is struggling with stagnant wages, rising debts, increased expenses and job loss. Low income dog & cat owners require immediate pet food assistance.

We feed many homeless people who live in their cars with kids and pets in tow. They are NOT drug addicts.

www.basicneeds911.org

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

 
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