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Before that, she was a New York Women’s Foundation IGNITE Fellow at Latino USA. She worked at Radio Bilingue where she covered the San Joaquin Valley. Maria has interned at WLRN, News 21, The New York Times Student Journalism Institute and at Crain’s Detroit Business as a Dow Jones News Fund Business Reporting Intern. She is an MFA graduate from the University of Miami. In 2017, she graduated from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication with a Master of Mass Communication. A fronteriza, she was born in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico and grew up in El Paso, Texas.","avatar":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/77cedba18aae91da775038ba06dcd8d0?s=600&d=blank&r=g","twitter":"@m_esquinca","facebook":null,"instagram":null,"linkedin":null,"sites":[{"site":"news","roles":[]}],"headData":{"title":"Maria Esquinca | KQED","description":"Producer, The Bay","ogImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/77cedba18aae91da775038ba06dcd8d0?s=600&d=blank&r=g","twImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/77cedba18aae91da775038ba06dcd8d0?s=600&d=blank&r=g"},"isLoading":false,"link":"/author/mesquinca"}},"breakingNewsReducer":{},"campaignFinanceReducer":{},"pagesReducer":{},"postsReducer":{"stream_live":{"type":"live","id":"stream_live","audioUrl":"https://streams.kqed.org/kqedradio","title":"Live Stream","excerpt":"Live Stream information currently unavailable.","link":"/radio","featImg":"","label":{"name":"KQED Live","link":"/"}},"stream_kqedNewscast":{"type":"posts","id":"stream_kqedNewscast","audioUrl":"https://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/RDnews/newscast.mp3?_=1","title":"KQED Newscast","featImg":"","label":{"name":"88.5 FM","link":"/"}},"news_11966342":{"type":"posts","id":"news_11966342","meta":{"index":"posts_1716263798","site":"news","id":"11966342","score":null,"sort":[1699284609000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"how-the-bay-areas-biggest-city-wants-to-overcome-its-sprawl","title":"How the Bay Area's Biggest City Wants to Overcome Its Sprawl","publishDate":1699284609,"format":"standard","headTitle":"How the Bay Area’s Biggest City Wants to Overcome Its Sprawl | KQED","labelTerm":{"term":33522,"site":"news"},"content":"\u003cp>\u003cem>This story is part of the third season of KQED’s podcast Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America. You can \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/podcasts/soldout\">\u003cem>find that series here\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> and read about why \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1984697/why-kqed-focused-a-season-of-its-housing-podcast-on-climate-change#:~:text=Sold%20Out%20Is%20Back%20With%20Season%203&text=Host%20Erin%20Baldassari%20leads%20a,an%20affordable%20place%20to%20live.\">\u003cem>KQED chose to focus a season of its housing podcast on climate change\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Monika Rivera really enjoys her commute.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even though she has to wake up at 5:30 a.m. and travel an hour and 15 minutes to get from her apartment in Hayward, a city east of San Francisco, to her job in San José, she’s turned it into a routine. She pops in her earbuds, blasts Taylor Swift’s \u003cem>Maroon,\u003c/em> and rides her gray, Specialized bike to the train station for the rest of her commute.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ditching her car has been liberating.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It makes such a big difference in how you feel throughout the day. It makes you feel more connected to the community,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 29-year-old environmental services worker never thought she’d be a bike commuter. Now, she doesn’t want to give it up. Biking and taking BART, the Bay Area’s commuter train, to work has made Rivera happier. She exercises more often, and it makes her feel like she’s doing her part for the environment, “knowing that I’m not putting all those pollutants into the air every day.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The small actions you can take can make a big difference, and just changing your lifestyle, making those habits, are really important,” she continued.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But she’s willing to give up that lifestyle to become a homeowner, a lifelong goal she’s been working for years to achieve. To do that, she and her husband recently purchased a home two hours away in the Central Valley city of Lathrop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I looked [in the Bay Area], and what I could find wasn’t what I wanted,” she said. “I was thinking to myself, I wanted a home.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Matthew Lewis, communications director, California YIMBY.\"]‘At the end of the day, it’s really a geometry problem. The amount of land you have in a city is finite, and if you use all of it for single-unit homes, you’re going to quickly run out of land to house the people who want to live there.’[/pullquote]A former agricultural city, Lathrop \u003ca href=\"https://dof.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/352/Forecasting/Demographics/Documents/E-1_2023PressRelease.pdf\">has a population that’s grown 11% in the past year (PDF)\u003c/a> as workers priced out of the Bay Area flocked to the area for its relatively affordable housing. But as they do, those workers commute farther into the cities for their jobs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Bay Area now has the \u003ca href=\"https://www.apartmentlist.com/research/traffic-trains-or-teleconference-the-changing-american-commute\">largest share of super commuters nationwide\u003c/a>, commuters who spend more than 90 minutes traveling to work or back each day, according to an Apartment List study. Transportation now accounts for \u003ca href=\"https://www.energy.ca.gov/about/core-responsibility-fact-sheets/transforming-transportation\">nearly half\u003c/a> of the state’s carbon emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s housing and climate officials hope to combat these emissions by encouraging — or, in some cases, forcing — cities to allow more apartment buildings to be built near train stations and along major bus routes. In San José, a Silicon Valley city with sprawling single-family neighborhoods and highways that run through the middle, housing advocates and urban planners are trying to redesign its suburban streets into compact, walkable neighborhoods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At the end of the day, it’s really a geometry problem,” said Matthew Lewis, the communications director for the housing advocacy group California YIMBY. “The amount of land you have in a city is finite, and if you use all of it for single-unit homes, you’re going to quickly run out of land to house the people who want to live there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the shift from suburban to urban hasn’t been easy, partially because many of the city’s policies favor sprawl and work against the changes planners want to see. Some argue the city’s proposals are too ambitious and its development requirements are overly bureaucratic for apartments and commercial spaces to be built quickly and within budget. Housing advocates are pushing for gentler options, like adding smaller homes to existing single-family lots.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As San José tries to dramatically reduce its carbon emissions and build more housing simultaneously, the lessons it learns are relevant nationwide as other cities seek to do the same.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm/?e=KQINC3494938610&light=true\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The urban village plan\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>More than a decade ago, officials in San José adopted a plan to transform underused lots near train stations into thriving neighborhoods called “urban villages.” State officials say this kind of development is the way forward for California to meet its ambitious housing and climate goals to add 2.5 million new homes to the housing stock and to cut its carbon emissions in half by 2030.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Given the persistent housing crisis California faces, we know that we’re not going to build our way out of that crisis by building single-family homes,” said Sam Assefa, director of the Governor’s Office for Planning and Research. “More compact, transit-oriented development is the sensible way to do it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" class=\"juxtapose\" width=\"100%\" height=\"580\" src=\"https://cdn.knightlab.com/libs/juxtapose/latest/embed/index.html?uid=0508465c-783d-11ee-b5be-6595d9b17862\" scrolling=\"yes\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>San José’s urban village plan wants to transform underused lots into vibrant, urban neighborhoods. In this artist’s rendition of what the Berryessa BART Urban Village could look like, the Berryessa Flea Market would be replaced with more housing, outdoor parks and room for cyclists and pedestrians.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2011, the city council envisioned 60 of these urban villages spread across the city — tall apartment buildings with stores and restaurants on the ground floor, all built near train stations or along major bus routes. Two years after the city passed the plan, it partnered with local climate advocacy group The Greenbelt Alliance to release a \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81uSC06nDQI&ab_channel=GreenbeltAlliance\">video\u003c/a> championing the idea.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They promote community, the opportunity to enjoy an outdoor cafe in a public space, meet new people, engage in new conversations, and ultimately build relationships in the community,” former mayor Sam Liccardo said in the video.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" class=\"juxtapose\" width=\"100%\" height=\"580\" src=\"https://cdn.knightlab.com/libs/juxtapose/latest/embed/index.html?uid=1cbb72a6-783d-11ee-b5be-6595d9b17862\" scrolling=\"yes\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>One of the most highly anticipated urban villages to be built would surround the city’s first BART station once completed. Note: this illustration is an artist’s rendition of what the development could look like once completed, but the design could change once a developer takes over the project.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the 12-year-old plan has been slow to come to fruition. So far, only 12 of the 60 villages have been approved, and only a handful of those have been completed. According to a 2019 report from the housing advocacy group SPUR, \u003ca href=\"https://www.spur.org/sites/default/files/2020-03/SPUR_It_Takes_a_Village.pdf\">developers have admitted to actively avoiding urban village projects (PDF)\u003c/a> due to their cost and the complicated approval process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This kind of dense housing is more expensive to build, and the biggest barrier right now — not just for urban villages, but for anything — is the cost of construction,” said Michael Brilliot, deputy director of citywide planning for San José. “Cost of construction continues to go up year after year. Interest rates have gone up, so these projects no longer pencil out [for developers].”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Berryessa BART Urban Village, one of the most highly anticipated pieces of this plan, illustrates the many problems developers and city planners are running up against when trying to bring this urban village vision to life. Situated adjacent to the city’s first BART station, which opened in 2020, the development is expected to add more than a thousand new homes and acres of retail space to the area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Developers have built a 551-unit apartment complex with retail and restaurant space on the ground floor. But two years after the complex opened, the commercial space is mostly vacant, driven by lower demand for retail space since the pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I hope to see more people, more entertainment areas, stores — I would hope to see that soon,” said Juan Carlos Navarro, who has lived in this neighborhood for the past two decades. “This [block] was all empty before [the apartments were built].”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, advocates for pedestrian-friendly design argue that the urban village is still too focused on cars. A large parking lot serving a strip mall with a Safeway, a Dunkin Donuts and a CVS next door to the apartment complex is rarely full, and the apartments’ residents have to cross a busy, four-lane thoroughfare to get there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think there’s a lot to re-imagine here in terms of reusing some of the car lanes into places that can better serve people,” said Erika Pinto from the housing advocacy group SPUR. “Imagine if the bike lane was better protected so that bicyclists felt safer moving around. Imagine if the sidewalk was increased to allow people to walk by, for vendors to set up shop.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city’s policies, which have historically favored single-family housing and office space, restrict where tall apartments can be built and, in some ways, counteract efforts to make the neighborhood less suburban.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label=\"Related Stories\" postID=\"news_11964985,news_11962814,news_11957907\"]At the Berryessa BART Urban Village, for instance, developers are preparing to start construction on another section that promises 850 new homes along with commercial and retail space. But city law requires developers to build a row of single-family homes and townhomes to act as a buffer between the low- and high-density neighborhoods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I represent urban development, so I’d put a high-rise on every corner,” said Erik Schoennauer, a land-use consultant working with developers on this project. “But it’s not my decision. We are simply implementing what the city told us to do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city’s urban village plan also requires developers to build office space along with housing. But even before the pandemic, demand for new offices declined, Schoennauer said. After the pandemic, that demand is even lower.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It makes no financial sense to invest $100 million in overall infrastructure for a new neighborhood, when half of the site has no development potential as office,” Schoennauer said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other housing developments oriented around transit in San José are making progress, however. The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority is pursuing\u003ca href=\"https://www.vta.org/transit-oriented-communities-projects\"> a number of mixed-use housing projects\u003c/a> that could add more than 900 new homes to San José, with more than 400 of them considered affordable for lower- and middle-income residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While these projects aim to serve environmentally conscious home-seekers like Rivera, the units aren’t coming to the market fast enough. And Rivera is skeptical about whether those homes will be truly affordable for her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I find the areas of mostly any city that are affordable are always the ones far away from the nice restaurants or coffee shops,” she said. “I always see new construction and condos going up close to BART. That’s the selling point. And those are always the more pricey condos or apartments.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Making the most out of San José’s land \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>While the city focuses on increasing housing around transit, housing advocates argue it’s missing another opportunity: adding smaller homes to existing single-family lots.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sanjoseca.gov/your-government/departments-offices/planning-building-code-enforcement/planning-division/citywide-planning/opportunity-housing#:~:text=In%20San%20Jos%C3%A9%2C%20approximately%2094,designated%20for%20single%2Dfamily%20houses.\">More than 90%\u003c/a> of the city’s residential land is zoned for single-family homes, which means for decades, only one home could be built on each lot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Kelly Snider, director, San José State Real Estate Development Certificate program\"]‘The resource we have [in San José] is big lots with a bunch of unusable parking [and] garages being used as storage containers. Turn that garage into an ADU, and we can double our housing stock.’[/pullquote]That changed around 2015 after state and local laws started to ease restrictions to build accessory dwelling units — often called granny flats, casitas or in-law units — which housing advocates say empower homeowners to make the most out of their single-family lots by renting out the backyard cottages or converted garages.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Their popularity soared after the state passed a series of laws over the past five years requiring cities to make it easier to build them. San José has embraced the concept, passing local measures that streamline the approval process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kelly Snider, a developer and the director of San José State’s Real Estate Development Certificate program, has advocated for more ADUs and other smaller-scale solutions for adding housing. Snider said this approach, often called “gentle density” by housing advocates, offers a grassroots alternative to the developer-driven urban village model.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11966319\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11966319\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/20231102-San-Jose-ADU-005-JY-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A person with long hair sits on the stairs in front of a red home and smiles.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/20231102-San-Jose-ADU-005-JY-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/20231102-San-Jose-ADU-005-JY-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/20231102-San-Jose-ADU-005-JY-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/20231102-San-Jose-ADU-005-JY-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/20231102-San-Jose-ADU-005-JY-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/20231102-San-Jose-ADU-005-JY-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kelly Snider sits for a portrait on the steps of the front unit at her property in San José, on Nov. 2, 2023. Snider originally built an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) on the property behind the front unit for her partner, but rented the unit out after his passing. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The resource we have [in San José] is big lots with a bunch of unusable parking [and] garages being used as storage containers,” Snider said. “Turn that garage into an ADU, and we can double our housing stock.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because ADUs don’t require a homeowner to purchase new land or pay for major new infrastructure, parking or elevators, they are often cheaper to build than apartments, \u003ca href=\"https://www.hcd.ca.gov/policy-and-research/accessory-dwelling-units\">according to California’s Department of Housing and Community Development.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city has taken steps to make the permitting process easier. In 2021, San José officials created a process that allows homeowners to select a pre-approved ADU design and receive a permit the same day. This year, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 1332, which takes that local initiative statewide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some argue that ADUs don’t make a meaningful dent in the city’s housing shortage because not all enter the rental market. But Snider argues they could still help create an influx of new housing San José has struggled to add over the past decade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we build 30,000 [ADUs] and half of them are turned into home offices and gyms, that’s still 15,000 more new homes,” Snider said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two years ago, she partnered with Raul Lozano, a local food justice activist who was frustrated by the process of trying to split his San José home into two units.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11966322\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11966322\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/20231102-San-Jose-ADU-019-JY-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A red house and its yard.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/20231102-San-Jose-ADU-019-JY-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/20231102-San-Jose-ADU-019-JY-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/20231102-San-Jose-ADU-019-JY-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/20231102-San-Jose-ADU-019-JY-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/20231102-San-Jose-ADU-019-JY-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/20231102-San-Jose-ADU-019-JY-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The main building on Kelly Snider’s property is seen in San Jose on Nov. 2, 2023. The unit is converted into two separate units, with an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) in the back. Snider has been advocating for the city to make it easier for homeowners to build ADUs in their backyard. The concept has taken off among San José residents after the city streamlined the approval process. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I was introduced to Raul, and he was like, ‘Yeah, whatever you can do, I would love it if other young families could live here,’” Snider said. “It was his dream that started it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She bought Lozano’s house in 2021 and built a two-bedroom ADU in the backyard where Lozano lived until he passed away in February. Two of his colleagues, who had previously been living in their cars, have moved into the ADU.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The main house has been converted into two apartments, one of which Snider rents out for $1,500 a month, far below San José’s\u003ca href=\"https://www.rentcafe.com/average-rent-market-trends/us/ca/santa-clara-county/san-jose/\"> $3,000 median rent\u003c/a>. She plans to turn the other apartment into a daycare center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11966320\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11966320\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/20231102-San-Jose-ADU-012-JY-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A small kitchen space.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/20231102-San-Jose-ADU-012-JY-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/20231102-San-Jose-ADU-012-JY-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/20231102-San-Jose-ADU-012-JY-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/20231102-San-Jose-ADU-012-JY-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/20231102-San-Jose-ADU-012-JY-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/20231102-San-Jose-ADU-012-JY-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The kitchen of the main unit on Kelly Snider’s property is seen in San José on Nov. 2, 2023. After purchasing a home near downtown San José, Snider split the single-family home into two separate units for rent. She also built a two-bedroom ADU in the backyard. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I’m just charging a rent that covers my costs,” Snider said. “It is a revenue source for me, but I’m not charging the highest possible rents.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Inspired by her experience with Lozano, Snider started Inca Homes, a company that aims to help homeowners build ADUs and split their homes into separate units to add more housing in the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The stuff San José has done to ease ADU restrictions is good,” Snider said. “They can do that more and get more results. They know the knob, and they’ve already started twisting it. They just need to twist it further. We have to mine housing out of the resource we have.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"San José, the Bay Area's largest city by population and area, is known for its overwhelming sprawl. The city is trying to solve that problem in ways big and small, but the change isn't coming fast enough for some residents.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1727134412,"stats":{"hasAudio":true,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":true,"iframeSrcs":["https://cdn.knightlab.com/libs/juxtapose/latest/embed/index.html"],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":58,"wordCount":2834},"headData":{"title":"How the Bay Area's Biggest City Wants to Overcome Its Sprawl | KQED","description":"San José, the Bay Area's largest city by population and area, is known for its overwhelming sprawl. The city is trying to solve that problem in ways big and small, but the change isn't coming fast enough for some residents.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"How the Bay Area's Biggest City Wants to Overcome Its Sprawl","datePublished":"2023-11-06T07:30:09-08:00","dateModified":"2024-09-23T16:33:32-07:00","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png","isAccessibleForFree":"True","publisher":{"@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","@id":"https://www.kqed.org/#organization","name":"KQED","url":"https://www.kqed.org","logo":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}}},"sticky":false,"excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","articleAge":"0","path":"/news/11966342/how-the-bay-areas-biggest-city-wants-to-overcome-its-sprawl","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>This story is part of the third season of KQED’s podcast Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America. You can \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/podcasts/soldout\">\u003cem>find that series here\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> and read about why \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1984697/why-kqed-focused-a-season-of-its-housing-podcast-on-climate-change#:~:text=Sold%20Out%20Is%20Back%20With%20Season%203&text=Host%20Erin%20Baldassari%20leads%20a,an%20affordable%20place%20to%20live.\">\u003cem>KQED chose to focus a season of its housing podcast on climate change\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Monika Rivera really enjoys her commute.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even though she has to wake up at 5:30 a.m. and travel an hour and 15 minutes to get from her apartment in Hayward, a city east of San Francisco, to her job in San José, she’s turned it into a routine. She pops in her earbuds, blasts Taylor Swift’s \u003cem>Maroon,\u003c/em> and rides her gray, Specialized bike to the train station for the rest of her commute.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ditching her car has been liberating.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It makes such a big difference in how you feel throughout the day. It makes you feel more connected to the community,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 29-year-old environmental services worker never thought she’d be a bike commuter. Now, she doesn’t want to give it up. Biking and taking BART, the Bay Area’s commuter train, to work has made Rivera happier. She exercises more often, and it makes her feel like she’s doing her part for the environment, “knowing that I’m not putting all those pollutants into the air every day.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The small actions you can take can make a big difference, and just changing your lifestyle, making those habits, are really important,” she continued.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But she’s willing to give up that lifestyle to become a homeowner, a lifelong goal she’s been working for years to achieve. To do that, she and her husband recently purchased a home two hours away in the Central Valley city of Lathrop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I looked [in the Bay Area], and what I could find wasn’t what I wanted,” she said. “I was thinking to myself, I wanted a home.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"‘At the end of the day, it’s really a geometry problem. The amount of land you have in a city is finite, and if you use all of it for single-unit homes, you’re going to quickly run out of land to house the people who want to live there.’","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"align":"right","size":"medium","citation":"Matthew Lewis, communications director, California YIMBY.","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>A former agricultural city, Lathrop \u003ca href=\"https://dof.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/352/Forecasting/Demographics/Documents/E-1_2023PressRelease.pdf\">has a population that’s grown 11% in the past year (PDF)\u003c/a> as workers priced out of the Bay Area flocked to the area for its relatively affordable housing. But as they do, those workers commute farther into the cities for their jobs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Bay Area now has the \u003ca href=\"https://www.apartmentlist.com/research/traffic-trains-or-teleconference-the-changing-american-commute\">largest share of super commuters nationwide\u003c/a>, commuters who spend more than 90 minutes traveling to work or back each day, according to an Apartment List study. Transportation now accounts for \u003ca href=\"https://www.energy.ca.gov/about/core-responsibility-fact-sheets/transforming-transportation\">nearly half\u003c/a> of the state’s carbon emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s housing and climate officials hope to combat these emissions by encouraging — or, in some cases, forcing — cities to allow more apartment buildings to be built near train stations and along major bus routes. In San José, a Silicon Valley city with sprawling single-family neighborhoods and highways that run through the middle, housing advocates and urban planners are trying to redesign its suburban streets into compact, walkable neighborhoods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At the end of the day, it’s really a geometry problem,” said Matthew Lewis, the communications director for the housing advocacy group California YIMBY. “The amount of land you have in a city is finite, and if you use all of it for single-unit homes, you’re going to quickly run out of land to house the people who want to live there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the shift from suburban to urban hasn’t been easy, partially because many of the city’s policies favor sprawl and work against the changes planners want to see. Some argue the city’s proposals are too ambitious and its development requirements are overly bureaucratic for apartments and commercial spaces to be built quickly and within budget. Housing advocates are pushing for gentler options, like adding smaller homes to existing single-family lots.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As San José tries to dramatically reduce its carbon emissions and build more housing simultaneously, the lessons it learns are relevant nationwide as other cities seek to do the same.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm/?e=KQINC3494938610&light=true\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The urban village plan\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>More than a decade ago, officials in San José adopted a plan to transform underused lots near train stations into thriving neighborhoods called “urban villages.” State officials say this kind of development is the way forward for California to meet its ambitious housing and climate goals to add 2.5 million new homes to the housing stock and to cut its carbon emissions in half by 2030.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Given the persistent housing crisis California faces, we know that we’re not going to build our way out of that crisis by building single-family homes,” said Sam Assefa, director of the Governor’s Office for Planning and Research. “More compact, transit-oriented development is the sensible way to do it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" class=\"juxtapose\" width=\"100%\" height=\"580\" src=\"https://cdn.knightlab.com/libs/juxtapose/latest/embed/index.html?uid=0508465c-783d-11ee-b5be-6595d9b17862\" scrolling=\"yes\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>San José’s urban village plan wants to transform underused lots into vibrant, urban neighborhoods. In this artist’s rendition of what the Berryessa BART Urban Village could look like, the Berryessa Flea Market would be replaced with more housing, outdoor parks and room for cyclists and pedestrians.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2011, the city council envisioned 60 of these urban villages spread across the city — tall apartment buildings with stores and restaurants on the ground floor, all built near train stations or along major bus routes. Two years after the city passed the plan, it partnered with local climate advocacy group The Greenbelt Alliance to release a \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81uSC06nDQI&ab_channel=GreenbeltAlliance\">video\u003c/a> championing the idea.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They promote community, the opportunity to enjoy an outdoor cafe in a public space, meet new people, engage in new conversations, and ultimately build relationships in the community,” former mayor Sam Liccardo said in the video.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" class=\"juxtapose\" width=\"100%\" height=\"580\" src=\"https://cdn.knightlab.com/libs/juxtapose/latest/embed/index.html?uid=1cbb72a6-783d-11ee-b5be-6595d9b17862\" scrolling=\"yes\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>One of the most highly anticipated urban villages to be built would surround the city’s first BART station once completed. Note: this illustration is an artist’s rendition of what the development could look like once completed, but the design could change once a developer takes over the project.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the 12-year-old plan has been slow to come to fruition. So far, only 12 of the 60 villages have been approved, and only a handful of those have been completed. According to a 2019 report from the housing advocacy group SPUR, \u003ca href=\"https://www.spur.org/sites/default/files/2020-03/SPUR_It_Takes_a_Village.pdf\">developers have admitted to actively avoiding urban village projects (PDF)\u003c/a> due to their cost and the complicated approval process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This kind of dense housing is more expensive to build, and the biggest barrier right now — not just for urban villages, but for anything — is the cost of construction,” said Michael Brilliot, deputy director of citywide planning for San José. “Cost of construction continues to go up year after year. Interest rates have gone up, so these projects no longer pencil out [for developers].”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Berryessa BART Urban Village, one of the most highly anticipated pieces of this plan, illustrates the many problems developers and city planners are running up against when trying to bring this urban village vision to life. Situated adjacent to the city’s first BART station, which opened in 2020, the development is expected to add more than a thousand new homes and acres of retail space to the area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Developers have built a 551-unit apartment complex with retail and restaurant space on the ground floor. But two years after the complex opened, the commercial space is mostly vacant, driven by lower demand for retail space since the pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I hope to see more people, more entertainment areas, stores — I would hope to see that soon,” said Juan Carlos Navarro, who has lived in this neighborhood for the past two decades. “This [block] was all empty before [the apartments were built].”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, advocates for pedestrian-friendly design argue that the urban village is still too focused on cars. A large parking lot serving a strip mall with a Safeway, a Dunkin Donuts and a CVS next door to the apartment complex is rarely full, and the apartments’ residents have to cross a busy, four-lane thoroughfare to get there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think there’s a lot to re-imagine here in terms of reusing some of the car lanes into places that can better serve people,” said Erika Pinto from the housing advocacy group SPUR. “Imagine if the bike lane was better protected so that bicyclists felt safer moving around. Imagine if the sidewalk was increased to allow people to walk by, for vendors to set up shop.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city’s policies, which have historically favored single-family housing and office space, restrict where tall apartments can be built and, in some ways, counteract efforts to make the neighborhood less suburban.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"label":"Related Stories ","postid":"news_11964985,news_11962814,news_11957907"},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>At the Berryessa BART Urban Village, for instance, developers are preparing to start construction on another section that promises 850 new homes along with commercial and retail space. But city law requires developers to build a row of single-family homes and townhomes to act as a buffer between the low- and high-density neighborhoods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I represent urban development, so I’d put a high-rise on every corner,” said Erik Schoennauer, a land-use consultant working with developers on this project. “But it’s not my decision. We are simply implementing what the city told us to do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city’s urban village plan also requires developers to build office space along with housing. But even before the pandemic, demand for new offices declined, Schoennauer said. After the pandemic, that demand is even lower.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It makes no financial sense to invest $100 million in overall infrastructure for a new neighborhood, when half of the site has no development potential as office,” Schoennauer said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other housing developments oriented around transit in San José are making progress, however. The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority is pursuing\u003ca href=\"https://www.vta.org/transit-oriented-communities-projects\"> a number of mixed-use housing projects\u003c/a> that could add more than 900 new homes to San José, with more than 400 of them considered affordable for lower- and middle-income residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While these projects aim to serve environmentally conscious home-seekers like Rivera, the units aren’t coming to the market fast enough. And Rivera is skeptical about whether those homes will be truly affordable for her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I find the areas of mostly any city that are affordable are always the ones far away from the nice restaurants or coffee shops,” she said. “I always see new construction and condos going up close to BART. That’s the selling point. And those are always the more pricey condos or apartments.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Making the most out of San José’s land \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>While the city focuses on increasing housing around transit, housing advocates argue it’s missing another opportunity: adding smaller homes to existing single-family lots.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sanjoseca.gov/your-government/departments-offices/planning-building-code-enforcement/planning-division/citywide-planning/opportunity-housing#:~:text=In%20San%20Jos%C3%A9%2C%20approximately%2094,designated%20for%20single%2Dfamily%20houses.\">More than 90%\u003c/a> of the city’s residential land is zoned for single-family homes, which means for decades, only one home could be built on each lot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"‘The resource we have [in San José] is big lots with a bunch of unusable parking [and] garages being used as storage containers. Turn that garage into an ADU, and we can double our housing stock.’","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"align":"right","size":"medium","citation":"Kelly Snider, director, San José State Real Estate Development Certificate program","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>That changed around 2015 after state and local laws started to ease restrictions to build accessory dwelling units — often called granny flats, casitas or in-law units — which housing advocates say empower homeowners to make the most out of their single-family lots by renting out the backyard cottages or converted garages.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Their popularity soared after the state passed a series of laws over the past five years requiring cities to make it easier to build them. San José has embraced the concept, passing local measures that streamline the approval process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kelly Snider, a developer and the director of San José State’s Real Estate Development Certificate program, has advocated for more ADUs and other smaller-scale solutions for adding housing. Snider said this approach, often called “gentle density” by housing advocates, offers a grassroots alternative to the developer-driven urban village model.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11966319\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11966319\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/20231102-San-Jose-ADU-005-JY-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A person with long hair sits on the stairs in front of a red home and smiles.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/20231102-San-Jose-ADU-005-JY-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/20231102-San-Jose-ADU-005-JY-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/20231102-San-Jose-ADU-005-JY-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/20231102-San-Jose-ADU-005-JY-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/20231102-San-Jose-ADU-005-JY-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/20231102-San-Jose-ADU-005-JY-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kelly Snider sits for a portrait on the steps of the front unit at her property in San José, on Nov. 2, 2023. Snider originally built an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) on the property behind the front unit for her partner, but rented the unit out after his passing. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The resource we have [in San José] is big lots with a bunch of unusable parking [and] garages being used as storage containers,” Snider said. “Turn that garage into an ADU, and we can double our housing stock.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because ADUs don’t require a homeowner to purchase new land or pay for major new infrastructure, parking or elevators, they are often cheaper to build than apartments, \u003ca href=\"https://www.hcd.ca.gov/policy-and-research/accessory-dwelling-units\">according to California’s Department of Housing and Community Development.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city has taken steps to make the permitting process easier. In 2021, San José officials created a process that allows homeowners to select a pre-approved ADU design and receive a permit the same day. This year, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 1332, which takes that local initiative statewide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some argue that ADUs don’t make a meaningful dent in the city’s housing shortage because not all enter the rental market. But Snider argues they could still help create an influx of new housing San José has struggled to add over the past decade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we build 30,000 [ADUs] and half of them are turned into home offices and gyms, that’s still 15,000 more new homes,” Snider said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two years ago, she partnered with Raul Lozano, a local food justice activist who was frustrated by the process of trying to split his San José home into two units.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11966322\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11966322\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/20231102-San-Jose-ADU-019-JY-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A red house and its yard.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/20231102-San-Jose-ADU-019-JY-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/20231102-San-Jose-ADU-019-JY-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/20231102-San-Jose-ADU-019-JY-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/20231102-San-Jose-ADU-019-JY-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/20231102-San-Jose-ADU-019-JY-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/20231102-San-Jose-ADU-019-JY-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The main building on Kelly Snider’s property is seen in San Jose on Nov. 2, 2023. The unit is converted into two separate units, with an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) in the back. Snider has been advocating for the city to make it easier for homeowners to build ADUs in their backyard. The concept has taken off among San José residents after the city streamlined the approval process. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I was introduced to Raul, and he was like, ‘Yeah, whatever you can do, I would love it if other young families could live here,’” Snider said. “It was his dream that started it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She bought Lozano’s house in 2021 and built a two-bedroom ADU in the backyard where Lozano lived until he passed away in February. Two of his colleagues, who had previously been living in their cars, have moved into the ADU.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The main house has been converted into two apartments, one of which Snider rents out for $1,500 a month, far below San José’s\u003ca href=\"https://www.rentcafe.com/average-rent-market-trends/us/ca/santa-clara-county/san-jose/\"> $3,000 median rent\u003c/a>. She plans to turn the other apartment into a daycare center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11966320\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11966320\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/20231102-San-Jose-ADU-012-JY-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A small kitchen space.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/20231102-San-Jose-ADU-012-JY-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/20231102-San-Jose-ADU-012-JY-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/20231102-San-Jose-ADU-012-JY-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/20231102-San-Jose-ADU-012-JY-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/20231102-San-Jose-ADU-012-JY-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/20231102-San-Jose-ADU-012-JY-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The kitchen of the main unit on Kelly Snider’s property is seen in San José on Nov. 2, 2023. After purchasing a home near downtown San José, Snider split the single-family home into two separate units for rent. She also built a two-bedroom ADU in the backyard. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I’m just charging a rent that covers my costs,” Snider said. “It is a revenue source for me, but I’m not charging the highest possible rents.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Inspired by her experience with Lozano, Snider started Inca Homes, a company that aims to help homeowners build ADUs and split their homes into separate units to add more housing in the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The stuff San José has done to ease ADU restrictions is good,” Snider said. “They can do that more and get more results. They know the knob, and they’ve already started twisting it. They just need to twist it further. We have to mine housing out of the resource we have.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/news/11966342/how-the-bay-areas-biggest-city-wants-to-overcome-its-sprawl","authors":["11672"],"programs":["news_33522"],"categories":["news_6266","news_8","news_33520","news_30302"],"tags":["news_33444","news_1775","news_18541","news_28541","news_28527"],"featImg":"news_11966347","label":"news_33522"},"news_11965063":{"type":"posts","id":"news_11965063","meta":{"index":"posts_1716263798","site":"news","id":"11965063","score":null,"sort":[1698058845000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"unhoused-californians-are-living-on-the-bleeding-edge-of-climate-change","title":"Unhoused Californians Are Living on the 'Bleeding Edge' of Climate Change","publishDate":1698058845,"format":"standard","headTitle":"Unhoused Californians Are Living on the ‘Bleeding Edge’ of Climate Change | KQED","labelTerm":{"term":33522,"site":"news"},"content":"\u003cp>\u003cem>This story is part of the third season of KQED’s podcast Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America. You can \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/podcasts/soldout\">find that series here\u003c/a> and read about why \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1984697/why-kqed-focused-a-season-of-its-housing-podcast-on-climate-change#:~:text=Sold%20Out%20Is%20Back%20With%20Season%203&text=Host%20Erin%20Baldassari%20leads%20a,an%20affordable%20place%20to%20live.\">KQED chose to focus a season of its housing podcast on climate change\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[dropcap]W[/dropcap]hen summer temperatures in Fresno break 100 degrees, Deana Everhart cooks. It’s a rare privilege for a woman without a kitchen or a house.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Marie Callender’s TV dinners are her favorite, and she puts them on the sidewalk to let the sun do an oven’s work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They will cook as if they were in a microwave,” she said on a 108-degree day in July. “In about 30 minutes, they’re hot and ready.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It might be the only perk that’s come with the increasingly hellish summers plaguing her hometown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At 61, Everhart has lived about 20 years cycling on and off Fresno’s streets. But as she gets older, and the \u003ca href=\"https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/bdd9567a847a4b52abd20253539143df/page/Weather-and-Climate/?views=All-Climate-Indicators%2CHeat-Waves\">heat waves become more frequent\u003c/a>, it’s harder to survive outside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This past year has been especially challenging as \u003ca href=\"https://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/news/atmospheric-rivers-hit-west-coast\">historic winter storms\u003c/a> gave way to a blistering summer. Now, she’s bracing for yet another potentially drenching winter, thanks to El Niño.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, Everhart is caught in the middle of an ever-changing web of policies, put in place by Fresno city leaders who face pressures to reduce street homelessness while mitigating the harm unhoused residents face from deadly weather.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a story playing out across California as our climate and housing crises collide. \u003ca href=\"https://www.hudexchange.info/programs/coc/coc-homeless-populations-and-subpopulations-reports/?filter_Year=2019&filter_Scope=State&filter_State=CA&filter_CoC=&program=CoC&group=PopSub\">The number of unsheltered people in California rose 6.5%\u003c/a> from 2019 to 2022. The increase is much steeper in Fresno, where unsheltered homelessness has spiked 48% since 2019, the vast majority of that increase during the first year of the pandemic, according to the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Dangerously Hot Days Are on the Rise in Fresno\" aria-label=\"Interactive line chart\" id=\"datawrapper-chart-EbsnW\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/EbsnW/6/\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border: none;\" width=\"1000\" height=\"600\" data-external=\"1\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The heat index is what the temperature feels like to the human body when relative humidity is combined with the air temperature. As the heat index rises, so does the risk of heat-related illness.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the same time, the number of dangerously hot days in Fresno has \u003ca href=\"https://www.climatecentral.org/graphic/high-heat-index-days-2023?graphicSet=High+Heat+Index+Days&location=Fresno&lang=en\">gone up by 17 days a year\u003c/a> since 1979. The state is \u003ca href=\"https://oehha.ca.gov/climate-change/epic-2022/changes-climate/precipitation\">increasingly yo-yoing between periods of drought and heavy rain\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://blog.ucsusa.org/pablo-ortiz/climate-change-impacts-on-california-central-valley-the-warning-shot-the-us-is-ignoring/\">a trend that’s particularly pronounced in the Central Valley\u003c/a>, where bursts of heavy precipitation easily lead to flooding. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Dr. Margot Kushel, director, UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative\"]‘Folks experiencing homelessness are on the bleeding edge of the health crises that are happening with extremes of temperature.’[/pullquote]Seniors like Everhart are \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/disasters/extremeheat/older-adults-heat.html\">especially vulnerable\u003c/a> to the elements, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10061143/#:~:text=The%20cumulative%20disadvantage%20experienced%20by,functional%20and%20cognitive%20impairment%2C%20incontinence\">living on the streets hastens aging\u003c/a>. Dr. Margot Kushel, director of the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, compared the physical condition of a 50-year-old living outside to that of a person two to three decades older in the general population.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Folks experiencing homelessness are on the bleeding edge of the health crises that are happening with extremes of temperature,” said Kushel, the lead investigator on a \u003ca href=\"https://homelessness.ucsf.edu/our-impact/our-studies/california-statewide-study-people-experiencing-homelessness\">landmark survey\u003c/a> of houseless Californians released this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It found that people 50 years and older now represent nearly half of single adults experiencing homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s just hard,” Everhart said. “At my age, everything combined is hard on me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘The most-best shade in all of Fresno’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>It was sometime in late spring when Everhart rolled her belongings onto a patch of dirt under an overpass near downtown Fresno. She was thinking about the oncoming heat when she chose the spot, shielded by hundreds of tons of concrete.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is the most-best shade, I bet, in all of Fresno, right here,” Everhart said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm/?e=KQINC5564168870&light=true\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The camp she made there with a longtime friend, Shannon Thom, was a jumble of carts and strollers piled with dozens of bulging plastic bags, chairs in various states of disrepair, empty food containers and a molding sheet cake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Somebody gave it to us, but it’s already old,” Everhart said. “Out here, you learn to accept stuff.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11954896\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11954896 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-06-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A woman in a pink hat leans on a chainlink fence under a freeway overpass.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-06-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-06-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-06-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-06-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-06-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-06-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Deana Everhart, 61, spent the hottest part of the summer sheltering under an overpass near downtown Fresno. She’s been unhoused on and off for about 20 years. “I remember how scared I was the first time sleeping by myself,” she said of her early days on the streets. Today, it’s hard for her to imagine another way of life. While she said she wants housing, the responsibility that comes with it feels daunting. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The living arrangement was chaotic but reflected their years of combined street savvy: cell phones, documents, food and clothes concealed by junky-looking bags were less likely to entice thieves. Allowing trash to build up around them was less likely to draw complaints than throwing it into the dumpster outside a nearby apartment complex.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the years, they’ve camped together and developed a system to keep each other and their things safe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We take shifts on sleeping because we have to watch the stuff 24/7,” Everhart said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her skin is tanned and freckled from years of sun, but there’s something girlish about her. She wears her long, dark hair in low pigtails. In her 20s, Everhart played guitar in an all-girl metal band called Sweet Lies — “Like sweet, but not so sweet,” she said. “We were rocker girls.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She still seems to relish the spotlight, but these days, she tends to hold her hand in front of her mouth while she talks because she’s shy about her teeth. She can’t always brush them outside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Everhart’s path to homelessness is entwined with her mental illness. As her obsessive-compulsive disorder became increasingly debilitating, she struggled to hold on to housing. Court records show she has been evicted twice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Everhart now lives on $1,252 a month in Social Security disability benefits, plus food stamps — less than the median rent in Fresno, which spiked in recent years. Between 2017 and 2021, \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/homeless-housing/story/2021-03-31/fresno-rent-spike-taps-into-california-covid-housing-trends\">rents rose almost 40\u003c/a>%, the biggest increase of any large city in the country. [aside postID=news_11964791 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/CalMatters01-1020x680.jpg']Despite her situation, she is less worried about herself than her son, Travis Everhart. He’s 39, has schizophrenia and lives on Fresno’s streets, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the camp, she pointed out a box full of his things and the mat where he sleeps beside her when he’s not wandering the city alone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The last time she and Thom, 41, shared a room, they said her son was banned from visiting because his psychosis caused him to yell out. Early last summer, after a string of hot days gave him a nasty sunburn that turned his nose the mottled blue-red of raw hamburger meat, Everhart gave up her housing to be closer to him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I thought, I’ll go to him,” she said. “I’m trying to keep my son alive.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few months later, her anxiety about his well-being reached a new level after the death of his friend, Patrick Weaver, who was also unhoused.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The two were close in age, shared a love of comic books and a diagnosis of schizophrenia, Everhart said, adding, “It’s hard for my son to find a good friend like that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Weaver was found dead in a parking lot, according to a city official, at the tail end of a solid month of triple-digit temperatures. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Deana Everhart, unhoused Fresno resident\"]‘I thought, I’ll go to him. I’m trying to keep my son alive.’[/pullquote]“Devastating is the only word I could think of to describe that,” Everhart said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She believes heat played a role in Weaver’s death. He died four days after Fresno reached its second hottest temperature on record: 114 degrees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Fresno County Sheriff-Coroner’s Office has yet to release his death report to KQED but did confirm the official cause was an overdose. Weaver had methamphetamine and fentanyl in his system. Meth raises a person’s body temperature and contributes \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-08-31/california-heat-related-deaths-climate-change-homelessness-methamphetamine\">to heat-related illness and death\u003c/a> across California. \u003ca href=\"https://homelessness.ucsf.edu/our-impact/our-studies/california-statewide-study-people-experiencing-homelessness\">Almost one-third\u003c/a> of unhoused Californians reported using it, according to the UCSF survey Kushel led.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Schizophrenia, which is \u003ca href=\"https://bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12888-019-2361-7\">vastly more common\u003c/a> among unhoused people than the general population, affects the brain’s ability to regulate body temperature and make reasoned decisions, potentially putting people at a \u003ca href=\"https://www.science.org/content/article/schizophrenia-pinpointed-key-factor-heat-deaths#:~:text=Epidemiologists%20combing%20through%20provincial%20health,increase%20compared%20with%20typical%20summers.\">higher risk of heat-related death\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The number of unhoused people who die due to extreme weather in Fresno, and around California, is hard to know. Historically, most coroners haven’t tracked housing status. KQED public records requests to coroners and medical examiners across the state yielded few results.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But people experiencing homelessness are \u003ca href=\"https://bfi.uchicago.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/BFI_WP_2023-41.pdf\">already far more likely to die than their housed counterparts\u003c/a>. Depending on age, studies found that \u003ca href=\"https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2795475?guestAccessKey=7ac6269d-6dbd-4288-a405-b1ecca6e082e&utm_source=For_The_Media&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ftm_links&utm_content=tfl&utm_term=082922\">death is three\u003c/a> to \u003ca href=\"https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/1556797\">nine times\u003c/a> more common on the streets. And there is some evidence extreme weather worsens those odds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unhoused people made up almost \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-02-19/la-me-homeless-heat-deaths#:~:text=Although%20the%20unhoused%20population%20represents,data%20from%20the%20coroner's%20office.\">half of heat-related deaths in Los Angeles County last year, though they represent less than 1% of the population\u003c/a>. In Sacramento County, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.srceh.org/_files/ugd/ee52bb_c3a8312b492b4ded8980857803c67708.pdf\">death rate among people experiencing homelessness in 2021 from hypothermia was 215.5 times higher than the county rate overall\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A ‘complete disaster’ or a lifesaver?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Faced with the confluence of increasingly deadly weather and a growing homeless population that’s especially vulnerable to it, Fresno city leaders are being forced to respond. Last year, under pressure from advocates, they \u003ca href=\"https://fresno.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=11257222&GUID=51A17E03-0CE8-412D-BA38-6CB5A21A72C1\">expanded the city’s warming and cooling centers\u003c/a>, the primary resource for unhoused people during extreme weather events. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Fresno City Councilmember Miguel Arias\"]‘In response to climate change, we’re having to fundamentally change the use of community centers in neighborhoods.’[/pullquote]Cooling centers now open when temperatures reach 100 degrees, instead of 105, and stay open longer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bigger change was to warming centers last winter. Because of the heavy rain, city officials \u003ca href=\"https://fresno.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=11534615&GUID=D8ADCBC2-BA69-4C93-B820-E5B00A3589CB\">voted to keep certain centers open\u003c/a> for more than three months straight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People crowded in, filling them beyond capacity. The community centers, once home to after-school programs, services for the elderly and adult recreational activities, became de facto homeless shelters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In response to climate change, we’re having to fundamentally change the use of community centers in neighborhoods,” said City Councilmember Miguel Arias, who represents the district where Everhart and most of the city’s unhoused residents live.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The backlash came fast and loud.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11954903\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11954903 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-11-KQED.jpg\" alt='The doors of a large community center are seen beyond a gate with a sign reading \"cooling center.\"' width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-11-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-11-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-11-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-11-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-11-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-11-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Ted C. Wills Community Center in Fresno hosts a temporary reprieve during triple-digit heat. In Fresno, like in many cities, warming and cooling centers are the main resource for unhoused people in extreme weather. Changes to Fresno’s centers have generated a backlash from residents in surrounding neighborhoods. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It was a complete disaster for our neighborhood,” said Chris Collins, who lives with his family directly next to the Ted C. Wills Community Center, one of four recreation centers that became a warming center last winter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said someone was living in a tent in the alley behind their house, and more tents lined the sidewalk around the corner. Another person dumped a stroller full of belongings in their front yard, and in the middle of the night, a man pounded on his neighbor’s door and refused to leave until the owner pulled out a gun. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Chris Collins, resident, Fresno\"]‘It was a complete disaster for our neighborhood.’[/pullquote]Meanwhile, staff at the center were completely overwhelmed, according to one parks department employee who declined to be identified because they aren’t authorized to speak to the media.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People brought alcohol and weapons into the sleeping area, used drugs in the bathroom and left huge messes, according to the staffer. They said before the community center’s preschool program was put on pause, a little girl stepped in human waste and ended up smearing it on her clothes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Arias acknowledged the challenges. Almost overnight, he said, employees accustomed to running rec rooms were disinfecting cots and triaging ailments ranging from gangrene to diabetic seizures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s got to be a better solution,” Collins said, adding that neighbors never had a problem with the center operating as it had in the past, a few days at a time. [aside postID=news_11956715 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/GettyImages-1557929497-KQED-1020x661.jpg']But as the stretches of wild weather get longer and city leaders are forced to step in, Arias expects this kind of conflict isn’t going away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is one of the many unintended consequences of climate change at the local level,” he said. “And residents will continue to push back on local government as we try to adjust and expand services to save lives.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The changes that made Collins and his neighbors miserable made the center lifesaving for Everhart, who stayed there nearly the whole time it was open.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Everybody loved it and most of the people in there were seniors,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the past, she rarely used the warming centers because the sporadic schedules made them impractical and people weren’t allowed to bring their belongings inside. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Deana Everhart, unhoused Fresno resident\"]‘Everybody loved it and most of the people in there were seniors.’[/pullquote]Last winter, she’s not sure how she would have survived without it. “I was truly scared,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Managing the centers now requires a full-time city employee, and Fresno has already more than doubled what it spends on them, from $300,000 to $800,000, Arias said. By next year, he expects that will rise to $1 million annually.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the controversy last winter, the city is looking for ways to minimize the impact on neighbors and center staff. The plan is to \u003ca href=\"https://www.planetbids.com/Fresno/BMfiles/20230707105523093%20PUBLIC%20NOTICE%2012400023.pdf\">turn over management to nonprofits and churches\u003c/a>, who would run the programs out of the community centers for now, and eventually find alternative facilities, Arias hopes.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A painful family history\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Everhart once held jobs, went to community college and had an apartment and a car. There were always signs of her mental illness, but as she grew older, it progressed into a severe case of obsessive-compulsive disorder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By her early 30s, she had four children, no income except what welfare programs supplied and couldn’t manage the responsibilities of parenting or maintaining a home. All of her kids ended up with their grandparents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“She was not capable of raising children because of how her mental illness affected her way to function,” her daughter Carolyn Mercer, 30, wrote in an email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mercer, who was out of her mother’s care by the time she was 2 years old, described her as neglectful.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11954907\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11954907 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-04-02-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A car drives up a street set below a freeway overpass.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-04-02-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-04-02-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-04-02-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-04-02-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-04-02-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-04-02-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An overpass along State Route 180, near the place Deana and Shannon camped during the summer. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I know I wasn’t taking as good of care of the kids as I felt I should,” Everhart said, acknowledging she was struggling with her mental health at the time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Having OCD is like working two or three jobs — it’s mentally exhausting,” she said. “I did the best I could. I needed help.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since she became homeless, Everhart has only lived indoors for short stretches. She said she lost a room in an SRO because she spent four hours in the shower, convinced she was still covered in soap, and got kicked out of a women’s shelter because she couldn’t keep up with their schedule.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She and Thom said they’re on waiting lists for housing, but Everhart finds the obligations that come with being housed daunting. She was hesitant when asked if she’d take what the city might eventually be able to offer: a converted motel room.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m not opposed to it, but if I have to be out here I’m OK,” she said, adding that she feels a sense of duty to help care for more severely incapacitated people living on the streets. “Maybe I just feel like I need to be out here to help them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s one responsibility, perhaps the only one, she feels equal to.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11954897\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11954897 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-07-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A woman stands in the shade under a freeway overpass grasping the post of a street sign.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-07-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-07-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-07-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-07-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-07-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-07-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shannon Thom, 41, has camped with Deana for the past several years. Living together allows them to sleep in shifts to keep watch over each other and their things. They take turns using the bathroom at a liquor store, or take short breaks from the heat at a nearby cooling center. Shannon grew up in Fresno, bouncing around apartments with her mother and sister. At one point, she ended up homeless with her mother on L.A.’s Skid Row, she said. After her mother and sister died, she was left without any close relatives. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In the winter, she and Thom keep extra blankets and jackets from thrift stores to hand out. She found one man’s family on Facebook and reconnected them, and when another young man wandered over to their camp confused and hungry one afternoon, Everhart was eager to help.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Honey, if you wait a minute we’ll go to the store over there and get you a cup o’ noodle and we’ll heat it in the microwave and get you a little soda,” she said. “Do you want that?” [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Carolyn Mercer, 30, daughter of Deana Everhart\"]‘All I see in her is a little girl that never got the love and affection she truly deserved from her parents. I wish she would see the little girl in me that needed that same love, but she never will.’[/pullquote]She finds purpose in caring for people on the streets, trying in her way to “mother” them — most of all, her own son.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Everhart’s daughter said she never benefited from this tenderness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I finally came to the realization that I will never get the mother I always wanted and needed,” she said. Mercer is no longer in contact with her mother.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She’s come to understand the pain her mother caused her as a legacy of Everhart’s own abuse and neglect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All I see in her is a little girl that never got the love and affection she truly deserved from her parents,” she said, speculating that this played a role in the development of Everhart’s mental illness. “I wish she would see the little girl in me that needed that same love, but she never will.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, Mercer can’t help but worry about her mother, aging on the streets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It always keeps me up at night when I’m able to keep warm in my home with a heater in the winter or be comfortable with AC in the summer,” she said. “I always feel a sense of guilt that I never know if she’s ‘comfortable’ and safe from the elements outdoors while I’m able to live comfortably.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Business as usual\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Early this past summer, even as Fresno was expanding cooling centers, city leaders were taking aim at unhoused residents with a \u003ca href=\"https://fresno.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=12032871&GUID=50F7141B-5564-4058-A28C-71BC9843868A\">new law restricting access to any place designated a “sensitive area.\u003c/a>” [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Deana Everhart, unhoused Fresno resident\"]‘Where can we go? I’m 61 years old. You want me to roll my stuff in the 110-degree [heat] and die?’[/pullquote]Among the many sites listed as possible targets are overpasses, underpasses and bridges — places where Everhart often finds refuge from heat and rain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Everhart and Thom fretted about where they would go to avoid the new law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We can’t be under here. We thought they were bad — they went from bad to worse,” Everhart said, referring to the city’s Homeless Assistance Response Team. “We’re very scared now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11954898\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11954898 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-14-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A man in a light pink button down shirt stands in front of large brown doors.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-14-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-14-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-14-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-14-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-14-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-14-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fresno City Councilmember Miguel Arias outside the entrance to the cooling center at the Ted C Wills community center. He and other city officials are facing pressure from homeowners and businesses to clean up homelessness while advocates simultaneously demand urgent action to protect unhoused people from increasingly extreme weather. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Before they could figure out a plan, the Response Team showed up — a visit that had nothing to do with the new law, as far as Everhart could tell. It was just business as usual.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was forecast to hit 110 degrees in Fresno that day, and the National Weather Service was \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/NWSHanford/status/1680213678715723776?s=20\">warning of a “major to extreme risk” for heat-related illnesses\u003c/a>, especially for people with no escape from the elements. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"William Freeman, attorney, ACLU\"]‘It’s as though the city council looked for places where people go, where they can find shelter, and singled out those places. Ordinances that essentially require people to constantly be moving and prohibit them from having any fixed place to be just puts tremendous stress on them.’[/pullquote]Undeterred, city workers cleared the trash surrounding the camp, then told Everhart and Thom to leave the area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You know, it’s real hot,” Everhart recalled telling one of the police officers with the team that responds to complaints about encampments. “Where can we go? I’m 61 years old. You want me to roll my stuff in the 110-degree [heat] and die?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sweeps like this one have become routine, but advocates worry the new law, with its heightened restrictions, will make them even more frequent. Fresno city leaders approved the plan despite warnings that the consequences could be dire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s as though the city council looked for places where people go, where they can find shelter, and singled out those places,” said ACLU attorney William Freeman, who \u003ca href=\"https://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/article276239381.html\">urged the city council not to pass the plan\u003c/a>, arguing it violates the constitutions of the United States and California. “Ordinances that essentially require people to constantly be moving and prohibit them from having any fixed place to be just puts tremendous stress on them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Arias, one of the council members who put the new rule forward, said it was about ensuring unhoused people and their things don’t block public rights of way, a goal another official chalked up to an attempt to avoid a lawsuit similar to the one \u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article272274053.html\">Sacramento is facing\u003c/a> from residents with disabilities who say homeless camps have taken over sidewalks, making it impossible for them to get around the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And, Arias said, clearing encampments is a public health requirement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11954904\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11954904 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-17-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A hand holds two bottles of cold water.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-17-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-17-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-17-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-17-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-17-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-17-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nas, an unhoused man in the Tower District in Fresno, holds cold water bottles given to him by\u003cbr>local advocates with the Fresno Homeless Union, Bob and Linda McCloskey, on July 1, 2023. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“When you have the amount of feces, the amount of drug paraphernalia, the amount of rotting food, all in one location, you get outbreaks of disease,” he said. “That’s why we have to respond.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After city workers left, Everhart and Thom set up their camp again — this time, about 200 feet from where they’d been, still under the same overpass. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Deana Everhart, unhoused Fresno resident\"]‘Everything we do, everything, revolves around them — trying to evade them.’[/pullquote]The city formed the response team last year, \u003ca href=\"https://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/article257698758.html\">pitching it as a more compassionate alternative\u003c/a> to the police department’s former homeless task force. The team includes outreach workers from a local nonprofit, staff from the code enforcement department and police officers. The city rolled it out along with a new 311 line to field complaints about unhoused people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Everything we do, everything, revolves around them — trying to evade them,” Everhart said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She and Thom said the team has thrown away nearly all their possessions several times, a mental and financial blow that can be especially grave in extreme weather. They’ve lost things they need to survive in the heat and the cold, like blankets, clothes, food and water. By Everhart’s count, the response team has shuffled them around the city seven times in less than a year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Activists here have tried — without success — to get the city to stop sweeps during extreme weather. This past summer, the Sacramento Homeless Union won a \u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article277931013.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">temporary injunction\u003c/a> banning the city from cleaning encampments during a heat wave, a case Everhart followed closely when she could charge her phone. [aside label='More Stories on Housing' tag='housing']Advocates are pushing for sanctioned encampments where people can set up tents or RVs with the city’s permission and tiny home villages with air conditioning. Everhart has helped them lobby for dumpsters and porta-potties to solve some of the sanitation concerns about camps. Long term, they are fighting for rent control and more affordable housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since 2019, Fresno has spent over $100 million to address homelessness, more than 90% of it on housing, according to the city. It’s permanently housed nearly 1,900 people while sheltering or temporarily putting up more than 3,000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the city estimates there are still 1,700 people living on its streets. “And that’s because the unhoused numbers continue to grow,” Arias said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A welcome ‘vacation’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In early September, an infected spider bite sent Everhart to the hospital.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She suspects a black widow because she spotted one near where she was sleeping. She had surgery to remove the necrotic flesh on her thumb, and the doctor put in a drain she described as a McDonald’s straw.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My thumb looks like the zombie apocalypse,” she joked from her hospital bed. “I am not exaggerating either. It looks terrible.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A couple of weeks earlier, her son, Travis Everhart, went to jail for property damage and resisting arrest. Everhart’s understanding is that he threw some rocks at a car, “because the car was loud,” she said. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Deana Everhart, unhoused Fresno resident\"]‘It’s been nice, I’ll tell you that. They bring your food, you lay in this comfortable bed that has lots of pillows.’[/pullquote]She’s glad he’s set to be released in November, but in a way, she’s relieved he’s in jail. At least she knows where he is and that he has food and shelter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Amid of all this, the hospital, with its air conditioning and bed, is almost a welcome vacation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s been nice, I’ll tell you that,” she said. “They bring your food, you lay in this comfortable bed that has lots of pillows.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She met with a social worker there, but when she explained she was already on a waiting list for housing, Everhart said the woman told her there wasn’t much else to do but wait.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When she gets released from the hospital, the plan is to have Thom help her tie a plastic bag around her bandaged hand to keep out the dirt. Their camp is alongside a different stretch of freeway now, where they’ll wait for her son to get out of jail. There, under a tarp and umbrella, they’ll try to shelter from the waning heat and the coming rains.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"KQED follows one woman struggling to survive on the streets of Fresno during a summer of blisteringly hot temperatures.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1727134415,"stats":{"hasAudio":true,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":true,"iframeSrcs":["https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/EbsnW/6/"],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":100,"wordCount":4772},"headData":{"title":"Unhoused Californians Are Living on the 'Bleeding Edge' of Climate Change | KQED","description":"KQED follows one woman struggling to survive on the streets of Fresno during a summer of blisteringly hot temperatures.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Unhoused Californians Are Living on the 'Bleeding Edge' of Climate Change","datePublished":"2023-10-23T04:00:45-07:00","dateModified":"2024-09-23T16:33:35-07:00","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png","isAccessibleForFree":"True","publisher":{"@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","@id":"https://www.kqed.org/#organization","name":"KQED","url":"https://www.kqed.org","logo":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}}},"sticky":false,"nprStoryId":"kqed-11965063","templateType":"standard","featuredImageType":"standard","excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","articleAge":"0","path":"/news/11965063/unhoused-californians-are-living-on-the-bleeding-edge-of-climate-change","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>This story is part of the third season of KQED’s podcast Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America. You can \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/podcasts/soldout\">find that series here\u003c/a> and read about why \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1984697/why-kqed-focused-a-season-of-its-housing-podcast-on-climate-change#:~:text=Sold%20Out%20Is%20Back%20With%20Season%203&text=Host%20Erin%20Baldassari%20leads%20a,an%20affordable%20place%20to%20live.\">KQED chose to focus a season of its housing podcast on climate change\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">W\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>hen summer temperatures in Fresno break 100 degrees, Deana Everhart cooks. It’s a rare privilege for a woman without a kitchen or a house.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Marie Callender’s TV dinners are her favorite, and she puts them on the sidewalk to let the sun do an oven’s work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They will cook as if they were in a microwave,” she said on a 108-degree day in July. “In about 30 minutes, they’re hot and ready.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It might be the only perk that’s come with the increasingly hellish summers plaguing her hometown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At 61, Everhart has lived about 20 years cycling on and off Fresno’s streets. But as she gets older, and the \u003ca href=\"https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/bdd9567a847a4b52abd20253539143df/page/Weather-and-Climate/?views=All-Climate-Indicators%2CHeat-Waves\">heat waves become more frequent\u003c/a>, it’s harder to survive outside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This past year has been especially challenging as \u003ca href=\"https://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/news/atmospheric-rivers-hit-west-coast\">historic winter storms\u003c/a> gave way to a blistering summer. Now, she’s bracing for yet another potentially drenching winter, thanks to El Niño.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, Everhart is caught in the middle of an ever-changing web of policies, put in place by Fresno city leaders who face pressures to reduce street homelessness while mitigating the harm unhoused residents face from deadly weather.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a story playing out across California as our climate and housing crises collide. \u003ca href=\"https://www.hudexchange.info/programs/coc/coc-homeless-populations-and-subpopulations-reports/?filter_Year=2019&filter_Scope=State&filter_State=CA&filter_CoC=&program=CoC&group=PopSub\">The number of unsheltered people in California rose 6.5%\u003c/a> from 2019 to 2022. The increase is much steeper in Fresno, where unsheltered homelessness has spiked 48% since 2019, the vast majority of that increase during the first year of the pandemic, according to the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Dangerously Hot Days Are on the Rise in Fresno\" aria-label=\"Interactive line chart\" id=\"datawrapper-chart-EbsnW\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/EbsnW/6/\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border: none;\" width=\"1000\" height=\"600\" data-external=\"1\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The heat index is what the temperature feels like to the human body when relative humidity is combined with the air temperature. As the heat index rises, so does the risk of heat-related illness.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the same time, the number of dangerously hot days in Fresno has \u003ca href=\"https://www.climatecentral.org/graphic/high-heat-index-days-2023?graphicSet=High+Heat+Index+Days&location=Fresno&lang=en\">gone up by 17 days a year\u003c/a> since 1979. The state is \u003ca href=\"https://oehha.ca.gov/climate-change/epic-2022/changes-climate/precipitation\">increasingly yo-yoing between periods of drought and heavy rain\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://blog.ucsusa.org/pablo-ortiz/climate-change-impacts-on-california-central-valley-the-warning-shot-the-us-is-ignoring/\">a trend that’s particularly pronounced in the Central Valley\u003c/a>, where bursts of heavy precipitation easily lead to flooding. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"‘Folks experiencing homelessness are on the bleeding edge of the health crises that are happening with extremes of temperature.’","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"size":"medium","align":"right","citation":"Dr. Margot Kushel, director, UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Seniors like Everhart are \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/disasters/extremeheat/older-adults-heat.html\">especially vulnerable\u003c/a> to the elements, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10061143/#:~:text=The%20cumulative%20disadvantage%20experienced%20by,functional%20and%20cognitive%20impairment%2C%20incontinence\">living on the streets hastens aging\u003c/a>. Dr. Margot Kushel, director of the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, compared the physical condition of a 50-year-old living outside to that of a person two to three decades older in the general population.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Folks experiencing homelessness are on the bleeding edge of the health crises that are happening with extremes of temperature,” said Kushel, the lead investigator on a \u003ca href=\"https://homelessness.ucsf.edu/our-impact/our-studies/california-statewide-study-people-experiencing-homelessness\">landmark survey\u003c/a> of houseless Californians released this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It found that people 50 years and older now represent nearly half of single adults experiencing homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s just hard,” Everhart said. “At my age, everything combined is hard on me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘The most-best shade in all of Fresno’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>It was sometime in late spring when Everhart rolled her belongings onto a patch of dirt under an overpass near downtown Fresno. She was thinking about the oncoming heat when she chose the spot, shielded by hundreds of tons of concrete.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is the most-best shade, I bet, in all of Fresno, right here,” Everhart said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm/?e=KQINC5564168870&light=true\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The camp she made there with a longtime friend, Shannon Thom, was a jumble of carts and strollers piled with dozens of bulging plastic bags, chairs in various states of disrepair, empty food containers and a molding sheet cake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Somebody gave it to us, but it’s already old,” Everhart said. “Out here, you learn to accept stuff.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11954896\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11954896 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-06-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A woman in a pink hat leans on a chainlink fence under a freeway overpass.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-06-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-06-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-06-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-06-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-06-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-06-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Deana Everhart, 61, spent the hottest part of the summer sheltering under an overpass near downtown Fresno. She’s been unhoused on and off for about 20 years. “I remember how scared I was the first time sleeping by myself,” she said of her early days on the streets. Today, it’s hard for her to imagine another way of life. While she said she wants housing, the responsibility that comes with it feels daunting. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The living arrangement was chaotic but reflected their years of combined street savvy: cell phones, documents, food and clothes concealed by junky-looking bags were less likely to entice thieves. Allowing trash to build up around them was less likely to draw complaints than throwing it into the dumpster outside a nearby apartment complex.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the years, they’ve camped together and developed a system to keep each other and their things safe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We take shifts on sleeping because we have to watch the stuff 24/7,” Everhart said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her skin is tanned and freckled from years of sun, but there’s something girlish about her. She wears her long, dark hair in low pigtails. In her 20s, Everhart played guitar in an all-girl metal band called Sweet Lies — “Like sweet, but not so sweet,” she said. “We were rocker girls.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She still seems to relish the spotlight, but these days, she tends to hold her hand in front of her mouth while she talks because she’s shy about her teeth. She can’t always brush them outside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Everhart’s path to homelessness is entwined with her mental illness. As her obsessive-compulsive disorder became increasingly debilitating, she struggled to hold on to housing. Court records show she has been evicted twice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Everhart now lives on $1,252 a month in Social Security disability benefits, plus food stamps — less than the median rent in Fresno, which spiked in recent years. Between 2017 and 2021, \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/homeless-housing/story/2021-03-31/fresno-rent-spike-taps-into-california-covid-housing-trends\">rents rose almost 40\u003c/a>%, the biggest increase of any large city in the country. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"news_11964791","hero":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/CalMatters01-1020x680.jpg","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Despite her situation, she is less worried about herself than her son, Travis Everhart. He’s 39, has schizophrenia and lives on Fresno’s streets, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the camp, she pointed out a box full of his things and the mat where he sleeps beside her when he’s not wandering the city alone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The last time she and Thom, 41, shared a room, they said her son was banned from visiting because his psychosis caused him to yell out. Early last summer, after a string of hot days gave him a nasty sunburn that turned his nose the mottled blue-red of raw hamburger meat, Everhart gave up her housing to be closer to him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I thought, I’ll go to him,” she said. “I’m trying to keep my son alive.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few months later, her anxiety about his well-being reached a new level after the death of his friend, Patrick Weaver, who was also unhoused.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The two were close in age, shared a love of comic books and a diagnosis of schizophrenia, Everhart said, adding, “It’s hard for my son to find a good friend like that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Weaver was found dead in a parking lot, according to a city official, at the tail end of a solid month of triple-digit temperatures. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"‘I thought, I’ll go to him. I’m trying to keep my son alive.’","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"size":"medium","align":"right","citation":"Deana Everhart, unhoused Fresno resident","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“Devastating is the only word I could think of to describe that,” Everhart said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She believes heat played a role in Weaver’s death. He died four days after Fresno reached its second hottest temperature on record: 114 degrees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Fresno County Sheriff-Coroner’s Office has yet to release his death report to KQED but did confirm the official cause was an overdose. Weaver had methamphetamine and fentanyl in his system. Meth raises a person’s body temperature and contributes \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-08-31/california-heat-related-deaths-climate-change-homelessness-methamphetamine\">to heat-related illness and death\u003c/a> across California. \u003ca href=\"https://homelessness.ucsf.edu/our-impact/our-studies/california-statewide-study-people-experiencing-homelessness\">Almost one-third\u003c/a> of unhoused Californians reported using it, according to the UCSF survey Kushel led.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Schizophrenia, which is \u003ca href=\"https://bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12888-019-2361-7\">vastly more common\u003c/a> among unhoused people than the general population, affects the brain’s ability to regulate body temperature and make reasoned decisions, potentially putting people at a \u003ca href=\"https://www.science.org/content/article/schizophrenia-pinpointed-key-factor-heat-deaths#:~:text=Epidemiologists%20combing%20through%20provincial%20health,increase%20compared%20with%20typical%20summers.\">higher risk of heat-related death\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The number of unhoused people who die due to extreme weather in Fresno, and around California, is hard to know. Historically, most coroners haven’t tracked housing status. KQED public records requests to coroners and medical examiners across the state yielded few results.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But people experiencing homelessness are \u003ca href=\"https://bfi.uchicago.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/BFI_WP_2023-41.pdf\">already far more likely to die than their housed counterparts\u003c/a>. Depending on age, studies found that \u003ca href=\"https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2795475?guestAccessKey=7ac6269d-6dbd-4288-a405-b1ecca6e082e&utm_source=For_The_Media&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ftm_links&utm_content=tfl&utm_term=082922\">death is three\u003c/a> to \u003ca href=\"https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/1556797\">nine times\u003c/a> more common on the streets. And there is some evidence extreme weather worsens those odds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unhoused people made up almost \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-02-19/la-me-homeless-heat-deaths#:~:text=Although%20the%20unhoused%20population%20represents,data%20from%20the%20coroner's%20office.\">half of heat-related deaths in Los Angeles County last year, though they represent less than 1% of the population\u003c/a>. In Sacramento County, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.srceh.org/_files/ugd/ee52bb_c3a8312b492b4ded8980857803c67708.pdf\">death rate among people experiencing homelessness in 2021 from hypothermia was 215.5 times higher than the county rate overall\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A ‘complete disaster’ or a lifesaver?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Faced with the confluence of increasingly deadly weather and a growing homeless population that’s especially vulnerable to it, Fresno city leaders are being forced to respond. Last year, under pressure from advocates, they \u003ca href=\"https://fresno.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=11257222&GUID=51A17E03-0CE8-412D-BA38-6CB5A21A72C1\">expanded the city’s warming and cooling centers\u003c/a>, the primary resource for unhoused people during extreme weather events. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"‘In response to climate change, we’re having to fundamentally change the use of community centers in neighborhoods.’","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"size":"medium","align":"right","citation":"Fresno City Councilmember Miguel Arias","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Cooling centers now open when temperatures reach 100 degrees, instead of 105, and stay open longer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bigger change was to warming centers last winter. Because of the heavy rain, city officials \u003ca href=\"https://fresno.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=11534615&GUID=D8ADCBC2-BA69-4C93-B820-E5B00A3589CB\">voted to keep certain centers open\u003c/a> for more than three months straight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People crowded in, filling them beyond capacity. The community centers, once home to after-school programs, services for the elderly and adult recreational activities, became de facto homeless shelters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In response to climate change, we’re having to fundamentally change the use of community centers in neighborhoods,” said City Councilmember Miguel Arias, who represents the district where Everhart and most of the city’s unhoused residents live.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The backlash came fast and loud.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11954903\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11954903 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-11-KQED.jpg\" alt='The doors of a large community center are seen beyond a gate with a sign reading \"cooling center.\"' width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-11-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-11-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-11-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-11-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-11-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-11-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Ted C. Wills Community Center in Fresno hosts a temporary reprieve during triple-digit heat. In Fresno, like in many cities, warming and cooling centers are the main resource for unhoused people in extreme weather. Changes to Fresno’s centers have generated a backlash from residents in surrounding neighborhoods. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It was a complete disaster for our neighborhood,” said Chris Collins, who lives with his family directly next to the Ted C. Wills Community Center, one of four recreation centers that became a warming center last winter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said someone was living in a tent in the alley behind their house, and more tents lined the sidewalk around the corner. Another person dumped a stroller full of belongings in their front yard, and in the middle of the night, a man pounded on his neighbor’s door and refused to leave until the owner pulled out a gun. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"‘It was a complete disaster for our neighborhood.’","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"size":"medium","align":"right","citation":"Chris Collins, resident, Fresno","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Meanwhile, staff at the center were completely overwhelmed, according to one parks department employee who declined to be identified because they aren’t authorized to speak to the media.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People brought alcohol and weapons into the sleeping area, used drugs in the bathroom and left huge messes, according to the staffer. They said before the community center’s preschool program was put on pause, a little girl stepped in human waste and ended up smearing it on her clothes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Arias acknowledged the challenges. Almost overnight, he said, employees accustomed to running rec rooms were disinfecting cots and triaging ailments ranging from gangrene to diabetic seizures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s got to be a better solution,” Collins said, adding that neighbors never had a problem with the center operating as it had in the past, a few days at a time. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"news_11956715","hero":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/GettyImages-1557929497-KQED-1020x661.jpg","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>But as the stretches of wild weather get longer and city leaders are forced to step in, Arias expects this kind of conflict isn’t going away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is one of the many unintended consequences of climate change at the local level,” he said. “And residents will continue to push back on local government as we try to adjust and expand services to save lives.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The changes that made Collins and his neighbors miserable made the center lifesaving for Everhart, who stayed there nearly the whole time it was open.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Everybody loved it and most of the people in there were seniors,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the past, she rarely used the warming centers because the sporadic schedules made them impractical and people weren’t allowed to bring their belongings inside. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"‘Everybody loved it and most of the people in there were seniors.’","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"size":"medium","align":"right","citation":"Deana Everhart, unhoused Fresno resident","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Last winter, she’s not sure how she would have survived without it. “I was truly scared,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Managing the centers now requires a full-time city employee, and Fresno has already more than doubled what it spends on them, from $300,000 to $800,000, Arias said. By next year, he expects that will rise to $1 million annually.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the controversy last winter, the city is looking for ways to minimize the impact on neighbors and center staff. The plan is to \u003ca href=\"https://www.planetbids.com/Fresno/BMfiles/20230707105523093%20PUBLIC%20NOTICE%2012400023.pdf\">turn over management to nonprofits and churches\u003c/a>, who would run the programs out of the community centers for now, and eventually find alternative facilities, Arias hopes.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A painful family history\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Everhart once held jobs, went to community college and had an apartment and a car. There were always signs of her mental illness, but as she grew older, it progressed into a severe case of obsessive-compulsive disorder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By her early 30s, she had four children, no income except what welfare programs supplied and couldn’t manage the responsibilities of parenting or maintaining a home. All of her kids ended up with their grandparents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“She was not capable of raising children because of how her mental illness affected her way to function,” her daughter Carolyn Mercer, 30, wrote in an email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mercer, who was out of her mother’s care by the time she was 2 years old, described her as neglectful.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11954907\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11954907 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-04-02-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A car drives up a street set below a freeway overpass.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-04-02-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-04-02-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-04-02-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-04-02-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-04-02-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-04-02-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An overpass along State Route 180, near the place Deana and Shannon camped during the summer. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I know I wasn’t taking as good of care of the kids as I felt I should,” Everhart said, acknowledging she was struggling with her mental health at the time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Having OCD is like working two or three jobs — it’s mentally exhausting,” she said. “I did the best I could. I needed help.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since she became homeless, Everhart has only lived indoors for short stretches. She said she lost a room in an SRO because she spent four hours in the shower, convinced she was still covered in soap, and got kicked out of a women’s shelter because she couldn’t keep up with their schedule.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She and Thom said they’re on waiting lists for housing, but Everhart finds the obligations that come with being housed daunting. She was hesitant when asked if she’d take what the city might eventually be able to offer: a converted motel room.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m not opposed to it, but if I have to be out here I’m OK,” she said, adding that she feels a sense of duty to help care for more severely incapacitated people living on the streets. “Maybe I just feel like I need to be out here to help them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s one responsibility, perhaps the only one, she feels equal to.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11954897\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11954897 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-07-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A woman stands in the shade under a freeway overpass grasping the post of a street sign.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-07-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-07-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-07-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-07-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-07-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-07-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shannon Thom, 41, has camped with Deana for the past several years. Living together allows them to sleep in shifts to keep watch over each other and their things. They take turns using the bathroom at a liquor store, or take short breaks from the heat at a nearby cooling center. Shannon grew up in Fresno, bouncing around apartments with her mother and sister. At one point, she ended up homeless with her mother on L.A.’s Skid Row, she said. After her mother and sister died, she was left without any close relatives. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In the winter, she and Thom keep extra blankets and jackets from thrift stores to hand out. She found one man’s family on Facebook and reconnected them, and when another young man wandered over to their camp confused and hungry one afternoon, Everhart was eager to help.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Honey, if you wait a minute we’ll go to the store over there and get you a cup o’ noodle and we’ll heat it in the microwave and get you a little soda,” she said. “Do you want that?” \u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"‘All I see in her is a little girl that never got the love and affection she truly deserved from her parents. I wish she would see the little girl in me that needed that same love, but she never will.’","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"size":"medium","align":"right","citation":"Carolyn Mercer, 30, daughter of Deana Everhart","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>She finds purpose in caring for people on the streets, trying in her way to “mother” them — most of all, her own son.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Everhart’s daughter said she never benefited from this tenderness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I finally came to the realization that I will never get the mother I always wanted and needed,” she said. Mercer is no longer in contact with her mother.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She’s come to understand the pain her mother caused her as a legacy of Everhart’s own abuse and neglect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All I see in her is a little girl that never got the love and affection she truly deserved from her parents,” she said, speculating that this played a role in the development of Everhart’s mental illness. “I wish she would see the little girl in me that needed that same love, but she never will.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, Mercer can’t help but worry about her mother, aging on the streets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It always keeps me up at night when I’m able to keep warm in my home with a heater in the winter or be comfortable with AC in the summer,” she said. “I always feel a sense of guilt that I never know if she’s ‘comfortable’ and safe from the elements outdoors while I’m able to live comfortably.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Business as usual\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Early this past summer, even as Fresno was expanding cooling centers, city leaders were taking aim at unhoused residents with a \u003ca href=\"https://fresno.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=12032871&GUID=50F7141B-5564-4058-A28C-71BC9843868A\">new law restricting access to any place designated a “sensitive area.\u003c/a>” \u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"‘Where can we go? I’m 61 years old. You want me to roll my stuff in the 110-degree [heat] and die?’","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"size":"medium","align":"right","citation":"Deana Everhart, unhoused Fresno resident","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Among the many sites listed as possible targets are overpasses, underpasses and bridges — places where Everhart often finds refuge from heat and rain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Everhart and Thom fretted about where they would go to avoid the new law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We can’t be under here. We thought they were bad — they went from bad to worse,” Everhart said, referring to the city’s Homeless Assistance Response Team. “We’re very scared now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11954898\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11954898 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-14-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A man in a light pink button down shirt stands in front of large brown doors.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-14-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-14-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-14-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-14-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-14-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-14-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fresno City Councilmember Miguel Arias outside the entrance to the cooling center at the Ted C Wills community center. He and other city officials are facing pressure from homeowners and businesses to clean up homelessness while advocates simultaneously demand urgent action to protect unhoused people from increasingly extreme weather. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Before they could figure out a plan, the Response Team showed up — a visit that had nothing to do with the new law, as far as Everhart could tell. It was just business as usual.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was forecast to hit 110 degrees in Fresno that day, and the National Weather Service was \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/NWSHanford/status/1680213678715723776?s=20\">warning of a “major to extreme risk” for heat-related illnesses\u003c/a>, especially for people with no escape from the elements. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"‘It’s as though the city council looked for places where people go, where they can find shelter, and singled out those places. Ordinances that essentially require people to constantly be moving and prohibit them from having any fixed place to be just puts tremendous stress on them.’","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"size":"medium","align":"right","citation":"William Freeman, attorney, ACLU","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Undeterred, city workers cleared the trash surrounding the camp, then told Everhart and Thom to leave the area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You know, it’s real hot,” Everhart recalled telling one of the police officers with the team that responds to complaints about encampments. “Where can we go? I’m 61 years old. You want me to roll my stuff in the 110-degree [heat] and die?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sweeps like this one have become routine, but advocates worry the new law, with its heightened restrictions, will make them even more frequent. Fresno city leaders approved the plan despite warnings that the consequences could be dire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s as though the city council looked for places where people go, where they can find shelter, and singled out those places,” said ACLU attorney William Freeman, who \u003ca href=\"https://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/article276239381.html\">urged the city council not to pass the plan\u003c/a>, arguing it violates the constitutions of the United States and California. “Ordinances that essentially require people to constantly be moving and prohibit them from having any fixed place to be just puts tremendous stress on them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Arias, one of the council members who put the new rule forward, said it was about ensuring unhoused people and their things don’t block public rights of way, a goal another official chalked up to an attempt to avoid a lawsuit similar to the one \u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article272274053.html\">Sacramento is facing\u003c/a> from residents with disabilities who say homeless camps have taken over sidewalks, making it impossible for them to get around the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And, Arias said, clearing encampments is a public health requirement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11954904\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11954904 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-17-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A hand holds two bottles of cold water.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-17-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-17-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-17-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-17-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-17-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-17-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nas, an unhoused man in the Tower District in Fresno, holds cold water bottles given to him by\u003cbr>local advocates with the Fresno Homeless Union, Bob and Linda McCloskey, on July 1, 2023. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“When you have the amount of feces, the amount of drug paraphernalia, the amount of rotting food, all in one location, you get outbreaks of disease,” he said. “That’s why we have to respond.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After city workers left, Everhart and Thom set up their camp again — this time, about 200 feet from where they’d been, still under the same overpass. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"‘Everything we do, everything, revolves around them — trying to evade them.’","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"size":"medium","align":"right","citation":"Deana Everhart, unhoused Fresno resident","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The city formed the response team last year, \u003ca href=\"https://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/article257698758.html\">pitching it as a more compassionate alternative\u003c/a> to the police department’s former homeless task force. The team includes outreach workers from a local nonprofit, staff from the code enforcement department and police officers. The city rolled it out along with a new 311 line to field complaints about unhoused people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Everything we do, everything, revolves around them — trying to evade them,” Everhart said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She and Thom said the team has thrown away nearly all their possessions several times, a mental and financial blow that can be especially grave in extreme weather. They’ve lost things they need to survive in the heat and the cold, like blankets, clothes, food and water. By Everhart’s count, the response team has shuffled them around the city seven times in less than a year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Activists here have tried — without success — to get the city to stop sweeps during extreme weather. This past summer, the Sacramento Homeless Union won a \u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article277931013.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">temporary injunction\u003c/a> banning the city from cleaning encampments during a heat wave, a case Everhart followed closely when she could charge her phone. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"label":"More Stories on Housing ","tag":"housing"},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Advocates are pushing for sanctioned encampments where people can set up tents or RVs with the city’s permission and tiny home villages with air conditioning. Everhart has helped them lobby for dumpsters and porta-potties to solve some of the sanitation concerns about camps. Long term, they are fighting for rent control and more affordable housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since 2019, Fresno has spent over $100 million to address homelessness, more than 90% of it on housing, according to the city. It’s permanently housed nearly 1,900 people while sheltering or temporarily putting up more than 3,000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the city estimates there are still 1,700 people living on its streets. “And that’s because the unhoused numbers continue to grow,” Arias said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A welcome ‘vacation’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In early September, an infected spider bite sent Everhart to the hospital.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She suspects a black widow because she spotted one near where she was sleeping. She had surgery to remove the necrotic flesh on her thumb, and the doctor put in a drain she described as a McDonald’s straw.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My thumb looks like the zombie apocalypse,” she joked from her hospital bed. “I am not exaggerating either. It looks terrible.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A couple of weeks earlier, her son, Travis Everhart, went to jail for property damage and resisting arrest. Everhart’s understanding is that he threw some rocks at a car, “because the car was loud,” she said. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"‘It’s been nice, I’ll tell you that. They bring your food, you lay in this comfortable bed that has lots of pillows.’","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"size":"medium","align":"right","citation":"Deana Everhart, unhoused Fresno resident","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>She’s glad he’s set to be released in November, but in a way, she’s relieved he’s in jail. At least she knows where he is and that he has food and shelter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Amid of all this, the hospital, with its air conditioning and bed, is almost a welcome vacation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s been nice, I’ll tell you that,” she said. “They bring your food, you lay in this comfortable bed that has lots of pillows.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She met with a social worker there, but when she explained she was already on a waiting list for housing, Everhart said the woman told her there wasn’t much else to do but wait.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When she gets released from the hospital, the plan is to have Thom help her tie a plastic bag around her bandaged hand to keep out the dirt. Their camp is alongside a different stretch of freeway now, where they’ll wait for her son to get out of jail. There, under a tarp and umbrella, they’ll try to shelter from the waning heat and the coming rains.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/news/11965063/unhoused-californians-are-living-on-the-bleeding-edge-of-climate-change","authors":["11276"],"programs":["news_33522"],"categories":["news_6266","news_8","news_33520","news_30302"],"tags":["news_18538","news_27017","news_27626","news_37","news_21216","news_21214","news_4020","news_1775","news_2109","news_95","news_28541","news_28527","news_29607","news_30602","news_31793"],"featImg":"news_11954906","label":"news_33522"},"news_11914765":{"type":"posts","id":"news_11914765","meta":{"index":"posts_1716263798","site":"news","id":"11914765","score":null,"sort":[1653300052000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"your-biggest-ideas-on-how-to-solve-the-housing-crisis","title":"Your Biggest Ideas on How to Solve the Housing Crisis","publishDate":1653300052,"format":"audio","headTitle":"Your Biggest Ideas on How to Solve the Housing Crisis | KQED","labelTerm":{},"content":"\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">More than \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11911130/bonus-your-stories-and-solutions-for-the-housing-crisis\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">35,000 people\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> are living unhoused across the Bay Area – up 9 percent in the last three years, according to an annual count of folks living on the streets.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In light of the release of those most recent statistics, we wanted to re-up an episode of Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America that asks: what are your biggest ideas on how to solve the housing crisis?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This episode \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11911130/bonus-your-stories-and-solutions-for-the-housing-crisis\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">first published\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> on \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\" data-rich-links='{\"dat_df\":{\"fres_frt\":1,\"dfie_ts\":{\"tv\":{\"tv_s\":1650888000,\"tv_n\":0}},\"dfie_l\":\"en\",\"dfie_p\":{\"fres_frt\":0,\"tres_tv\":\"MMM d, y\"},\"dfie_dt\":\"Apr 25, 2022\",\"dfie_pt\":3},\"type\":\"date\"}'>Apr 25, 2022\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC4173322904\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":null,"status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1727134205,"stats":{"hasAudio":true,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":6,"wordCount":80},"headData":{"title":"Your Biggest Ideas on How to Solve the Housing Crisis | KQED","description":"More than 35,000 people are living unhoused across the Bay Area – up 9 percent in the last three years, according to an annual count of folks living on the streets. In light of the release of those most recent statistics, we wanted to re-up an episode of Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America that asks: what are your biggest ideas on how to solve the housing crisis? This episode first published on Apr 25, 2022","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Your Biggest Ideas on How to Solve the Housing Crisis","datePublished":"2022-05-23T03:00:52-07:00","dateModified":"2024-09-23T16:30:05-07:00","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png","isAccessibleForFree":"True","publisher":{"@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","@id":"https://www.kqed.org/#organization","name":"KQED","url":"https://www.kqed.org","logo":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}}},"source":"The Bay","sourceUrl":"https://www.kqed.org/podcasts/thebay","audioUrl":"https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.megaphone.fm/KQINC4173322904.mp3?updated=1653078080","sticky":false,"excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","path":"/news/11914765/your-biggest-ideas-on-how-to-solve-the-housing-crisis","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">More than \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11911130/bonus-your-stories-and-solutions-for-the-housing-crisis\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">35,000 people\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> are living unhoused across the Bay Area – up 9 percent in the last three years, according to an annual count of folks living on the streets.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In light of the release of those most recent statistics, we wanted to re-up an episode of Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America that asks: what are your biggest ideas on how to solve the housing crisis?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This episode \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11911130/bonus-your-stories-and-solutions-for-the-housing-crisis\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">first published\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> on \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\" data-rich-links='{\"dat_df\":{\"fres_frt\":1,\"dfie_ts\":{\"tv\":{\"tv_s\":1650888000,\"tv_n\":0}},\"dfie_l\":\"en\",\"dfie_p\":{\"fres_frt\":0,\"tres_tv\":\"MMM d, y\"},\"dfie_dt\":\"Apr 25, 2022\",\"dfie_pt\":3},\"type\":\"date\"}'>Apr 25, 2022\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC4173322904\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/news/11914765/your-biggest-ideas-on-how-to-solve-the-housing-crisis","authors":["8654","11637","11793","11802"],"programs":["news_28779","news_33522"],"categories":["news_6266","news_8","news_33520"],"tags":["news_1775","news_28541","news_22598","news_29607"],"featImg":"news_11830938","label":"source_news_11914765"},"news_11911130":{"type":"posts","id":"news_11911130","meta":{"index":"posts_1716263798","site":"news","id":"11911130","score":null,"sort":[1650915313000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"bonus-your-stories-and-solutions-for-the-housing-crisis","title":"Bonus: Your Stories and Solutions for the Housing Crisis","publishDate":1650915313,"format":"audio","headTitle":"Bonus: Your Stories and Solutions for the Housing Crisis | KQED","labelTerm":{},"content":"\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What are your biggest ideas on how to solve the housing crisis? How has housing shaped your life?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Throughout this season, we wanted to hear from you — the Sold Out audience. We asked you to get in touch, and you came through!\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">From voice memos to emails and social media, dozens of listeners reached out and shared stories of housing insecurity and loss, advocacy work, and visions for an equitable housing future.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In this bonus episode, hear from seven people for whom housing is at the center of everything. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch5 id=\"embed-code\" class=\"inconsolata\">\n\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC9285725518&light=true\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/h5>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[TRANSCRIPT]\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>MOLLY SOLOMON: \u003c/strong>Hi! I’m Molly Solomon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>ERIN BALDASSARI: \u003c/strong>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And I’m Erin Baldassari. You’re listening to Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America, and today we’ve got something special for you from producer Natalia Aldana.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Take it away, Natalia.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[SOLD OUT THEME MUSIC BEGINS]\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11841421\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 451px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-11841421\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2020/10/RS16247_GettyImages-150582090-qut-800x530.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"451\" height=\"299\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/10/RS16247_GettyImages-150582090-qut-800x530.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/10/RS16247_GettyImages-150582090-qut-1020x676.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/10/RS16247_GettyImages-150582090-qut-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/10/RS16247_GettyImages-150582090-qut-1536x1018.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/10/RS16247_GettyImages-150582090-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 451px) 100vw, 451px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A red for sale sign outside a home with a “sold pending” sticker posted across the front. \u003ccite>(Justin Sullivan/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA ALDANA:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> When it comes to the housing crisis, every Californian has something to say about it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MARGOT RINALDO: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Man, it’s like — it’s like the air we breathe. It is literally, like, a fact of life if you live in California.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>NATALIA: \u003c/strong>We can all point to how it’s impacted us — affected our families, our neighborhoods, and our livelihoods.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Throughout this season of Sold Out, we’ve been asking for your thoughts and experiences when it comes to housing. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So many of you got in touch. And today, you’ll hear from seven people whose stories might challenge you, empathize with you, and hopefully, inspire you.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[MUSIC – DECK LOFI]\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">First up, we have a listener who wants us to rethink how we live — literally\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">who we share a roof with, and how the \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">way \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">we understand family impacts our housing.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Cam Coulter rents an apartment with his partner in San Jose. And Cam thinks the housing system favors homeowners. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CAM COULTER: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is probably a little hot-take, but I wish I could write off my rent payments as tax-deductible.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Cam recognizes that tax incentives are meant to motivate homeownership. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CAM:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And that might work in other parts of the country. But here I feel like it really just punishes the people who can’t afford to buy a home.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Although rent is not tax-deductible in California — the state does award a $60 renters tax credit for qualifying single filers who earn less than $43,533 a year. Since Cam and I last spoke, \u003ca href=\"https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/californias-renter-tax-credit-has-remained-unchanged-for-43-years-it-could-soon-increase/ar-AAW402s\">a state bill has been proposed that could potentially increase that credit to $500.\u003c/a>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[MUSIC OUT – DECK LOFI OUT]\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">While Cam\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> doesn’t really want to buy a h\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">ome, they do want to build equity.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CAM: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So I see the way that the desire to own a home is sort of constructed by the fact that it’s a great way to build wealth and have long-term stability. But I wish there were other ways to achieve that.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11911686\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 334px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-11911686\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/Cam-Coulter-800x800.jpeg\" alt=\"A person sits on the grass.\" width=\"334\" height=\"334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/Cam-Coulter-800x800.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/Cam-Coulter-1020x1020.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/Cam-Coulter-160x160.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/Cam-Coulter-1536x1536.jpeg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/Cam-Coulter-1920x1920.jpeg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/Cam-Coulter.jpeg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 334px) 100vw, 334px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cam Coulter wants KQED listeners to reimagine who we consider family, and how that might improve the housing crisis. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Cam Coulter)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> As for their other pie in the sky: Cam wants more \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.ic.org/what-is-an-intentional-community-30th-birthday-day-13/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">intentional housing or co-housing communities\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003cb>CAM: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When I stop and dream about what, like, a beautiful, sustainable, healthy future would look like, I see housing that looks more like this.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’ve lived in intentional community before, and I’d like to do that again in the future.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[MUSIC IN – \u003c/b>\u003cb>SUNKISSED]\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Live not just with my own, how to say, like, nuclear family, but with other people, and to share space with them, share grocery budgets, do communal activities.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I would love to live in a co-housing community where my partner and I could have some of our own space but also share common spaces with community. I would love to live in, like, a larger, multi-family home where maybe four to 10 adults, or kids, could comfortably live together without overcrowding.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And this could benefit a lot of multi-generational families who I know are already overcrowded in their small single-family home. I think we have too few of those options.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[MUSIC OUT – \u003c/b>\u003cb>SUNKISSED]\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Cam is nonbinary, and says the connection between queer and trans folks living in found families has probably influenced this perspective.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CAM: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">One thing that makes me frustrated is that so many of the housing units we have are designed for a nuclear family. Or perhaps, you know, you can have maybe grandparents or something, but they’re really designed as like single-family homes or small apartments, or just one or a couple of people. But that’s not really what I want.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">One of the largest barriers to\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">building more co-housing is, no surprise, money. But,\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Cam is cheering on organizations like the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://southbayclt.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">South Bay Community Land Trust\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, which is working on acquiring their \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://southbayclt.org/capital-campaign-reed-st-acquisition/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">first community-owned house in San Jose\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Cam believes co-housing can have additional benefits, like boosting our social health.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CAM: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s like a really big issue these days, is that so many people are isolated. And when I lived in community before, I really loved just constantly having people around. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It did a lot of good for me.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[MUSIC IN – SEARCHING FOR TREASURE]\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Our next listener knows that\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">the housing crisis should be attacked on every single front. So Santa Cruz renter Ernesto Anguiano is setting his sights on a culprit that some might consider a friend.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You see… Ernesto wants to see cities change their zoning laws to allow for more multi-family housing. And he wants to see Bay Area cities built denser. He thinks one way to achieve that is by rethinking parking.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11911347\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 536px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11911347 \" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/ErnestoA-1020x689.jpg\" alt=\"A man stands on a mountainside with a board.\" width=\"536\" height=\"362\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/ErnestoA-1020x689.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/ErnestoA-800x540.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/ErnestoA-160x108.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/ErnestoA-1536x1038.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/ErnestoA.jpg 1818w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 536px) 100vw, 536px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ernesto Anguiano rents in Santa Cruz and wants listeners to consider how their car might impact the housing crisis. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Ernesto Anguiano)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[MUSIC OUT – SEARCHING FOR TREASURE]\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERNESTO: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There’s a lot of things that affect your ability to purchase a home. And the parking one was a unique aspect on it\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When there are parking minimums for housing developments\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, spaces for cars eat up what could be spaces for housing.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERNESTO: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So you’re essentially subsidizing that parking space that you could be building valuable housing in.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As Ernesto sees it, denser cities create more transit options, so reducing a dependency on cars can help the environment, \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">and makes it possible to afford a home. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">All of these changes can help the housing crisis.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERNESTO: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You know, everybody should have the opportunity and the ability to live where they want to live. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And if you want to have, you know, your single-family home, or your single-family neighborhood, you know, I can respect that. But at the same time, you have to give others the opportunity to live in that same neighborhood.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[MUSIC IN: WURLY REGGAETON]\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Ernesto knows folks have a reliance on cars, but he hopes he’s planted the seed for more conversations in the future.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Next, we turn to Eva Hopkins who has a vision for Oakland, her hometown. She has big thoughts on gentrification and ways to address it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>EVA HOPKINS:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> You have to at least have one point something million dollars to get a good house, in a good area, in Oakland. And I essentially got priced out of Oakland.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When we spoke Eva had just sold her condo in Emeryville and was preparing to move into her new home in Hercules. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[MUSIC OUT: WURLY REGGAETON]\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She sees how Oakland has changed. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11830938\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11830938\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/RS41536_009_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3511-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/RS41536_009_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3511-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/RS41536_009_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3511-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/RS41536_009_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3511-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/RS41536_009_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3511-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/RS41536_009_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3511-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Single-family homes near MacArthur BART station in Oakland, on Feb. 21, 2020. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>EVA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">All these developers coming in, and I’m going to say, white developers, coming in and kicking us all out, rebuilding stuff, and making it unaffordable for the people that were there before. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Where you could have been paying $1,000 for rent, now you’re paying $4,000 for rent.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[MUSIC IN: DIZZY]\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Because if you talk about poverty, and stuff like that, you’re pushing us into poverty because we can’t afford this, and people don’t have anywhere to go. So where does that push them? When you push them out, that pushes them on the streets, and there’s poverty right there, right? So it’s basically keeping us from rising on top, and pushing us straight to the bottom.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s really important that when there are major developers coming in and redeveloping places, that they are community-driven. Get those construction companies that are in the community that you’re building in and get those residents working somehow, someway on this project so that they can live in the places that they build.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And it’s not just Oakland\u003c/span>\u003cb> — \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Eva works at a non-profit in San Francisco, and points to the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://sf-hrc.org/sites/default/files/Dream%20Keeper%20Initiative_One%20Pager.pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Dream Keeper Initiative\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> as one tool to address gentrification there.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[MUSIC OUT: DIZZY]\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s a city-wide effort to reinvest $120 million from law enforcement into San Francisco’s Black community. $10 million is allocated for housing and homeownership.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As Eva navigated the buyer and seller’s market these past few months, she said similar programs and initiatives really helped her, and she hopes prospective home buyers will take advantage of resources out there.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>EVA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They are making it possible for people of color, and you know us, to buy homes, so take advantage of it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Taking advantage of programs is just one way to stabilize communities. But while that may not have been enough to help Eva own in Oakland, she said she’s proud to live in a Bay Area city and remain near her mom and brother.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[MUSIC TRANSITION]\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> We’re going to take a quick break. Coming up, one listener points to some legislation they think could make waves in affordability, a landlord who considered leaving the business, and someone who shows us the devastating effects of displacement.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[MIDROLL – ADVERTISEMENT]\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sean Ripley emailed us wanting to talk about a controversial policy in his city. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Opportunity to Purchase Act, or OPA, would give current tenants, as well as qualifying nonprofits, the first shot at buying certain residential properties.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>SEAN RIPLEY: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The hope is that this will create housing that has a permanent affordability to it, like the housing preservation that will happen over time.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Although OPA has been discussed in the city since \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cityofepa.org/sites/default/files/fileattachments/housing/page/20967/2021.10.05_ppt_epa_opportunity_to_purchase_act_final.pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">2018\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, it was first formally considered by the East Palo Alto City Council in \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cityofepa.org/sites/default/files/fileattachments/housing/page/20967/2021.10.05_ppt_epa_opportunity_to_purchase_act_final.pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">October 2021\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> — and the disagreements soon followed, through Facebook forums and city protests.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">According to the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.noepaopa.com/home\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">NO to EPA OPA\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> website, one of the arguments against this ordinance is that it could damage the single-family housing market and property values.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11911350\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 332px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11911350 \" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/Sean-Ripley-Day-of-Love-1020x1530.jpeg\" alt=\"A man smiles at the camera while wearing a bright red jacket, in front of a wall of bright red flowers.\" width=\"332\" height=\"498\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/Sean-Ripley-Day-of-Love-1020x1530.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/Sean-Ripley-Day-of-Love-800x1200.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/Sean-Ripley-Day-of-Love-160x240.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/Sean-Ripley-Day-of-Love-1024x1536.jpeg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/Sean-Ripley-Day-of-Love.jpeg 1365w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 332px) 100vw, 332px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sean Ripley, seen here posing for a local event, wants KQED listeners to know what’s happening in his city of East Palo Alto. \u003ccite>(Jerry Chang, courtesy of Sean Ripley)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>SEAN: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s kind of that part of the conversation, the financial argument on one side, against the kind of, housing and restorative justice aspect on the other side.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sean and his wife own a single-family home in East Palo Alto. As a homeowner, he recognizes that his property value could fall, but in the end, he says he wants to see everyone in his community have an equitable opportunity to grow and thrive.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>SEAN: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I do care about the value of my house. But I would be willing to take a hit to that value if I knew that the neighbors around me would be able to be uplifted.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[MUSIC IN: ALWAYS ON THE UP HIP HOP]\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Because I know that them being uplifted raises everything, including myself. I don’t have to just focus on my property, in my silo, in my small piece of the world — I live in something bigger. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When I spoke to Sean in February, a vote was expected on OPA on March 1st, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2022/03/02/east-palo-alto-tables-considers-diluting-controversial-tenants-rights-ordinance/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">but it’s since been postponed, likely, for up to 10 months.\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This season of Sold Out talked about the loss of small landlords, and how the rise of corporate landlords has led to more evictions. But what makes a small landlord want to stop being a landlord?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jenny Johnston says so much of being a landlord has changed, and recently, she considered leaving the business.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jenny lives in a Berkeley duplex she and her husband purchased in 2003, and they started renting it out to help pay their mortgage.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Back then, she says identifying a tenant was a lot easier. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[MUSIC OUT: ALWAYS ON THE UP HIP HOP]\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JENNY JOHNSTON: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And at that time, we interviewed people and we did a background check, and we checked and saw what they were earning. We kind of basically just said, “Well, I don’t know, did you get a good feeling from those people or not?”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But now, she says the pandemic’s impacts on the economy, plus the eviction moratorium have made it much more challenging to be a landlord.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11809882\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11809882\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2020/04/RS612_foreclosure20120511-800x523.jpg\" alt=\"Two houses, side by side, one with boarded-up windows.\" width=\"800\" height=\"523\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/04/RS612_foreclosure20120511-800x523.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/04/RS612_foreclosure20120511-160x105.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/04/RS612_foreclosure20120511-1020x666.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/04/RS612_foreclosure20120511-1920x1254.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gov. Gavin Newsom’s moratorium on evictions came after advocacy organizations and some state lawmakers made repeated calls to the governor to provide protection to renters when residents were told to shelter in place. \u003ccite>(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JENNY: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The criteria have gotten stricter. I needed to make sure that people had almost like an extra cushion, that they would be able to, you know — and maybe I’m very careful — like, you know, what if somebody was working for a restaurant or a bakery? Well, you know, it could shut down if business wasn’t good, right?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It even made Jenny question whether this was still a sustainable source of income.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JENNY: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If I look back that far and I say, hey, if I had gotten out of this and just put the money into some mutual fund in the stock market or something, I would have actually done better.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[MUSIC IN: PASTIME]\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Today, companies own at least two-thirds of apartment buildings nationwide — a big change from the late 80’s when a majority of landlords were considered “mom and pop” shops.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jenny says she knows of other property owners who have stopped renting because the process has become too difficult to manage.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JENNY:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I mean, I understand that during the pandemic the government didn’t want people to be kicked out of their housing because of the lack of rent, but I’ve heard of several cases of other friends of mine who have units who just stopped renting them because they didn’t want to rent out without knowing that they had some control over what was happening on their property.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jenny says regulations like eviction protections and rent payment postponement, have made renting more labor-intensive, and financially riskier for her.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[MUSIC OUT: PASTIME]\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She believes a way out of the crisis is to build more housing, rather than placing more restrictions on the limited housing available.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JENNY:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> If you take a number of places that already exist and start to make a lot of rules about how people can offer those, it doesn’t make more places for people to live, it actually makes it harder.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I don’t hear that point of view very often. And I know that, you know, different people see this in different ways and that, you know, some protections are important, but just trying to make people offer their units in a certain way is not going to create new units or places for people to live.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jenny continues to rent out her place in Berkeley, and says seeing more houses built in her East Bay community gives her hope.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[MUSIC IN: Lo Fi Fun Rap]\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Next, we’ll hear from two organizers — the experiences that brought them to this work, and the issues they’re determined to solve.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ALEX MELENDREZ: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Housing is a human right.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Alex Melendrez lives with his parents in San Bruno, where he pays rent.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And he has a guiding principle for his work.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003cb>ALEX: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Everyone deserves a stable home.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[MUSIC OUT: Lo Fi Fun Rap]\u003c/b>\u003cb>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As the son of Mexican and Afghan immigrants, Alex is concerned with how the housing crisis has led to overcrowding in immigrant and refugee communities.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ALEX: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Many of them will tell you finding permanently affordable housing is the biggest challenge to stabilizing community members who already face large barriers and cultural changes that make adjusting difficult.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s not a recipe for success if you do not have a stable home.\u003c/span>\u003cb>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11911688\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 372px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-11911688\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/Alex-Melendrez-800x1000.jpg\" alt=\"A young man stands in the snow.\" width=\"372\" height=\"465\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/Alex-Melendrez-800x1000.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/Alex-Melendrez-1020x1275.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/Alex-Melendrez-160x200.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/Alex-Melendrez-1229x1536.jpg 1229w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/Alex-Melendrez.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 372px) 100vw, 372px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alex Melendrez wrote to KQED wanting to talk about the effects the housing crisis has had on refugee communities. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Alex Melendrez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Despite all the challenges surrounding the housing crisis, Alex remains hopeful.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[MUSIC IN: PEACEFUL WONDER]\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ALEX: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As cheesy as it sounds, never underestimate your power to be part of the solution. Sending an email, making public comments, participating in an upcoming housing discussion.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I like to say any good organizer who loves policies or the debates around these conversations knows that policy isn’t what organizes people — it’s stories and impact.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">: With that, we turn to our final conversation with someone who has experienced eviction very young — Margot Rinaldo.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Knowing its effects firsthand has been a huge motivation in Margot’s work today, and it gives her a unique perspective on politics.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Her story starts in San Jose — the place where she last felt stability during her childhood.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MARGOT RINALDO: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It was a two-story house. It was like a white building with, like, blue roofs.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I lived in that house until I was 11. What I really remember about that home was like, it was ours, like, it was ours.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">All of that started changing around 2007, which is when my dad started receiving lots of calls from the bank.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[MUSIC OUT: PEACEFUL WONDER]\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And then finally, in like 2008, I remember one day my dad telling us, we’re going to lose the house.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This was during the Great Recession. Without an immediate place to go, her dad put their belongings in a storage unit.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cb>MARGOT:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And I remember, like, just staring at a pile of my toys and thinking to myself, like, I’m not going to be able to take all of these with me.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As a child, Margot says she didn’t understand the foreclosure crisis, or why the things that comforted her were now going away.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She has a strong memory of sitting in her dad’s car.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MARGOT: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And like looking up at the sky and being like, I hope to God he finds a house soon. Like, that we can be a family again.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Margot moved around a lot over the next few years — 4 different cities, 3 different high schools, and many different homes.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She told me about the place they moved into after losing her childhood home.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MARGOT:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The only house we could get was not equipped for people to be living in.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I just remember like constantly, like, scratching at my ankles, and like these open sores would be on my ankles for, like, days because of all the flea bites. And we also didn’t have any furniture in that house.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Margot says housing instability dominoed into every part of her life.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MARGOT: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s largely like a lack of security, a lack of the ability to feel calm, a lack of the ability to relax or, you know, feel confident in your future.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That lack of security affected\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Margot’s grades and social life. She remembers getting a D in Spanish class, despite being a native speaker.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MARGOT: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I remember sitting at the Caltrain and, like, thinking, like, there’s no future for me to go to college or anything like that.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But Margot remained determined to continue her education.\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In her senior year of high school, she worked 40 hours a week to save enough money for the first few months of rent in the college dorms.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MARGOT: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Then for my 18th birthday present, my dad bought me a chance to take the S.A.T. and so that was my — I remember that was my 18th birthday present.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Margot’s experiences with the housing crisis set her on her life path.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11911349\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 342px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11911349 \" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/IMG_5823-1020x1360.jpeg\" alt=\"A young woman with red glasses takes a selfie while in a room decorated with books.\" width=\"342\" height=\"456\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/IMG_5823-1020x1360.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/IMG_5823-800x1067.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/IMG_5823-160x213.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/IMG_5823-1152x1536.jpeg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/IMG_5823-1536x2048.jpeg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/IMG_5823-scaled.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 342px) 100vw, 342px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Margot Rinaldo wrote to KQED wanting to share how her childhood shaped her views on housing issues. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Margot Rinaldo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[MUSIC IN: NEW INQUIRY]\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She graduated from Sacramento State in December 2021 with a degree in political science. She now lives in Sacramento and is a community organizer.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She’s \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">also\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> a regular at City Council meetings.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MARGOT: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you’re a homeowner, you’re listened to when you call into the City Council meetings and you tell them you don’t like the look of unhoused people living near your neighborhood. They’ll go and sweep those people because you’re a homeowner, like, you matter.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What’s clear to me is, like, certain people’s housing is a priority.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[MUSIC OUT: NEW INQUIRY]\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What Margot has learned throughout her childhood, her studies and her involvement in the community is that housing instability and displacement is not a failure of individuals.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MARGOT: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s a collective failure of our society. Especially for folks who have gone through so much housing insecurity like it’s really important to like, reclaim your sense of self.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As for solutions, Margot has a lot of ideas on how we can begin to chip away at the housing crisis, starting with more action from government leaders.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MARGOT: \u003c/b>You know, o\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">ur local representatives need to start advocating at the state level. If they are being burdened by state policies that are not allowing them to move quickly enough for renters or for unhoused people, like, they need to start advocating at the state level. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And she’s got some advice on how to get started.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MARGOT: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I hope if any young people are listening like you have power — you do have power. It takes a bit to organize and to, like, get to know where your supporters are in your community, but they’re there.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Not only should you join an organization, but you should also be, like, reevaluating possibly how your individual circumstances are connected to the larger community around you.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[MUSIC IN: LEAVING THE CITY]\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MARGOT:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> When I think of home, I think about how every time I go to the Bay now, I take the Amtrak. When I get off the Amtrak, the bus transfer is right in front of the biggest Chase Bank building you’ve ever seen. When I sit across the street from that building, I wonder who is allowed in the highest levels of that building?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I know that my view of San Francisco is really different than theirs. And so in those moments, I’m really overcome with, like, bittersweet homesickness. That reminds me of when I was growing up there.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I feel like the Bay Area for me has always been an art gallery, where the paintings are placed really high so only the tallest people are ever able to see them. And then as I’ve gotten older, I’ve been able to identify that the place that I’ve always considered home has always seemed to reject me.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Margot has been dedicating her energy on political education, by organizing teach-ins on Sacramento’s history of housing segregation, how housing policies work, and how to inspire greater local advocacy.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Thank you to everyone who shared their stories with me. That’s Cam Coulter, Ernesto Anguiano, Eva Hopkins, and Sean Ripley, Jenny Johnston, Alex Melendrez, and Margot Rinaldo.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[MUSIC OUT: LEAVING THE CITY]\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And to the many others who shared their housing experiences — thank you.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[THEME MUSIC IN] \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For those of you who haven’t gotten in touch — and still want to — we’re here! Send us an email at \u003ca href=\"mailto:housing@kqed.org\">housing@kqed.org\u003c/a>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We always want to hear your experiences and your biggest, boldest and wildest idea for the future of housing.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That was Sold Out producer Natalia Aldana.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Thank you to everyone who shared a tweet, Instagram post, or called and emailed us.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sold Out is a production of KQED. Natalia Aldana reported and produced this story. Editing by Kyana Moghadam and Jessica Placzek. Additional support came from Erika Kelly, Molly Solomon, and me, Erin Baldassari.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>MOLLY: \u003c/strong>Brendan Willard is our sound engineer. And Rob Speight wrote our theme song. Gerald Fermin is our engagement intern.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We couldn’t have made this season without Ethan Toven-Lindsey, Holly Kernan, Erika Aguilar and Vinnee Tong.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>ERIN: \u003c/strong>Thanks so much for listening. That’s a wrap!\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[THEME MUSIC OUT]\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":null,"status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1727134419,"stats":{"hasAudio":true,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":168,"wordCount":4285},"headData":{"title":"Bonus: Your Stories and Solutions for the Housing Crisis | KQED","description":"What are your biggest ideas on how to solve the housing crisis? How has housing shaped your life? Throughout this season, we wanted to hear from you — the Sold Out audience. We asked you to get in touch, and you came through! From voice memos to emails and social media, dozens of listeners reached out and shared stories of housing insecurity and loss, advocacy work, and visions for an equitable housing future. In this bonus episode, hear from seven people for whom housing is at the center of everything. MOLLY SOLOMON: Hi! I’m Molly Solomon. ERIN BALDASSARI: And","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Bonus: Your Stories and Solutions for the Housing Crisis","datePublished":"2022-04-25T12:35:13-07:00","dateModified":"2024-09-23T16:33:39-07:00","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png","isAccessibleForFree":"True","publisher":{"@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","@id":"https://www.kqed.org/#organization","name":"KQED","url":"https://www.kqed.org","logo":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}}},"source":"SOLD OUT","sourceUrl":"https://www.kqed.org/podcasts/soldout","audioUrl":"https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.megaphone.fm/KQINC9285725518.mp3?updated=1650648347","sticky":false,"excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","path":"/news/11911130/bonus-your-stories-and-solutions-for-the-housing-crisis","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What are your biggest ideas on how to solve the housing crisis? How has housing shaped your life?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Throughout this season, we wanted to hear from you — the Sold Out audience. We asked you to get in touch, and you came through!\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">From voice memos to emails and social media, dozens of listeners reached out and shared stories of housing insecurity and loss, advocacy work, and visions for an equitable housing future.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In this bonus episode, hear from seven people for whom housing is at the center of everything. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch5 id=\"embed-code\" class=\"inconsolata\">\n\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC9285725518&light=true\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/h5>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[TRANSCRIPT]\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>MOLLY SOLOMON: \u003c/strong>Hi! I’m Molly Solomon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>ERIN BALDASSARI: \u003c/strong>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And I’m Erin Baldassari. You’re listening to Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America, and today we’ve got something special for you from producer Natalia Aldana.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Take it away, Natalia.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[SOLD OUT THEME MUSIC BEGINS]\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11841421\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 451px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-11841421\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2020/10/RS16247_GettyImages-150582090-qut-800x530.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"451\" height=\"299\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/10/RS16247_GettyImages-150582090-qut-800x530.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/10/RS16247_GettyImages-150582090-qut-1020x676.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/10/RS16247_GettyImages-150582090-qut-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/10/RS16247_GettyImages-150582090-qut-1536x1018.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/10/RS16247_GettyImages-150582090-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 451px) 100vw, 451px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A red for sale sign outside a home with a “sold pending” sticker posted across the front. \u003ccite>(Justin Sullivan/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA ALDANA:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> When it comes to the housing crisis, every Californian has something to say about it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MARGOT RINALDO: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Man, it’s like — it’s like the air we breathe. It is literally, like, a fact of life if you live in California.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>NATALIA: \u003c/strong>We can all point to how it’s impacted us — affected our families, our neighborhoods, and our livelihoods.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Throughout this season of Sold Out, we’ve been asking for your thoughts and experiences when it comes to housing. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So many of you got in touch. And today, you’ll hear from seven people whose stories might challenge you, empathize with you, and hopefully, inspire you.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[MUSIC – DECK LOFI]\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">First up, we have a listener who wants us to rethink how we live — literally\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">who we share a roof with, and how the \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">way \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">we understand family impacts our housing.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Cam Coulter rents an apartment with his partner in San Jose. And Cam thinks the housing system favors homeowners. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CAM COULTER: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is probably a little hot-take, but I wish I could write off my rent payments as tax-deductible.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Cam recognizes that tax incentives are meant to motivate homeownership. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CAM:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And that might work in other parts of the country. But here I feel like it really just punishes the people who can’t afford to buy a home.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Although rent is not tax-deductible in California — the state does award a $60 renters tax credit for qualifying single filers who earn less than $43,533 a year. Since Cam and I last spoke, \u003ca href=\"https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/californias-renter-tax-credit-has-remained-unchanged-for-43-years-it-could-soon-increase/ar-AAW402s\">a state bill has been proposed that could potentially increase that credit to $500.\u003c/a>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[MUSIC OUT – DECK LOFI OUT]\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">While Cam\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> doesn’t really want to buy a h\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">ome, they do want to build equity.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CAM: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So I see the way that the desire to own a home is sort of constructed by the fact that it’s a great way to build wealth and have long-term stability. But I wish there were other ways to achieve that.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11911686\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 334px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-11911686\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/Cam-Coulter-800x800.jpeg\" alt=\"A person sits on the grass.\" width=\"334\" height=\"334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/Cam-Coulter-800x800.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/Cam-Coulter-1020x1020.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/Cam-Coulter-160x160.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/Cam-Coulter-1536x1536.jpeg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/Cam-Coulter-1920x1920.jpeg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/Cam-Coulter.jpeg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 334px) 100vw, 334px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cam Coulter wants KQED listeners to reimagine who we consider family, and how that might improve the housing crisis. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Cam Coulter)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> As for their other pie in the sky: Cam wants more \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.ic.org/what-is-an-intentional-community-30th-birthday-day-13/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">intentional housing or co-housing communities\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003cb>CAM: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When I stop and dream about what, like, a beautiful, sustainable, healthy future would look like, I see housing that looks more like this.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’ve lived in intentional community before, and I’d like to do that again in the future.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[MUSIC IN – \u003c/b>\u003cb>SUNKISSED]\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Live not just with my own, how to say, like, nuclear family, but with other people, and to share space with them, share grocery budgets, do communal activities.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I would love to live in a co-housing community where my partner and I could have some of our own space but also share common spaces with community. I would love to live in, like, a larger, multi-family home where maybe four to 10 adults, or kids, could comfortably live together without overcrowding.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And this could benefit a lot of multi-generational families who I know are already overcrowded in their small single-family home. I think we have too few of those options.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[MUSIC OUT – \u003c/b>\u003cb>SUNKISSED]\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Cam is nonbinary, and says the connection between queer and trans folks living in found families has probably influenced this perspective.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CAM: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">One thing that makes me frustrated is that so many of the housing units we have are designed for a nuclear family. Or perhaps, you know, you can have maybe grandparents or something, but they’re really designed as like single-family homes or small apartments, or just one or a couple of people. But that’s not really what I want.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">One of the largest barriers to\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">building more co-housing is, no surprise, money. But,\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Cam is cheering on organizations like the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://southbayclt.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">South Bay Community Land Trust\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, which is working on acquiring their \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://southbayclt.org/capital-campaign-reed-st-acquisition/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">first community-owned house in San Jose\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Cam believes co-housing can have additional benefits, like boosting our social health.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CAM: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s like a really big issue these days, is that so many people are isolated. And when I lived in community before, I really loved just constantly having people around. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It did a lot of good for me.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[MUSIC IN – SEARCHING FOR TREASURE]\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Our next listener knows that\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">the housing crisis should be attacked on every single front. So Santa Cruz renter Ernesto Anguiano is setting his sights on a culprit that some might consider a friend.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You see… Ernesto wants to see cities change their zoning laws to allow for more multi-family housing. And he wants to see Bay Area cities built denser. He thinks one way to achieve that is by rethinking parking.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11911347\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 536px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11911347 \" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/ErnestoA-1020x689.jpg\" alt=\"A man stands on a mountainside with a board.\" width=\"536\" height=\"362\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/ErnestoA-1020x689.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/ErnestoA-800x540.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/ErnestoA-160x108.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/ErnestoA-1536x1038.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/ErnestoA.jpg 1818w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 536px) 100vw, 536px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ernesto Anguiano rents in Santa Cruz and wants listeners to consider how their car might impact the housing crisis. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Ernesto Anguiano)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[MUSIC OUT – SEARCHING FOR TREASURE]\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERNESTO: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There’s a lot of things that affect your ability to purchase a home. And the parking one was a unique aspect on it\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When there are parking minimums for housing developments\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, spaces for cars eat up what could be spaces for housing.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERNESTO: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So you’re essentially subsidizing that parking space that you could be building valuable housing in.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As Ernesto sees it, denser cities create more transit options, so reducing a dependency on cars can help the environment, \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">and makes it possible to afford a home. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">All of these changes can help the housing crisis.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERNESTO: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You know, everybody should have the opportunity and the ability to live where they want to live. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And if you want to have, you know, your single-family home, or your single-family neighborhood, you know, I can respect that. But at the same time, you have to give others the opportunity to live in that same neighborhood.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[MUSIC IN: WURLY REGGAETON]\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Ernesto knows folks have a reliance on cars, but he hopes he’s planted the seed for more conversations in the future.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Next, we turn to Eva Hopkins who has a vision for Oakland, her hometown. She has big thoughts on gentrification and ways to address it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>EVA HOPKINS:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> You have to at least have one point something million dollars to get a good house, in a good area, in Oakland. And I essentially got priced out of Oakland.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When we spoke Eva had just sold her condo in Emeryville and was preparing to move into her new home in Hercules. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[MUSIC OUT: WURLY REGGAETON]\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She sees how Oakland has changed. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11830938\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11830938\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/RS41536_009_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3511-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/RS41536_009_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3511-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/RS41536_009_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3511-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/RS41536_009_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3511-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/RS41536_009_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3511-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/RS41536_009_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3511-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Single-family homes near MacArthur BART station in Oakland, on Feb. 21, 2020. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>EVA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">All these developers coming in, and I’m going to say, white developers, coming in and kicking us all out, rebuilding stuff, and making it unaffordable for the people that were there before. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Where you could have been paying $1,000 for rent, now you’re paying $4,000 for rent.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[MUSIC IN: DIZZY]\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Because if you talk about poverty, and stuff like that, you’re pushing us into poverty because we can’t afford this, and people don’t have anywhere to go. So where does that push them? When you push them out, that pushes them on the streets, and there’s poverty right there, right? So it’s basically keeping us from rising on top, and pushing us straight to the bottom.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s really important that when there are major developers coming in and redeveloping places, that they are community-driven. Get those construction companies that are in the community that you’re building in and get those residents working somehow, someway on this project so that they can live in the places that they build.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And it’s not just Oakland\u003c/span>\u003cb> — \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Eva works at a non-profit in San Francisco, and points to the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://sf-hrc.org/sites/default/files/Dream%20Keeper%20Initiative_One%20Pager.pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Dream Keeper Initiative\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> as one tool to address gentrification there.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[MUSIC OUT: DIZZY]\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s a city-wide effort to reinvest $120 million from law enforcement into San Francisco’s Black community. $10 million is allocated for housing and homeownership.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As Eva navigated the buyer and seller’s market these past few months, she said similar programs and initiatives really helped her, and she hopes prospective home buyers will take advantage of resources out there.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>EVA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They are making it possible for people of color, and you know us, to buy homes, so take advantage of it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Taking advantage of programs is just one way to stabilize communities. But while that may not have been enough to help Eva own in Oakland, she said she’s proud to live in a Bay Area city and remain near her mom and brother.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[MUSIC TRANSITION]\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> We’re going to take a quick break. Coming up, one listener points to some legislation they think could make waves in affordability, a landlord who considered leaving the business, and someone who shows us the devastating effects of displacement.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[MIDROLL – ADVERTISEMENT]\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sean Ripley emailed us wanting to talk about a controversial policy in his city. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Opportunity to Purchase Act, or OPA, would give current tenants, as well as qualifying nonprofits, the first shot at buying certain residential properties.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>SEAN RIPLEY: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The hope is that this will create housing that has a permanent affordability to it, like the housing preservation that will happen over time.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Although OPA has been discussed in the city since \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cityofepa.org/sites/default/files/fileattachments/housing/page/20967/2021.10.05_ppt_epa_opportunity_to_purchase_act_final.pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">2018\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, it was first formally considered by the East Palo Alto City Council in \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cityofepa.org/sites/default/files/fileattachments/housing/page/20967/2021.10.05_ppt_epa_opportunity_to_purchase_act_final.pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">October 2021\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> — and the disagreements soon followed, through Facebook forums and city protests.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">According to the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.noepaopa.com/home\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">NO to EPA OPA\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> website, one of the arguments against this ordinance is that it could damage the single-family housing market and property values.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11911350\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 332px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11911350 \" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/Sean-Ripley-Day-of-Love-1020x1530.jpeg\" alt=\"A man smiles at the camera while wearing a bright red jacket, in front of a wall of bright red flowers.\" width=\"332\" height=\"498\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/Sean-Ripley-Day-of-Love-1020x1530.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/Sean-Ripley-Day-of-Love-800x1200.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/Sean-Ripley-Day-of-Love-160x240.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/Sean-Ripley-Day-of-Love-1024x1536.jpeg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/Sean-Ripley-Day-of-Love.jpeg 1365w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 332px) 100vw, 332px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sean Ripley, seen here posing for a local event, wants KQED listeners to know what’s happening in his city of East Palo Alto. \u003ccite>(Jerry Chang, courtesy of Sean Ripley)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>SEAN: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s kind of that part of the conversation, the financial argument on one side, against the kind of, housing and restorative justice aspect on the other side.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sean and his wife own a single-family home in East Palo Alto. As a homeowner, he recognizes that his property value could fall, but in the end, he says he wants to see everyone in his community have an equitable opportunity to grow and thrive.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>SEAN: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I do care about the value of my house. But I would be willing to take a hit to that value if I knew that the neighbors around me would be able to be uplifted.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[MUSIC IN: ALWAYS ON THE UP HIP HOP]\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Because I know that them being uplifted raises everything, including myself. I don’t have to just focus on my property, in my silo, in my small piece of the world — I live in something bigger. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When I spoke to Sean in February, a vote was expected on OPA on March 1st, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2022/03/02/east-palo-alto-tables-considers-diluting-controversial-tenants-rights-ordinance/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">but it’s since been postponed, likely, for up to 10 months.\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This season of Sold Out talked about the loss of small landlords, and how the rise of corporate landlords has led to more evictions. But what makes a small landlord want to stop being a landlord?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jenny Johnston says so much of being a landlord has changed, and recently, she considered leaving the business.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jenny lives in a Berkeley duplex she and her husband purchased in 2003, and they started renting it out to help pay their mortgage.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Back then, she says identifying a tenant was a lot easier. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[MUSIC OUT: ALWAYS ON THE UP HIP HOP]\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JENNY JOHNSTON: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And at that time, we interviewed people and we did a background check, and we checked and saw what they were earning. We kind of basically just said, “Well, I don’t know, did you get a good feeling from those people or not?”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But now, she says the pandemic’s impacts on the economy, plus the eviction moratorium have made it much more challenging to be a landlord.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11809882\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11809882\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2020/04/RS612_foreclosure20120511-800x523.jpg\" alt=\"Two houses, side by side, one with boarded-up windows.\" width=\"800\" height=\"523\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/04/RS612_foreclosure20120511-800x523.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/04/RS612_foreclosure20120511-160x105.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/04/RS612_foreclosure20120511-1020x666.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/04/RS612_foreclosure20120511-1920x1254.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gov. Gavin Newsom’s moratorium on evictions came after advocacy organizations and some state lawmakers made repeated calls to the governor to provide protection to renters when residents were told to shelter in place. \u003ccite>(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JENNY: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The criteria have gotten stricter. I needed to make sure that people had almost like an extra cushion, that they would be able to, you know — and maybe I’m very careful — like, you know, what if somebody was working for a restaurant or a bakery? Well, you know, it could shut down if business wasn’t good, right?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It even made Jenny question whether this was still a sustainable source of income.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JENNY: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If I look back that far and I say, hey, if I had gotten out of this and just put the money into some mutual fund in the stock market or something, I would have actually done better.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[MUSIC IN: PASTIME]\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Today, companies own at least two-thirds of apartment buildings nationwide — a big change from the late 80’s when a majority of landlords were considered “mom and pop” shops.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jenny says she knows of other property owners who have stopped renting because the process has become too difficult to manage.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JENNY:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I mean, I understand that during the pandemic the government didn’t want people to be kicked out of their housing because of the lack of rent, but I’ve heard of several cases of other friends of mine who have units who just stopped renting them because they didn’t want to rent out without knowing that they had some control over what was happening on their property.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jenny says regulations like eviction protections and rent payment postponement, have made renting more labor-intensive, and financially riskier for her.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[MUSIC OUT: PASTIME]\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She believes a way out of the crisis is to build more housing, rather than placing more restrictions on the limited housing available.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JENNY:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> If you take a number of places that already exist and start to make a lot of rules about how people can offer those, it doesn’t make more places for people to live, it actually makes it harder.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I don’t hear that point of view very often. And I know that, you know, different people see this in different ways and that, you know, some protections are important, but just trying to make people offer their units in a certain way is not going to create new units or places for people to live.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jenny continues to rent out her place in Berkeley, and says seeing more houses built in her East Bay community gives her hope.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[MUSIC IN: Lo Fi Fun Rap]\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Next, we’ll hear from two organizers — the experiences that brought them to this work, and the issues they’re determined to solve.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ALEX MELENDREZ: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Housing is a human right.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Alex Melendrez lives with his parents in San Bruno, where he pays rent.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And he has a guiding principle for his work.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003cb>ALEX: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Everyone deserves a stable home.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[MUSIC OUT: Lo Fi Fun Rap]\u003c/b>\u003cb>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As the son of Mexican and Afghan immigrants, Alex is concerned with how the housing crisis has led to overcrowding in immigrant and refugee communities.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ALEX: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Many of them will tell you finding permanently affordable housing is the biggest challenge to stabilizing community members who already face large barriers and cultural changes that make adjusting difficult.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s not a recipe for success if you do not have a stable home.\u003c/span>\u003cb>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11911688\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 372px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-11911688\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/Alex-Melendrez-800x1000.jpg\" alt=\"A young man stands in the snow.\" width=\"372\" height=\"465\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/Alex-Melendrez-800x1000.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/Alex-Melendrez-1020x1275.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/Alex-Melendrez-160x200.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/Alex-Melendrez-1229x1536.jpg 1229w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/Alex-Melendrez.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 372px) 100vw, 372px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alex Melendrez wrote to KQED wanting to talk about the effects the housing crisis has had on refugee communities. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Alex Melendrez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Despite all the challenges surrounding the housing crisis, Alex remains hopeful.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[MUSIC IN: PEACEFUL WONDER]\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ALEX: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As cheesy as it sounds, never underestimate your power to be part of the solution. Sending an email, making public comments, participating in an upcoming housing discussion.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I like to say any good organizer who loves policies or the debates around these conversations knows that policy isn’t what organizes people — it’s stories and impact.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">: With that, we turn to our final conversation with someone who has experienced eviction very young — Margot Rinaldo.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Knowing its effects firsthand has been a huge motivation in Margot’s work today, and it gives her a unique perspective on politics.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Her story starts in San Jose — the place where she last felt stability during her childhood.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MARGOT RINALDO: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It was a two-story house. It was like a white building with, like, blue roofs.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I lived in that house until I was 11. What I really remember about that home was like, it was ours, like, it was ours.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">All of that started changing around 2007, which is when my dad started receiving lots of calls from the bank.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[MUSIC OUT: PEACEFUL WONDER]\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And then finally, in like 2008, I remember one day my dad telling us, we’re going to lose the house.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This was during the Great Recession. Without an immediate place to go, her dad put their belongings in a storage unit.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cb>MARGOT:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And I remember, like, just staring at a pile of my toys and thinking to myself, like, I’m not going to be able to take all of these with me.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As a child, Margot says she didn’t understand the foreclosure crisis, or why the things that comforted her were now going away.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She has a strong memory of sitting in her dad’s car.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MARGOT: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And like looking up at the sky and being like, I hope to God he finds a house soon. Like, that we can be a family again.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Margot moved around a lot over the next few years — 4 different cities, 3 different high schools, and many different homes.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She told me about the place they moved into after losing her childhood home.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MARGOT:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The only house we could get was not equipped for people to be living in.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I just remember like constantly, like, scratching at my ankles, and like these open sores would be on my ankles for, like, days because of all the flea bites. And we also didn’t have any furniture in that house.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Margot says housing instability dominoed into every part of her life.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MARGOT: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s largely like a lack of security, a lack of the ability to feel calm, a lack of the ability to relax or, you know, feel confident in your future.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That lack of security affected\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Margot’s grades and social life. She remembers getting a D in Spanish class, despite being a native speaker.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MARGOT: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I remember sitting at the Caltrain and, like, thinking, like, there’s no future for me to go to college or anything like that.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But Margot remained determined to continue her education.\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In her senior year of high school, she worked 40 hours a week to save enough money for the first few months of rent in the college dorms.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MARGOT: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Then for my 18th birthday present, my dad bought me a chance to take the S.A.T. and so that was my — I remember that was my 18th birthday present.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Margot’s experiences with the housing crisis set her on her life path.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11911349\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 342px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11911349 \" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/IMG_5823-1020x1360.jpeg\" alt=\"A young woman with red glasses takes a selfie while in a room decorated with books.\" width=\"342\" height=\"456\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/IMG_5823-1020x1360.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/IMG_5823-800x1067.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/IMG_5823-160x213.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/IMG_5823-1152x1536.jpeg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/IMG_5823-1536x2048.jpeg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/IMG_5823-scaled.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 342px) 100vw, 342px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Margot Rinaldo wrote to KQED wanting to share how her childhood shaped her views on housing issues. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Margot Rinaldo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[MUSIC IN: NEW INQUIRY]\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She graduated from Sacramento State in December 2021 with a degree in political science. She now lives in Sacramento and is a community organizer.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She’s \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">also\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> a regular at City Council meetings.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MARGOT: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you’re a homeowner, you’re listened to when you call into the City Council meetings and you tell them you don’t like the look of unhoused people living near your neighborhood. They’ll go and sweep those people because you’re a homeowner, like, you matter.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What’s clear to me is, like, certain people’s housing is a priority.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[MUSIC OUT: NEW INQUIRY]\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What Margot has learned throughout her childhood, her studies and her involvement in the community is that housing instability and displacement is not a failure of individuals.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MARGOT: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s a collective failure of our society. Especially for folks who have gone through so much housing insecurity like it’s really important to like, reclaim your sense of self.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As for solutions, Margot has a lot of ideas on how we can begin to chip away at the housing crisis, starting with more action from government leaders.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MARGOT: \u003c/b>You know, o\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">ur local representatives need to start advocating at the state level. If they are being burdened by state policies that are not allowing them to move quickly enough for renters or for unhoused people, like, they need to start advocating at the state level. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And she’s got some advice on how to get started.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MARGOT: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I hope if any young people are listening like you have power — you do have power. It takes a bit to organize and to, like, get to know where your supporters are in your community, but they’re there.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Not only should you join an organization, but you should also be, like, reevaluating possibly how your individual circumstances are connected to the larger community around you.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[MUSIC IN: LEAVING THE CITY]\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MARGOT:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> When I think of home, I think about how every time I go to the Bay now, I take the Amtrak. When I get off the Amtrak, the bus transfer is right in front of the biggest Chase Bank building you’ve ever seen. When I sit across the street from that building, I wonder who is allowed in the highest levels of that building?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I know that my view of San Francisco is really different than theirs. And so in those moments, I’m really overcome with, like, bittersweet homesickness. That reminds me of when I was growing up there.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I feel like the Bay Area for me has always been an art gallery, where the paintings are placed really high so only the tallest people are ever able to see them. And then as I’ve gotten older, I’ve been able to identify that the place that I’ve always considered home has always seemed to reject me.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIA: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Margot has been dedicating her energy on political education, by organizing teach-ins on Sacramento’s history of housing segregation, how housing policies work, and how to inspire greater local advocacy.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Thank you to everyone who shared their stories with me. That’s Cam Coulter, Ernesto Anguiano, Eva Hopkins, and Sean Ripley, Jenny Johnston, Alex Melendrez, and Margot Rinaldo.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[MUSIC OUT: LEAVING THE CITY]\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And to the many others who shared their housing experiences — thank you.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[THEME MUSIC IN] \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For those of you who haven’t gotten in touch — and still want to — we’re here! Send us an email at \u003ca href=\"mailto:housing@kqed.org\">housing@kqed.org\u003c/a>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We always want to hear your experiences and your biggest, boldest and wildest idea for the future of housing.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That was Sold Out producer Natalia Aldana.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Thank you to everyone who shared a tweet, Instagram post, or called and emailed us.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sold Out is a production of KQED. Natalia Aldana reported and produced this story. Editing by Kyana Moghadam and Jessica Placzek. Additional support came from Erika Kelly, Molly Solomon, and me, Erin Baldassari.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>MOLLY: \u003c/strong>Brendan Willard is our sound engineer. And Rob Speight wrote our theme song. Gerald Fermin is our engagement intern.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We couldn’t have made this season without Ethan Toven-Lindsey, Holly Kernan, Erika Aguilar and Vinnee Tong.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>ERIN: \u003c/strong>Thanks so much for listening. That’s a wrap!\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[THEME MUSIC OUT]\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/news/11911130/bonus-your-stories-and-solutions-for-the-housing-crisis","authors":["11793","11637"],"programs":["news_33522"],"categories":["news_18540","news_6266","news_8","news_33520"],"tags":["news_3921","news_129","news_18538","news_22960","news_4612","news_20013","news_19542","news_27626","news_4020","news_1775","news_21358","news_28082","news_28426","news_20967","news_95","news_38","news_18541","news_28541","news_28527","news_21285","news_423"],"featImg":"news_11837953","label":"source_news_11911130"},"news_11907727":{"type":"posts","id":"news_11907727","meta":{"index":"posts_1716263798","site":"news","id":"11907727","score":null,"sort":[1647273249000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"reknitting-the-safety-net-help-pay-the-rent","title":"Reknitting the Safety Net: Help Pay the Rent","publishDate":1647273249,"format":"audio","headTitle":"Reknitting the Safety Net: Help Pay the Rent | KQED","labelTerm":{},"content":"\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Falling behind on rent is the primary reason that people are evicted. So how do you keep people from falling behind in the first place? Help them pay their rent. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In this final episode of the season, we’ll look at the promise, the problems and the history of Section 8, as well as the push for guaranteed income.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch5 id=\"embed-code\" class=\"inconsolata\">\n\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC1525875908&light=true\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/h5>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>THE RENT EATS FIRST [TRANSCRIPT]\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN BALDASSARI, HOST\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Kemanie and his wife were like a lot of young couples just starting out. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It was the early 2000s. He had recently started his career as a carpenter. She was a teacher. They were both in their mid-20s.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But even with two incomes, they could barely make ends meet. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEMANIE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We were living in a, like, a small, tiny little one-bedroom apartment with roaches, like basically a little small ghetto.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Then their son was born. His wife stopped working to take care of him. And their budget got even tighter. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEMANIE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And things was hard, but we started falling behind on rent.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">How far behind were you on rent at that time?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEMANIE\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I was $4,000 behind on rent at the time.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY SOLOMON, HOST\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> They were living where they both grew up in Marin County, just across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEMANIE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">At that point in time there was no way for us to survive in Marin County.\u003c/span>\u003cb> \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It didn’t help that it’s one of the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.california.com/the-most-expensive-counties-in-the-us/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">wealthiest counties in the country\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Or that their landlord was planning on selling the apartment they were renting.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They couldn’t figure out how they were going to pay the back rent and still have money for a deposit to move somewhere new.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEMANIE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We would have been homeless\u003c/span>. You know, it would have been really bad.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> They thought about moving in with one of their parents or leaving Marin County altogether. Then, they got some good news. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEMANIE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So we got it, we were out doing something — running an errand — and on the way back, my wife got the email.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Music in)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> They got what some have called a “golden ticket” — a Section 8 housing voucher.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Section 8 is a federal program that helps low-income people afford rent on the private market.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Kemanie and his wife had put in their application nearly \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">a decade\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> ago. And they’d been stuck on a waiting list that never seemed to budge. When they finally got the news, it was like winning the lottery. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEMANIE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We both looked at each other. And was, like, yes. I mean, it was like perfect timing.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It was a huge opportunity for them. With Section 8, they would only have to pay 30% of their income towards rent. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>KEMANIE\u003c/strong>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It was an epiphany for us because it was like, life can go on now, like we — there’s a path forward. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> They wouldn’t fall behind on bills. And they’d have a chance to catch up. They’d have some room to breathe. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">: So, they started looking for a new place to live. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Music out)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEMANIE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And we searched and searched and searched, and went and visited and talked to people, and knowing that we had the housing voucher, we thought it was going to be easier because it was a guarantee. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">: A guarantee because most of the rent money comes from the federal government. It’s usually deposited straight into the landlord’s bank account.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEMANIE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And we found out that it was more of a hindrance than anything. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Sold Out theme song begins.)\u003c/span>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: It’s what most Section 8 tenants discover — the voucher is not only hard to get, it’s hard to use.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> These problems aren’t new. And neither is Section 8. But over the past half century, it’s become the No. 1 way we subsidize rent in this country.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As rents climb higher, advocates say we need to fix the problems with Section 8 and expand it. To make it work for more people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m Molly Solomon.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And I’m Erin Baldassari. From KQED, this is Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, the final chapter in our series on evictions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How to keep people from getting evicted? Help pay the rent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Sold Out theme song ends.)\u003c/span>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11908148\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11908148\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/RS54286_009_KQED_Kemanie_03112022-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/RS54286_009_KQED_Kemanie_03112022-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/RS54286_009_KQED_Kemanie_03112022-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/RS54286_009_KQED_Kemanie_03112022-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/RS54286_009_KQED_Kemanie_03112022-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/RS54286_009_KQED_Kemanie_03112022-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kemanie holds the keys to his Novato home. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cdiv class=\"mceTemp\">\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Kemanie and his wife have had a housing voucher for nearly two decades now. And anytime they’ve had to move, it’s always the same thing. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They apply to dozens of places, visit a ton of apartments and get the same answers.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEMANIE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And every single time it was like, no, nope, no, no.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It didn’t seem to matter that they had good references from past landlords, even letters from neighbors. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEMANIE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As soon as Section 8 comes up, you see like a glaze go over their eyes like, OK, I got to deal with this conversation and move on to the next person.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Music in)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Some landlords told them point-blank they wouldn’t accept Section 8, even though that’s illegal in California and a handful of other states. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Those laws are hard to enforce, though. And landlords find all sorts of ways of getting around them — like requiring a credit score of 700 or above.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEMANIE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You know, it was kind of, smile in our face, “Oh, yeah, but your credit score is low.” But the bottom line is most people are on Section 8 because they’re having issues financially and their credit is not very good.\u003c/span>\u003cb> \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Or, landlords would ask them to have an income that’s at least three times the rent.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEMANIE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s like, if I make three times the monthly amount, I’m buying my own place. P\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">eriod, that’s it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Other times there was an online application, but no box to check to say they had Section 8. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEMANIE\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Right? And you don’t even get to talk to anybody or even see anybody or state your case. And it doesn’t say you have Section 8 on the app, so you can’t fill that out. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Usually, though, they just never heard back. There was no explanation at all.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Music out)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> So, Kemanie and his wife tried harder. They wrote cover letters. And organized all their references and documentation into nice, neat little folders.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEMANIE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We would put a little picture, a nice little cute picture of our Black family for people to accept and like and maybe, you know, feel sorry for us.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It was frustrating and stressful. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">To Kemanie, it felt racist.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEMANIE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And it really felt like redlining. Is, that’s how I felt about it, because they’re just like, no, you know.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Racial discrimination can be hard to prove, but a recent audit found it’s a pervasive problem.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Fair Housing Advocates of Northern California conducted paired tests of white and Black renters. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And found that \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.scribd.com/document/398920895/raceaudit2016-17?secret_password=A5Sg4qdij47q2erNlj3X#fullscreen&from_embed\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">nearly 70% of the time\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, landlords in the county where Kemanie lives refused to rent to Black tenants, or used more subtle behaviors, like leaving someone on hold for hours, never calling back or steering Black applicants away from certain neighborhoods. \u003ca href=\"https://www.scribd.com/document/504967414/no-and-soi-audit-2019-20-report?secret_password=wY0jrrhNpcBCBhEVm0zi#download&from_embed\">More than half the time\u003c/a>, landlords did the same for voucher holders.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> To Kemanie, this was not news. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">He and his wife had lived their whole lives in Marin County — a community where more than 70% of the residents are white, and where the average household makes over $115,000 a year. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Music in)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEMANIE\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It’s hard to explain it to other people. We’re Black in America. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Every day, especially also for me, being a Black man and being very intimidating to a lot of people. Every single day, when I meet somebody, I got to put a smile on my face to like, look, I’m not threatening.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Holding a Section 8 voucher in his hands worsens the daily strain of trying to find acceptance. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEMANIE\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And it felt like that times 10, because this time we’re looking for everyone’s approval and it’s — we’re trying to dress us up as the best we can to get accepted by people that we know maybe aren’t racist, but just aren’t as inclined to want us to be there. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That was very, very, very hard. And that was, I think, probably the most defeating part of the whole thing for us.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Music out)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>MOLLY\u003c/strong>: This discrimination is why we aren’t using Kemanie’s full name. Or his wife’s name.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The experience of looking for a place to live has been so traumatic, they’re afraid to do anything that might hurt their chances of finding a home the next time they have to start looking. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Their struggles with Section 8 highlight two of the program’s biggest failures.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Only \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/94146/trends-in-housing-problems-and-federal-housing-assistance.pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">1 in 5\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> who qualify for rental assistance actually receives it. Meaning most people are stuck on waitlists for years — \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cbpp.org/research/housing/long-waitlists-for-housing-vouchers-show-pressing-unmet-need-for-assistance\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">even decades\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And when people do get off those waitlists, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.huduser.gov/portal/publications/pdf/sec8success_1.pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">roughly a third\u003c/span>\u003c/a> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">lose \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">their vouchers because they can’t find any landlord willing to take them. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> That’s partly because there’s an unfair stigma around Section 8, even if it isn’t backed up by evidence. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/eva_rosen?lang=en\">Eva Rosen\u003c/a> is an assistant professor at Georgetown University, and she \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691172569/the-voucher-promise\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">wrote a book on Section 8\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>EVA ROSEN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Landlords sometimes don’t want to rent to big families. They often worry that voucher-holders might be more likely to do damage to the home \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">or that they might be noisier tenants. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And again, none of this is really backed up by any kind of data, but the stigma itself is very real.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This unfair stigma is made worse when you add in racism — the kind that Kemanie and his family felt. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Nationally, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/assthsg.html#2009-2021_query\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">about two-thirds of voucher holders\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> are people of color.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>EVA\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> In my research with landlords, they say things like, well, I couldn’t rent to a Black person in this neighborhood because all of my other tenants are white and they would not like that.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I think racism is a big part of the reticence that we see from landlords.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Despite all these barriers, Kemanie and his family \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">were \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">able to find a place to live. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They’ve been at their current home for three and a half years now. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And in the world of Section 8, it’s kind of a unicorn. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s a single-family home on a quiet cul-de-sac in Novato, a wealthy suburb north of San Francisco. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEMANIE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is literally everything we could ask for. This is — we’re so incredibly happy here right now in the place that we have. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">: It’s got three bedrooms, a two-car garage, and a big, tree-lined backyard.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There are parks nearby and great schools for their kids. And, they feel safe here. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEMANIE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Safety at school, safety coming home from school, you know, safety on the weekends, playing with their friends, you know, all of that.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Only \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cbpp.org/research/housing/where-families-with-children-use-housing-vouchers\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">14% of voucher holders\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> live in affluent neighborhoods like this. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Kemanie and his wife know just how rare it is. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEMANIE\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It’s like we’re living in a dream that we know are about to wake up from. We know at some point someone’s going to shake us and be like, “Hey, wake up.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> That wake-up call could come in just a few months.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Their landlord told them they’re thinking about selling. And their current lease lasts only until September. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">After that, there are no guarantees.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEMANIE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s all up in the air. Everything’s very unsettled for us. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Music in)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> When that time comes, they’ll have to find another landlord willing to take them. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They know from experience it won’t be easy. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">To make the system better for tenants, we need to get more landlords on board. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We’ll tell you how, coming up.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11908149\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11908149\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/RS54283_006_KQED_Kemanie_03112022-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/RS54283_006_KQED_Kemanie_03112022-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/RS54283_006_KQED_Kemanie_03112022-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/RS54283_006_KQED_Kemanie_03112022-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/RS54283_006_KQED_Kemanie_03112022-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/RS54283_006_KQED_Kemanie_03112022-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A ‘Welcome’ sign hangs by the door to the home Kemanie shares with his family in Novato. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Music out)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>ERIN\u003c/strong>: When the Pruitt-Igoe public housing development in St. Louis, Missouri, opened in 1954, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_zFIg8N9Rw\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">it was celebrated\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> as a marvel of modern architecture: 33 towers, each 11 stories tall. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_zFIg8N9Rw\">\u003cb>\u003cem>COMMERCIAL FOR PRUITT-IGOE HOUSING DEVELOPMENT\u003c/em>\u003c/b>\u003c/a>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> With indoor plumbing, electric lights, fresh-plastered walls and the rest of the conveniences that are expected in the 20th century. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music in)\u003c/span>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> But just a decade later, it was falling apart and had become a symbol of government mismanagement and neglect, drawing national attention for its horrible living conditions. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Take \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-cfjqh1sSY&t=23s\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">this newscast\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, from 1968: \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-cfjqh1sSY&t=23s\">\u003cb>\u003cem>KMOX NEWS REPORT\u003c/em>\u003c/b>\u003c/a>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When the temperatures dropped below freezing this week, water lines in several of the Pruitt-Igoe apartment buildings broke and the subsequent flow of water turned into ice. At 2311 Dixon, a sewer line is broken, and now raw sewage bubbles out of the ground like a malevolent spring. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>ERIN\u003c/strong>: On \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.greyscape.com/modernism-was-framed-the-truth-about-pruitt-igoe/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">March 16, 1972\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, the first of its 33 towers was demolished. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Sounds: A building is being demolished; Pruitt-Igoe implodes.)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=738WpY2_JV8\">\u003cb>PRUITT-IGOE IMPLOSION\u003c/b>\u003c/a>\u003c/em>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Not only St. Louis, but the rest of the nation is viewing with great interest the results of this experiment.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music out)\u003c/span>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> President Richard Nixon saw the growing frustration with public housing failures like Pruitt-Igoe. And so he took a turn towards the private market instead. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Two years after that demolition, Nixon introduced Section 8. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Again, here’s Georgetown University professor Eva Rosen.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>EVA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You’re not having to build public housing, you’re not having to maintain or renovate a public housing stock. And so it is this sort of very, in theory, economically efficient tool.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Under Nixon, Section 8 was just a pilot program.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But by the 1990s, the stage was set for it to grow. Public housing had gotten a real bad rap, and that’s when President Bill Clinton really ramped up Section 8.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Today I had the honor of signing the budget for programs to help the homeless to give housing vouchers to empower the poor.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Music in)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> His administration changed the name from Section 8 to \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/public_indian_housing/phr/about\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Housing Choice Vouchers\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>EVA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And actually in the title, you can very much notice this emphasis on choice.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: Eva says that reflects one of the goals for the program. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The hope was that people could use their vouchers to move to more affluent neighborhoods. Neighborhoods with more resources, better schools and more jobs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>ERIN\u003c/strong>: Public housing had become extremely segregated. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">By 1989, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.huduser.gov/portal//Publications/pdf/HUD-5961.pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">nearly 70% of the households \u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">of the residents were people of color. Mostly women-led, Black and Latinx households.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And most of the housing developments were also in segregated and impoverished neighborhoods. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>EVA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And that was causing all kinds of problems. And it was leaving public housing residents with very little choice about where they ended up.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">: \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But Eva says the program hasn’t lived up to its promise of giving voucher holders a real choice of where to live. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And a lot of that comes down to landlords: when \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">they \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">choose to participate, and why.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Music out)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>EVA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When we introduced these private landlords into this system, we sort of just assumed that they would play along, that they would want to participate. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And that tends not always to be the case.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">some \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">landlords, Section 8 works really well.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Eugene Zinchik and his brother own a real estate and property management company in San Francisco. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And he’s been renting to voucher holders for about six or seven years now.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>EUGENE\u003c/b> \u003cstrong>ZINCHIK\u003c/strong>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There’s more stability in knowing that your rent checks are going to be coming, you know, whatever it is that happens. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">During the pandemic, most of Eugene’s Section 8 tenants stayed put, and their rent checks kept flowing in. But a lot of his tenants who didn’t have vouchers — they left.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Even without the coronavirus, Eugene says voucher holders just stick around longer. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>EUGENE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There’s less turnover for a landlord. If there’s less turnover, there’s no rent that they’re losing.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">: But Eugene says the\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> real \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">benefit\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to landlords \u003ca href=\"https://www.huduser.gov/portal/sites/default/files/pdf/Urban-Landlords-HCV-Program.pdf\">depends a lot on where the property is\u003c/a>.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Music in)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">He points to a new building he’s managing in San Francisco’s Bayview neighborhood. Even though he hasn’t found a tenant yet, Eugene already knows it’ll be someone on Section 8. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>EUGENE\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Part of San Francisco is extremely, extremely expensive. Bayview is still semi-affordable for maybe, still, for a blue-collar family. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: He says r\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">ents here are about $1,000 lower than in other parts of the city. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But landlords can actually \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/mdesmond/files/desmondperkins.cc_.2016.pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">charge a Section 8 \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">more\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> than they would with someone without a voucher.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s because when the government decides how much it’s willing to pay for each voucher, it doesn’t vary the amounts by neighborhood. It sets one standard for the whole city.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So it’s a pretty good deal for landlords in places like Bayview.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>EUGENE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So in Bayview, in my experience, the amounts that Section 8 pays are pretty much competitive.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Music out)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But landlords in high-rent places could actually \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">lose \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">money. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>EUGENE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In at least half the neighborhoods in San Francisco, Section 8 what they pay per unit is just not compatible with the market rent.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>ERIN\u003c/strong>: Eva says those incentives have created an unintended consequence: Most Section 8 tenants are trapped in low-income neighborhoods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>EVA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And this is where you start to understand how the program, which was designed and very much hoped to provide tenants choice, actually creates sort of an opposite scenario where they’re being pushed away from the kind of neighborhoods that they might want to end up in and forced into neighborhoods that they don’t necessarily want to be in.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Eugene says even when landlords \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">want \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">to rent to a voucher holder, it’s not that easy. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You have to jump through a lot of hoops. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What kind of hoops? Well, let’s take a look.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Music in)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">First, there are the forms. For both tenants and landlords. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>EUGENE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You know, forms could be scary if you’ve never seen this form before.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">: Let’s say you do fill them out correctly. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>EUGENE\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> For about two weeks, you probably hear nothing.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Then, hopefully, you get a call for an inspection. The housing authority needs to make sure these buildings are up to code. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For that, you’ll need to take the day off work. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>EUGENE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A lot of times you get a four-hour window for the inspector to come in.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And if you have any questions, don’t try to get anyone on the phone. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>EUGENE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Just talking to somebody, you’d be waiting on hold for an hour.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Eugene says it’s like dealing with the DMV.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Music out)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>EUGENE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You know, we’ve all been there, but you know, we don’t really want to do that unless we have to.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development held \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.hud.gov/sites/dfiles/PIH/documents/ListeningForumsPublicSummary012320.pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">listening sessions\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> with property owners across the country back in 2018. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Most of the sessions were taken up by complaints. Eighty-two\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> percent said they had bad experiences dealing with their local housing authority. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">One of their biggest issues: how long it takes to sign up a new tenant. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The whole process can take a month or two — time spent without collecting rent. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>EUGENE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For a landlord to just sit and wait for that tenant is not, is not reasonable, especially if it’s an individual like a mom-and-pop type of shop.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So how do we improve Section 8? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For tenants to have more choice — you know, the original goal of the program — you need more landlords with properties in more neighborhoods. Here’s Eva Rosen: \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>EVA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When we think about landlord participation, I think we need to think about carrots and sticks.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That means tougher laws to prevent landlords from discriminating against Section 8 tenants. And better enforcement. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>EVA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s sort of like a stick, right? It’s a slap on the wrist. It’s a no, you’re not allowed to do this.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And, then there’s the carrot: more voucher money for properties in wealthier neighborhoods. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s something the federal government is already trying. They’re basing the rent on the ZIP code, instead of one standard for the whole city.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>EVA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Because there’s no way a landlord is going to participate in the program if they’re getting less rent than they would get from a market tenant, right?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">An early test of the program \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.huduser.gov/portal/sites/default/files/pdf/SAFMR-Interim-Report.pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">showed it worked\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. More landlords in affluent areas opened their doors to Section 8.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But in a few cities, there was a downside, too. Some landlords in low-income neighborhoods stopped renting to voucher holders. That led to a drop in the number of homes available there. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Still, the results were still promising enough that they’ve expanded it to \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cbpp.org/research/housing/a-guide-to-small-area-fair-market-rents-safmrs\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">two dozen cities\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> across the country.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11908157\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11908157\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/IMG_9801-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/IMG_9801-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/IMG_9801-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/IMG_9801-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/IMG_9801-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/IMG_9801-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/IMG_9801-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Eugene Zinchik poses inside a property he manages in San Francisco’s Bayview neighborhood. \u003ccite>(Erin Baldassari/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Music in)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Another way to recruit more landlords? Cut the red tape. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>EUGENE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Give those individuals that have the voucher more say of what they’re able to do. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Give the power to that individual to sign on their own behalf to take the place or not take the place.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">After all, Section 8 was supposed to be about choice. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So, Eugene says, let people make their own. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Coming up: A different solution that \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">is \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">all about choice. And cold, hard cash. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Music out)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> When the coronavirus hit — and the economy shut down — one thing was clear: People needed cash. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And the federal government stepped in. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzMNV2qH2IA\">\u003cb>WCNC\u003c/b>\u003c/a>\u003c/em>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Stimulus checks are rolling in for millions of Americans today. About 80 million people are expected to receive their payments today.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhyfKmBfRi8\">\u003cem>\u003cb>NBC\u003c/b>\u003c/em>\u003c/a>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Well, these direct payments are what everyone is talking about because 90% of American households should be getting some money. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Before the pandemic, the idea of giving out free money in this country was kind of a hard sell. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/nataliefoster?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor\">Natalie Foster\u003c/a> is the president and co-founder of the Economic Security Project. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIE FOSTER\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Then the pandemic hit and it became clear that cash was the currency of urgency.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And it wasn’t just stimulus checks. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Pandemic unemployment insurance was important for supporting people in the midst of job loss, expanding tax credits like the earned income tax credit and the child tax credit. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">These were all things that the government did.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For a lot of families, that extra money was a lifeline. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Despite a recession and a global pandemic, poverty in this country actually \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">decreased\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We saw a decrease in poverty, and that is because the government realized that poverty is a policy choice and we could make different choices. And so the politics of the moment allowed for us to make a different choice.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We also made a choice to keep more people housed, with eviction moratoriums and rent relief. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For progressives and others, those pandemic-era programs were a golden opportunity t\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">o tackle poverty and housing insecurity on a grand scale. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And test an idea that’s been gaining steam over the past couple years. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cb>NEWS CLIPS\u003c/b>\u003c/em>: It’s an idea known as guaranteed basic income.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A monthly, no-strings-attached cash payment given directly to individuals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A guaranteed income. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Music in)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">: Basically, if you want to solve poverty, give people money. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Here’s how it would work: The money would come from the federal government, ideally in the form of a regular, monthly payment.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The amount wouldn’t make you rich, but it could help pay for your housing, your food or whatever else you need. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: F\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">or all the excitement around guaranteed income today, it’s not actually a new idea. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Thomas Paine argued for it way back in the 18th century. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And over the years, its supporters have come from all over the political spectrum.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">From the Black Panthers, to President Richard Nixon. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cb>RECORDING OF PRESIDENT RICHARD NIXON DISCUSSING GUARANTEED INCOME\u003c/b>\u003c/em>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What I am proposing is that the federal government build a foundation under the income of every American family with dependent children that cannot care for itself.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">From libertarian economist Milton Friedman to civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It seems to me that the civil rights movement must now begin to organize for the guaranteed annual income, begin to organize people all over our country and mobilize forces, so that we can bring to the attention of our nation, this need and this something which I believe will go a long, long way toward dealing with the Negros’ economic problem and the economic problem with many other poor people confronting our nation.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Music out)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Alaska’s been doing this \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://pfd.alaska.gov/Division-Info/historical-timeline\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">since the 1980s\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, paying out oil dividends to all its residents — on average, about $1,600 a year. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But more recently, about 90 guaranteed-income experiments have popped up across the country. Most were inspired by one city: Stockton, California.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MICHAEL TUBBS\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Hello, my name is \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MichaelDTubbs?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor\">Michael Tubbs\u003c/a>. I am the former mayor of the city of Stockton, California. I’m the founder of \u003ca href=\"https://www.mayorsforagi.org/\">Mayors for a Guaranteed Income\u003c/a> and of \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/california-divide/2022/02/former-stockton-mayor-launches-nonprofit-to-end-poverty-in-california/\">End Poverty in California.\u003c/a>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Michael led Stockton’s guaranteed-income program back in 2019. He says a lot of the issues that came across his desk all came back to the same thing.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MICHAEL\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Issues of poverty and lack and pervasive poverty and generational poverty.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Stockton was the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/business/2008/jul/28/subprimecrisis.useconomy\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">foreclosure capital\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> of the country during the Great Recession. It \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.reuters.com/article/us-stockton-bankruptcy/stockton-california-files-for-bankruptcy-idUSBRE85S05120120629\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">declared bankruptcy\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> in 2012. And today, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.stocktondemonstration.org/about-seed\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">about a quarter\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> of its population lives below the poverty line. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Michael wanted to bring a guaranteed income to Stockton because the old way of addressing poverty wasn’t working. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The programs we have now — like welfare or food stamps or housing vouchers — they have a lot of rules and regulations. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11882364\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11882364\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/RS46086_GettyImages-1208192668-qut-800x533.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/RS46086_GettyImages-1208192668-qut-800x533.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/RS46086_GettyImages-1208192668-qut-1020x680.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/RS46086_GettyImages-1208192668-qut-160x107.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/RS46086_GettyImages-1208192668-qut-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/RS46086_GettyImages-1208192668-qut.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Michael Tubbs, former mayor of Stockton, is seen at his office in Stockton on Feb. 7, 2020. As mayor, with the help of the Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration, he implemented an 18-month trial of universal basic income for 125 residents of his city. The concept has recently been gaining ground. \u003ccite>(Nick Otto/AFP via Getty Images))\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MICHAEL\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When you’re on welfare, you have to spend so much time being with case managers, filling out forms, doing this, doing that, which robs you of the ability to do all the other things you need to do. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Guaranteed-income programs don’t require all that micromanagement, which frees up people’s time. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And, they have another benefit: You can spend the money however you need. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Music in)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MICHAEL\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Whether it’s on new tires, a transmission, a new washer and dryer, school clothes, a wedding, going to visit your parents you haven’t seen in a while.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> When people in Stockton were given the choice of how to use the $500 they got each month, they tended to spend it on food and other essentials.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Some also used it to help pay for housing. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MICHAEL\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They were able to sort of save up for a down payment to move to safer living conditions. Or some people use it to cope with sort of small rises in rent that occur: $50 here or $100 here, $125 here. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Researchers in Stockton didn’t look specifically at the impact of a guaranteed income on evictions. But the small stipend could help. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/12/upshot/eviction-prevention-solutions-government.html\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Most people get evicted for $600 or less\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, according to a New York Times analysis. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Just knowing you have enough money to get to the end of the month also goes a long way for your mental health.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MICHAEL\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Folks who received the guaranteed income went from elevated levels of stress to regular levels of stress. And that just was like, wow, like money really sort of affects health and mental health and well-being and how we show up in the world. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Music out)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> But probably one of the biggest findings from Stockton: \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It challenged a widely held criticism of guaranteed income, that it would cause people to stop working. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The money actually had the opposite effect. \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.stocktondemonstration.org/employment\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">People worked \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">more.\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">About \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.stocktondemonstration.org/employment\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">12% went from part-time to full-time work\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. That’s more than double the control group. And participants were less likely to be unemployed. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MICHAEL\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And I wasn’t surprised, but I’m glad the data validated this belief that that $500 was not going to make anyone stop working, that people still worked.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Michael says that’s because it wasn’t enough to live on. But it gave people some breathing room. It allowed them to quit one of their part-time jobs and look for full-time work.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Or go back to school to change careers. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MICHAEL\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It allowed people the chance to live. And live a life, and live a life beyond just going through the motions and working and going to sleep and working, going to sleep. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Still, critics say you shouldn’t draw too many conclusions from one small pilot program — with only 125 participants. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Rolling out a guaranteed income nationally could have a much bigger impact on the economy. And many worry that all that extra cash would only cause prices to rise, setting off higher inflation. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Guaranteed income also does nothing to solve a larger problem. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The thing we \u003ca href=\"https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cesan.nr0.htm#:~:text=%2D%2DHousing%20expenditures%20increased%203.5,dwellings%20were%20down%200.5%20percent.\">spend the most money on is housing\u003c/a>. And that just keeps going up. Taking a \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/10/home-prices-are-now-rising-much-faster-than-incomes-studies-show.html\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">bigger and bigger piece\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> out of our paychecks.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MICHAEL\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Guaranteed income is great, but we don’t want all that money to be spent on housing because people have other needs, right? So I think a guaranteed income is a powerful tool. But like any toolbox, you need more than one tool to really get the job done. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Music in)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Guaranteed income can’t solve poverty on its own. But Michael says it’s a good place to start if we want to solve other big problems, like evictions. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Evictions perpetuate inequality, a\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">nd they push more people into poverty. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> When you’re evicted, you lose your neighborhood, your school, your support network. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You can be trapped in a cycle of debt, even become homeless. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But the solutions are within our reach, and people are already pushing for them. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Activists in Fresno are fighting for a fair shot in court. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Tenants in Antioch are demanding more protection against rising rents. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And women like \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11905386/why-black-women-are-more-likely-to-face-eviction\">Jean [Kendrick, from Episode 2]\u003c/a> are sharing their stories and calling attention to inequities we can’t unsee. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Evictions reflect our housing system: who reaps the profit and who suffers the pain.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But we have an opportunity to make the system more fair, to invest in people’s success, not just for a few, but for all. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The question is, will we take it? \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m Erin Baldassari.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And I’m Molly Solomon. Thank you so much for listening to Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you like what you hear, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts — and share it with a friend!\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> We’ve got one more thing that we’re working on. It’s a bonus episode full of stories from you. That’ll drop in a few weeks, so stay tuned. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sold Out is a production of KQED. This episode was written and reported by us: Molly Solomon and Erin Baldassari.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Adhiti Bandlamudi produced this episode. Kyana Moghadam is our senior producer. Brendan Willard is our sound engineer. And Rob Speight wrote our theme song.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Natalia Aldana is our senior engagement producer and Gerald Fermin is our engagement intern.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Thank you to our editor, Erika Kelly. Additional editing from Jessica Placzek and Otis Taylor Jr.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We couldn’t have made this season without Ethan Toven-Lindsey, Holly Kernan, Erika Aguilar and Vinnee Tong. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Thank you for listening! \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Music out)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Let us know what you think of the show by \u003ca href=\"https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/6755022/f959eb5782fc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">taking a quick survey\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>.\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"To many renters, a Section 8 housing voucher is seen as a \"golden ticket,\" a federal subsidy that ensures only 30% of their income goes to rent. But actually using it is a struggle. We talk to renters and landlords about why.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1727134429,"stats":{"hasAudio":true,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":266,"wordCount":5725},"headData":{"title":"Reknitting the Safety Net: Help Pay the Rent | KQED","description":"To many renters, a Section 8 housing voucher is seen as a "golden ticket," a federal subsidy that ensures only 30% of their income goes to rent. But actually using it is a struggle. We talk to renters and landlords about why.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Reknitting the Safety Net: Help Pay the Rent","datePublished":"2022-03-14T08:54:09-07:00","dateModified":"2024-09-23T16:33:49-07:00","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png","isAccessibleForFree":"True","publisher":{"@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","@id":"https://www.kqed.org/#organization","name":"KQED","url":"https://www.kqed.org","logo":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}}},"source":"SOLD OUT","sourceUrl":"https://www.kqed.org/podcasts/soldout","audioUrl":"https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.megaphone.fm/KQINC1525875908.mp3","sticky":false,"excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","path":"/news/11907727/reknitting-the-safety-net-help-pay-the-rent","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Falling behind on rent is the primary reason that people are evicted. So how do you keep people from falling behind in the first place? Help them pay their rent. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In this final episode of the season, we’ll look at the promise, the problems and the history of Section 8, as well as the push for guaranteed income.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch5 id=\"embed-code\" class=\"inconsolata\">\n\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC1525875908&light=true\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/h5>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>THE RENT EATS FIRST [TRANSCRIPT]\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN BALDASSARI, HOST\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Kemanie and his wife were like a lot of young couples just starting out. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It was the early 2000s. He had recently started his career as a carpenter. She was a teacher. They were both in their mid-20s.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But even with two incomes, they could barely make ends meet. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEMANIE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We were living in a, like, a small, tiny little one-bedroom apartment with roaches, like basically a little small ghetto.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Then their son was born. His wife stopped working to take care of him. And their budget got even tighter. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEMANIE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And things was hard, but we started falling behind on rent.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">How far behind were you on rent at that time?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEMANIE\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I was $4,000 behind on rent at the time.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY SOLOMON, HOST\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> They were living where they both grew up in Marin County, just across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEMANIE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">At that point in time there was no way for us to survive in Marin County.\u003c/span>\u003cb> \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It didn’t help that it’s one of the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.california.com/the-most-expensive-counties-in-the-us/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">wealthiest counties in the country\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Or that their landlord was planning on selling the apartment they were renting.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They couldn’t figure out how they were going to pay the back rent and still have money for a deposit to move somewhere new.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEMANIE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We would have been homeless\u003c/span>. You know, it would have been really bad.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> They thought about moving in with one of their parents or leaving Marin County altogether. Then, they got some good news. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEMANIE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So we got it, we were out doing something — running an errand — and on the way back, my wife got the email.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Music in)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> They got what some have called a “golden ticket” — a Section 8 housing voucher.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Section 8 is a federal program that helps low-income people afford rent on the private market.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Kemanie and his wife had put in their application nearly \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">a decade\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> ago. And they’d been stuck on a waiting list that never seemed to budge. When they finally got the news, it was like winning the lottery. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEMANIE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We both looked at each other. And was, like, yes. I mean, it was like perfect timing.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It was a huge opportunity for them. With Section 8, they would only have to pay 30% of their income towards rent. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>KEMANIE\u003c/strong>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It was an epiphany for us because it was like, life can go on now, like we — there’s a path forward. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> They wouldn’t fall behind on bills. And they’d have a chance to catch up. They’d have some room to breathe. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">: So, they started looking for a new place to live. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Music out)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEMANIE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And we searched and searched and searched, and went and visited and talked to people, and knowing that we had the housing voucher, we thought it was going to be easier because it was a guarantee. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">: A guarantee because most of the rent money comes from the federal government. It’s usually deposited straight into the landlord’s bank account.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEMANIE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And we found out that it was more of a hindrance than anything. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Sold Out theme song begins.)\u003c/span>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: It’s what most Section 8 tenants discover — the voucher is not only hard to get, it’s hard to use.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> These problems aren’t new. And neither is Section 8. But over the past half century, it’s become the No. 1 way we subsidize rent in this country.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As rents climb higher, advocates say we need to fix the problems with Section 8 and expand it. To make it work for more people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m Molly Solomon.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And I’m Erin Baldassari. From KQED, this is Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, the final chapter in our series on evictions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How to keep people from getting evicted? Help pay the rent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Sold Out theme song ends.)\u003c/span>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11908148\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11908148\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/RS54286_009_KQED_Kemanie_03112022-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/RS54286_009_KQED_Kemanie_03112022-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/RS54286_009_KQED_Kemanie_03112022-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/RS54286_009_KQED_Kemanie_03112022-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/RS54286_009_KQED_Kemanie_03112022-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/RS54286_009_KQED_Kemanie_03112022-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kemanie holds the keys to his Novato home. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cdiv class=\"mceTemp\">\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Kemanie and his wife have had a housing voucher for nearly two decades now. And anytime they’ve had to move, it’s always the same thing. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They apply to dozens of places, visit a ton of apartments and get the same answers.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEMANIE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And every single time it was like, no, nope, no, no.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It didn’t seem to matter that they had good references from past landlords, even letters from neighbors. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEMANIE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As soon as Section 8 comes up, you see like a glaze go over their eyes like, OK, I got to deal with this conversation and move on to the next person.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Music in)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Some landlords told them point-blank they wouldn’t accept Section 8, even though that’s illegal in California and a handful of other states. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Those laws are hard to enforce, though. And landlords find all sorts of ways of getting around them — like requiring a credit score of 700 or above.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEMANIE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You know, it was kind of, smile in our face, “Oh, yeah, but your credit score is low.” But the bottom line is most people are on Section 8 because they’re having issues financially and their credit is not very good.\u003c/span>\u003cb> \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Or, landlords would ask them to have an income that’s at least three times the rent.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEMANIE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s like, if I make three times the monthly amount, I’m buying my own place. P\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">eriod, that’s it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Other times there was an online application, but no box to check to say they had Section 8. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEMANIE\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Right? And you don’t even get to talk to anybody or even see anybody or state your case. And it doesn’t say you have Section 8 on the app, so you can’t fill that out. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Usually, though, they just never heard back. There was no explanation at all.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Music out)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> So, Kemanie and his wife tried harder. They wrote cover letters. And organized all their references and documentation into nice, neat little folders.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEMANIE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We would put a little picture, a nice little cute picture of our Black family for people to accept and like and maybe, you know, feel sorry for us.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It was frustrating and stressful. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">To Kemanie, it felt racist.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEMANIE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And it really felt like redlining. Is, that’s how I felt about it, because they’re just like, no, you know.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Racial discrimination can be hard to prove, but a recent audit found it’s a pervasive problem.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Fair Housing Advocates of Northern California conducted paired tests of white and Black renters. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And found that \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.scribd.com/document/398920895/raceaudit2016-17?secret_password=A5Sg4qdij47q2erNlj3X#fullscreen&from_embed\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">nearly 70% of the time\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, landlords in the county where Kemanie lives refused to rent to Black tenants, or used more subtle behaviors, like leaving someone on hold for hours, never calling back or steering Black applicants away from certain neighborhoods. \u003ca href=\"https://www.scribd.com/document/504967414/no-and-soi-audit-2019-20-report?secret_password=wY0jrrhNpcBCBhEVm0zi#download&from_embed\">More than half the time\u003c/a>, landlords did the same for voucher holders.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> To Kemanie, this was not news. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">He and his wife had lived their whole lives in Marin County — a community where more than 70% of the residents are white, and where the average household makes over $115,000 a year. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Music in)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEMANIE\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It’s hard to explain it to other people. We’re Black in America. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Every day, especially also for me, being a Black man and being very intimidating to a lot of people. Every single day, when I meet somebody, I got to put a smile on my face to like, look, I’m not threatening.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Holding a Section 8 voucher in his hands worsens the daily strain of trying to find acceptance. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEMANIE\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And it felt like that times 10, because this time we’re looking for everyone’s approval and it’s — we’re trying to dress us up as the best we can to get accepted by people that we know maybe aren’t racist, but just aren’t as inclined to want us to be there. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That was very, very, very hard. And that was, I think, probably the most defeating part of the whole thing for us.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Music out)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>MOLLY\u003c/strong>: This discrimination is why we aren’t using Kemanie’s full name. Or his wife’s name.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The experience of looking for a place to live has been so traumatic, they’re afraid to do anything that might hurt their chances of finding a home the next time they have to start looking. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Their struggles with Section 8 highlight two of the program’s biggest failures.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Only \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/94146/trends-in-housing-problems-and-federal-housing-assistance.pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">1 in 5\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> who qualify for rental assistance actually receives it. Meaning most people are stuck on waitlists for years — \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cbpp.org/research/housing/long-waitlists-for-housing-vouchers-show-pressing-unmet-need-for-assistance\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">even decades\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And when people do get off those waitlists, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.huduser.gov/portal/publications/pdf/sec8success_1.pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">roughly a third\u003c/span>\u003c/a> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">lose \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">their vouchers because they can’t find any landlord willing to take them. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> That’s partly because there’s an unfair stigma around Section 8, even if it isn’t backed up by evidence. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/eva_rosen?lang=en\">Eva Rosen\u003c/a> is an assistant professor at Georgetown University, and she \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691172569/the-voucher-promise\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">wrote a book on Section 8\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>EVA ROSEN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Landlords sometimes don’t want to rent to big families. They often worry that voucher-holders might be more likely to do damage to the home \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">or that they might be noisier tenants. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And again, none of this is really backed up by any kind of data, but the stigma itself is very real.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This unfair stigma is made worse when you add in racism — the kind that Kemanie and his family felt. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Nationally, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/assthsg.html#2009-2021_query\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">about two-thirds of voucher holders\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> are people of color.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>EVA\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> In my research with landlords, they say things like, well, I couldn’t rent to a Black person in this neighborhood because all of my other tenants are white and they would not like that.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I think racism is a big part of the reticence that we see from landlords.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Despite all these barriers, Kemanie and his family \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">were \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">able to find a place to live. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They’ve been at their current home for three and a half years now. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And in the world of Section 8, it’s kind of a unicorn. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s a single-family home on a quiet cul-de-sac in Novato, a wealthy suburb north of San Francisco. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEMANIE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is literally everything we could ask for. This is — we’re so incredibly happy here right now in the place that we have. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">: It’s got three bedrooms, a two-car garage, and a big, tree-lined backyard.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There are parks nearby and great schools for their kids. And, they feel safe here. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEMANIE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Safety at school, safety coming home from school, you know, safety on the weekends, playing with their friends, you know, all of that.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Only \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cbpp.org/research/housing/where-families-with-children-use-housing-vouchers\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">14% of voucher holders\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> live in affluent neighborhoods like this. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Kemanie and his wife know just how rare it is. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEMANIE\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It’s like we’re living in a dream that we know are about to wake up from. We know at some point someone’s going to shake us and be like, “Hey, wake up.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> That wake-up call could come in just a few months.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Their landlord told them they’re thinking about selling. And their current lease lasts only until September. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">After that, there are no guarantees.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEMANIE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s all up in the air. Everything’s very unsettled for us. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Music in)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> When that time comes, they’ll have to find another landlord willing to take them. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They know from experience it won’t be easy. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">To make the system better for tenants, we need to get more landlords on board. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We’ll tell you how, coming up.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11908149\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11908149\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/RS54283_006_KQED_Kemanie_03112022-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/RS54283_006_KQED_Kemanie_03112022-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/RS54283_006_KQED_Kemanie_03112022-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/RS54283_006_KQED_Kemanie_03112022-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/RS54283_006_KQED_Kemanie_03112022-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/RS54283_006_KQED_Kemanie_03112022-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A ‘Welcome’ sign hangs by the door to the home Kemanie shares with his family in Novato. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Music out)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>ERIN\u003c/strong>: When the Pruitt-Igoe public housing development in St. Louis, Missouri, opened in 1954, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_zFIg8N9Rw\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">it was celebrated\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> as a marvel of modern architecture: 33 towers, each 11 stories tall. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_zFIg8N9Rw\">\u003cb>\u003cem>COMMERCIAL FOR PRUITT-IGOE HOUSING DEVELOPMENT\u003c/em>\u003c/b>\u003c/a>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> With indoor plumbing, electric lights, fresh-plastered walls and the rest of the conveniences that are expected in the 20th century. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music in)\u003c/span>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> But just a decade later, it was falling apart and had become a symbol of government mismanagement and neglect, drawing national attention for its horrible living conditions. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Take \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-cfjqh1sSY&t=23s\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">this newscast\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, from 1968: \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-cfjqh1sSY&t=23s\">\u003cb>\u003cem>KMOX NEWS REPORT\u003c/em>\u003c/b>\u003c/a>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When the temperatures dropped below freezing this week, water lines in several of the Pruitt-Igoe apartment buildings broke and the subsequent flow of water turned into ice. At 2311 Dixon, a sewer line is broken, and now raw sewage bubbles out of the ground like a malevolent spring. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>ERIN\u003c/strong>: On \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.greyscape.com/modernism-was-framed-the-truth-about-pruitt-igoe/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">March 16, 1972\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, the first of its 33 towers was demolished. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Sounds: A building is being demolished; Pruitt-Igoe implodes.)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=738WpY2_JV8\">\u003cb>PRUITT-IGOE IMPLOSION\u003c/b>\u003c/a>\u003c/em>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Not only St. Louis, but the rest of the nation is viewing with great interest the results of this experiment.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music out)\u003c/span>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> President Richard Nixon saw the growing frustration with public housing failures like Pruitt-Igoe. And so he took a turn towards the private market instead. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Two years after that demolition, Nixon introduced Section 8. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Again, here’s Georgetown University professor Eva Rosen.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>EVA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You’re not having to build public housing, you’re not having to maintain or renovate a public housing stock. And so it is this sort of very, in theory, economically efficient tool.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Under Nixon, Section 8 was just a pilot program.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But by the 1990s, the stage was set for it to grow. Public housing had gotten a real bad rap, and that’s when President Bill Clinton really ramped up Section 8.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Today I had the honor of signing the budget for programs to help the homeless to give housing vouchers to empower the poor.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Music in)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> His administration changed the name from Section 8 to \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/public_indian_housing/phr/about\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Housing Choice Vouchers\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>EVA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And actually in the title, you can very much notice this emphasis on choice.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: Eva says that reflects one of the goals for the program. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The hope was that people could use their vouchers to move to more affluent neighborhoods. Neighborhoods with more resources, better schools and more jobs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>ERIN\u003c/strong>: Public housing had become extremely segregated. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">By 1989, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.huduser.gov/portal//Publications/pdf/HUD-5961.pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">nearly 70% of the households \u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">of the residents were people of color. Mostly women-led, Black and Latinx households.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And most of the housing developments were also in segregated and impoverished neighborhoods. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>EVA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And that was causing all kinds of problems. And it was leaving public housing residents with very little choice about where they ended up.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">: \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But Eva says the program hasn’t lived up to its promise of giving voucher holders a real choice of where to live. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And a lot of that comes down to landlords: when \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">they \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">choose to participate, and why.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Music out)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>EVA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When we introduced these private landlords into this system, we sort of just assumed that they would play along, that they would want to participate. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And that tends not always to be the case.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">some \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">landlords, Section 8 works really well.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Eugene Zinchik and his brother own a real estate and property management company in San Francisco. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And he’s been renting to voucher holders for about six or seven years now.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>EUGENE\u003c/b> \u003cstrong>ZINCHIK\u003c/strong>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There’s more stability in knowing that your rent checks are going to be coming, you know, whatever it is that happens. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">During the pandemic, most of Eugene’s Section 8 tenants stayed put, and their rent checks kept flowing in. But a lot of his tenants who didn’t have vouchers — they left.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Even without the coronavirus, Eugene says voucher holders just stick around longer. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>EUGENE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There’s less turnover for a landlord. If there’s less turnover, there’s no rent that they’re losing.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">: But Eugene says the\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> real \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">benefit\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to landlords \u003ca href=\"https://www.huduser.gov/portal/sites/default/files/pdf/Urban-Landlords-HCV-Program.pdf\">depends a lot on where the property is\u003c/a>.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Music in)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">He points to a new building he’s managing in San Francisco’s Bayview neighborhood. Even though he hasn’t found a tenant yet, Eugene already knows it’ll be someone on Section 8. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>EUGENE\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Part of San Francisco is extremely, extremely expensive. Bayview is still semi-affordable for maybe, still, for a blue-collar family. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: He says r\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">ents here are about $1,000 lower than in other parts of the city. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But landlords can actually \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/mdesmond/files/desmondperkins.cc_.2016.pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">charge a Section 8 \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">more\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> than they would with someone without a voucher.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s because when the government decides how much it’s willing to pay for each voucher, it doesn’t vary the amounts by neighborhood. It sets one standard for the whole city.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So it’s a pretty good deal for landlords in places like Bayview.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>EUGENE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So in Bayview, in my experience, the amounts that Section 8 pays are pretty much competitive.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Music out)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But landlords in high-rent places could actually \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">lose \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">money. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>EUGENE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In at least half the neighborhoods in San Francisco, Section 8 what they pay per unit is just not compatible with the market rent.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>ERIN\u003c/strong>: Eva says those incentives have created an unintended consequence: Most Section 8 tenants are trapped in low-income neighborhoods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>EVA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And this is where you start to understand how the program, which was designed and very much hoped to provide tenants choice, actually creates sort of an opposite scenario where they’re being pushed away from the kind of neighborhoods that they might want to end up in and forced into neighborhoods that they don’t necessarily want to be in.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Eugene says even when landlords \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">want \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">to rent to a voucher holder, it’s not that easy. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You have to jump through a lot of hoops. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What kind of hoops? Well, let’s take a look.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Music in)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">First, there are the forms. For both tenants and landlords. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>EUGENE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You know, forms could be scary if you’ve never seen this form before.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">: Let’s say you do fill them out correctly. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>EUGENE\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> For about two weeks, you probably hear nothing.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Then, hopefully, you get a call for an inspection. The housing authority needs to make sure these buildings are up to code. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For that, you’ll need to take the day off work. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>EUGENE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A lot of times you get a four-hour window for the inspector to come in.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And if you have any questions, don’t try to get anyone on the phone. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>EUGENE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Just talking to somebody, you’d be waiting on hold for an hour.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Eugene says it’s like dealing with the DMV.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Music out)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>EUGENE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You know, we’ve all been there, but you know, we don’t really want to do that unless we have to.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development held \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.hud.gov/sites/dfiles/PIH/documents/ListeningForumsPublicSummary012320.pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">listening sessions\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> with property owners across the country back in 2018. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Most of the sessions were taken up by complaints. Eighty-two\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> percent said they had bad experiences dealing with their local housing authority. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">One of their biggest issues: how long it takes to sign up a new tenant. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The whole process can take a month or two — time spent without collecting rent. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>EUGENE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For a landlord to just sit and wait for that tenant is not, is not reasonable, especially if it’s an individual like a mom-and-pop type of shop.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So how do we improve Section 8? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For tenants to have more choice — you know, the original goal of the program — you need more landlords with properties in more neighborhoods. Here’s Eva Rosen: \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>EVA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When we think about landlord participation, I think we need to think about carrots and sticks.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That means tougher laws to prevent landlords from discriminating against Section 8 tenants. And better enforcement. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>EVA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s sort of like a stick, right? It’s a slap on the wrist. It’s a no, you’re not allowed to do this.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And, then there’s the carrot: more voucher money for properties in wealthier neighborhoods. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s something the federal government is already trying. They’re basing the rent on the ZIP code, instead of one standard for the whole city.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>EVA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Because there’s no way a landlord is going to participate in the program if they’re getting less rent than they would get from a market tenant, right?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">An early test of the program \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.huduser.gov/portal/sites/default/files/pdf/SAFMR-Interim-Report.pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">showed it worked\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. More landlords in affluent areas opened their doors to Section 8.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But in a few cities, there was a downside, too. Some landlords in low-income neighborhoods stopped renting to voucher holders. That led to a drop in the number of homes available there. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Still, the results were still promising enough that they’ve expanded it to \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cbpp.org/research/housing/a-guide-to-small-area-fair-market-rents-safmrs\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">two dozen cities\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> across the country.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11908157\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11908157\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/IMG_9801-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/IMG_9801-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/IMG_9801-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/IMG_9801-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/IMG_9801-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/IMG_9801-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/IMG_9801-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Eugene Zinchik poses inside a property he manages in San Francisco’s Bayview neighborhood. \u003ccite>(Erin Baldassari/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Music in)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Another way to recruit more landlords? Cut the red tape. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>EUGENE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Give those individuals that have the voucher more say of what they’re able to do. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Give the power to that individual to sign on their own behalf to take the place or not take the place.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">After all, Section 8 was supposed to be about choice. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So, Eugene says, let people make their own. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Coming up: A different solution that \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">is \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">all about choice. And cold, hard cash. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Music out)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> When the coronavirus hit — and the economy shut down — one thing was clear: People needed cash. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And the federal government stepped in. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzMNV2qH2IA\">\u003cb>WCNC\u003c/b>\u003c/a>\u003c/em>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Stimulus checks are rolling in for millions of Americans today. About 80 million people are expected to receive their payments today.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhyfKmBfRi8\">\u003cem>\u003cb>NBC\u003c/b>\u003c/em>\u003c/a>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Well, these direct payments are what everyone is talking about because 90% of American households should be getting some money. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Before the pandemic, the idea of giving out free money in this country was kind of a hard sell. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/nataliefoster?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor\">Natalie Foster\u003c/a> is the president and co-founder of the Economic Security Project. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIE FOSTER\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Then the pandemic hit and it became clear that cash was the currency of urgency.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And it wasn’t just stimulus checks. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Pandemic unemployment insurance was important for supporting people in the midst of job loss, expanding tax credits like the earned income tax credit and the child tax credit. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">These were all things that the government did.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For a lot of families, that extra money was a lifeline. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Despite a recession and a global pandemic, poverty in this country actually \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">decreased\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATALIE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We saw a decrease in poverty, and that is because the government realized that poverty is a policy choice and we could make different choices. And so the politics of the moment allowed for us to make a different choice.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We also made a choice to keep more people housed, with eviction moratoriums and rent relief. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For progressives and others, those pandemic-era programs were a golden opportunity t\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">o tackle poverty and housing insecurity on a grand scale. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And test an idea that’s been gaining steam over the past couple years. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cb>NEWS CLIPS\u003c/b>\u003c/em>: It’s an idea known as guaranteed basic income.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A monthly, no-strings-attached cash payment given directly to individuals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A guaranteed income. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Music in)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">: Basically, if you want to solve poverty, give people money. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Here’s how it would work: The money would come from the federal government, ideally in the form of a regular, monthly payment.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The amount wouldn’t make you rich, but it could help pay for your housing, your food or whatever else you need. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: F\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">or all the excitement around guaranteed income today, it’s not actually a new idea. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Thomas Paine argued for it way back in the 18th century. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And over the years, its supporters have come from all over the political spectrum.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">From the Black Panthers, to President Richard Nixon. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cb>RECORDING OF PRESIDENT RICHARD NIXON DISCUSSING GUARANTEED INCOME\u003c/b>\u003c/em>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What I am proposing is that the federal government build a foundation under the income of every American family with dependent children that cannot care for itself.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">From libertarian economist Milton Friedman to civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It seems to me that the civil rights movement must now begin to organize for the guaranteed annual income, begin to organize people all over our country and mobilize forces, so that we can bring to the attention of our nation, this need and this something which I believe will go a long, long way toward dealing with the Negros’ economic problem and the economic problem with many other poor people confronting our nation.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Music out)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Alaska’s been doing this \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://pfd.alaska.gov/Division-Info/historical-timeline\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">since the 1980s\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, paying out oil dividends to all its residents — on average, about $1,600 a year. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But more recently, about 90 guaranteed-income experiments have popped up across the country. Most were inspired by one city: Stockton, California.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MICHAEL TUBBS\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Hello, my name is \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MichaelDTubbs?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor\">Michael Tubbs\u003c/a>. I am the former mayor of the city of Stockton, California. I’m the founder of \u003ca href=\"https://www.mayorsforagi.org/\">Mayors for a Guaranteed Income\u003c/a> and of \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/california-divide/2022/02/former-stockton-mayor-launches-nonprofit-to-end-poverty-in-california/\">End Poverty in California.\u003c/a>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Michael led Stockton’s guaranteed-income program back in 2019. He says a lot of the issues that came across his desk all came back to the same thing.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MICHAEL\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Issues of poverty and lack and pervasive poverty and generational poverty.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Stockton was the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/business/2008/jul/28/subprimecrisis.useconomy\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">foreclosure capital\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> of the country during the Great Recession. It \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.reuters.com/article/us-stockton-bankruptcy/stockton-california-files-for-bankruptcy-idUSBRE85S05120120629\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">declared bankruptcy\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> in 2012. And today, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.stocktondemonstration.org/about-seed\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">about a quarter\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> of its population lives below the poverty line. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Michael wanted to bring a guaranteed income to Stockton because the old way of addressing poverty wasn’t working. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The programs we have now — like welfare or food stamps or housing vouchers — they have a lot of rules and regulations. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11882364\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11882364\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/RS46086_GettyImages-1208192668-qut-800x533.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/RS46086_GettyImages-1208192668-qut-800x533.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/RS46086_GettyImages-1208192668-qut-1020x680.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/RS46086_GettyImages-1208192668-qut-160x107.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/RS46086_GettyImages-1208192668-qut-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/RS46086_GettyImages-1208192668-qut.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Michael Tubbs, former mayor of Stockton, is seen at his office in Stockton on Feb. 7, 2020. As mayor, with the help of the Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration, he implemented an 18-month trial of universal basic income for 125 residents of his city. The concept has recently been gaining ground. \u003ccite>(Nick Otto/AFP via Getty Images))\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MICHAEL\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When you’re on welfare, you have to spend so much time being with case managers, filling out forms, doing this, doing that, which robs you of the ability to do all the other things you need to do. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Guaranteed-income programs don’t require all that micromanagement, which frees up people’s time. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And, they have another benefit: You can spend the money however you need. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Music in)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MICHAEL\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Whether it’s on new tires, a transmission, a new washer and dryer, school clothes, a wedding, going to visit your parents you haven’t seen in a while.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> When people in Stockton were given the choice of how to use the $500 they got each month, they tended to spend it on food and other essentials.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Some also used it to help pay for housing. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MICHAEL\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They were able to sort of save up for a down payment to move to safer living conditions. Or some people use it to cope with sort of small rises in rent that occur: $50 here or $100 here, $125 here. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Researchers in Stockton didn’t look specifically at the impact of a guaranteed income on evictions. But the small stipend could help. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/12/upshot/eviction-prevention-solutions-government.html\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Most people get evicted for $600 or less\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, according to a New York Times analysis. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Just knowing you have enough money to get to the end of the month also goes a long way for your mental health.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MICHAEL\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Folks who received the guaranteed income went from elevated levels of stress to regular levels of stress. And that just was like, wow, like money really sort of affects health and mental health and well-being and how we show up in the world. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Music out)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> But probably one of the biggest findings from Stockton: \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It challenged a widely held criticism of guaranteed income, that it would cause people to stop working. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The money actually had the opposite effect. \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.stocktondemonstration.org/employment\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">People worked \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">more.\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">About \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.stocktondemonstration.org/employment\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">12% went from part-time to full-time work\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. That’s more than double the control group. And participants were less likely to be unemployed. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MICHAEL\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And I wasn’t surprised, but I’m glad the data validated this belief that that $500 was not going to make anyone stop working, that people still worked.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Michael says that’s because it wasn’t enough to live on. But it gave people some breathing room. It allowed them to quit one of their part-time jobs and look for full-time work.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Or go back to school to change careers. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MICHAEL\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It allowed people the chance to live. And live a life, and live a life beyond just going through the motions and working and going to sleep and working, going to sleep. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Still, critics say you shouldn’t draw too many conclusions from one small pilot program — with only 125 participants. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Rolling out a guaranteed income nationally could have a much bigger impact on the economy. And many worry that all that extra cash would only cause prices to rise, setting off higher inflation. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Guaranteed income also does nothing to solve a larger problem. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The thing we \u003ca href=\"https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cesan.nr0.htm#:~:text=%2D%2DHousing%20expenditures%20increased%203.5,dwellings%20were%20down%200.5%20percent.\">spend the most money on is housing\u003c/a>. And that just keeps going up. Taking a \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/10/home-prices-are-now-rising-much-faster-than-incomes-studies-show.html\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">bigger and bigger piece\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> out of our paychecks.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MICHAEL\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Guaranteed income is great, but we don’t want all that money to be spent on housing because people have other needs, right? So I think a guaranteed income is a powerful tool. But like any toolbox, you need more than one tool to really get the job done. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Music in)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Guaranteed income can’t solve poverty on its own. But Michael says it’s a good place to start if we want to solve other big problems, like evictions. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Evictions perpetuate inequality, a\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">nd they push more people into poverty. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> When you’re evicted, you lose your neighborhood, your school, your support network. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You can be trapped in a cycle of debt, even become homeless. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But the solutions are within our reach, and people are already pushing for them. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Activists in Fresno are fighting for a fair shot in court. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Tenants in Antioch are demanding more protection against rising rents. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And women like \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11905386/why-black-women-are-more-likely-to-face-eviction\">Jean [Kendrick, from Episode 2]\u003c/a> are sharing their stories and calling attention to inequities we can’t unsee. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Evictions reflect our housing system: who reaps the profit and who suffers the pain.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But we have an opportunity to make the system more fair, to invest in people’s success, not just for a few, but for all. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The question is, will we take it? \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m Erin Baldassari.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And I’m Molly Solomon. Thank you so much for listening to Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you like what you hear, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts — and share it with a friend!\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> We’ve got one more thing that we’re working on. It’s a bonus episode full of stories from you. That’ll drop in a few weeks, so stay tuned. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sold Out is a production of KQED. This episode was written and reported by us: Molly Solomon and Erin Baldassari.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Adhiti Bandlamudi produced this episode. Kyana Moghadam is our senior producer. Brendan Willard is our sound engineer. And Rob Speight wrote our theme song.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Natalia Aldana is our senior engagement producer and Gerald Fermin is our engagement intern.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Thank you to our editor, Erika Kelly. Additional editing from Jessica Placzek and Otis Taylor Jr.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We couldn’t have made this season without Ethan Toven-Lindsey, Holly Kernan, Erika Aguilar and Vinnee Tong. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Thank you for listening! \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Music out)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Let us know what you think of the show by \u003ca href=\"https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/6755022/f959eb5782fc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">taking a quick survey\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/news/11907727/reknitting-the-safety-net-help-pay-the-rent","authors":["11652","11651"],"programs":["news_33522"],"categories":["news_6266","news_8","news_33520"],"tags":["news_3921","news_19122","news_1386","news_18538","news_1775","news_21358","news_9","news_20903","news_28979","news_28426","news_1585","news_20967","news_20809","news_28541","news_28527","news_784","news_19961","news_30777"],"featImg":"news_11908146","label":"source_news_11907727"},"news_11907959":{"type":"posts","id":"news_11907959","meta":{"index":"posts_1716263798","site":"news","id":"11907959","score":null,"sort":[1647048959000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"asm-james-gallagher-sold-out-this-week-in-california-news","title":"Asm. James Gallagher | “Sold Out” | This Week in California News","publishDate":1647048959,"format":"video","headTitle":"Asm. James Gallagher | “Sold Out” | This Week in California News | KQED","labelTerm":{"term":33522,"site":"news"},"content":"\u003cp>\u003cb>Republican Calls to Repeal CA Gas Tax\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As gas prices climb higher and higher, \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Republican state Assemblymember James Gallagher is \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">calling for California’s gas tax of $0.51 per gallon to be suspended. Gallagher also wants to increase oil production in state.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Guest:\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Assemblymember James Gallagher, R-Yuba City\u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>This Week in California News and Politics\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In his State of the State address this week, Gov. Gavin Newsom acknowledged the ongoing crisis in Ukraine and expressed California’s solidarity with the Ukrainian government. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Earlier this week, he issued an executive order requiring state agencies and their contractors to comply with economic sanctions against Russia. He also touted California’s leadership on clean technology and recognized that while mask mandates and lockdowns during the pandemic were challenging, they also saved lives.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Guests:\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Marisa Lagos, KQED government and politics correspondent\u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Brian Watt, KQED Morning Edition host\u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Housing and Evictions\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">KQED has taken an in-depth look at the housing crisis with its podcast series, “\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/podcasts/soldout\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.” We talk to co-hosts and housing affordability reporters \u003c/span>\u003cb>Erin Baldassari\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and \u003c/span>\u003cb>Molly Solomon\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Something Beautiful: Anti-War Protests\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Around the world, people have rallied in support of Ukraine in its fight against the Russian invasion. In this week’s look at Something Beautiful, we share photos from some San Francisco protests against the war.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":null,"status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1727134236,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":9,"wordCount":232},"headData":{"title":"Asm. James Gallagher | “Sold Out” | This Week in California News | KQED","description":"Republican Calls to Repeal CA Gas Tax As gas prices climb higher and higher, Republican state Assemblymember James Gallagher is calling for California’s gas tax of $0.51 per gallon to be suspended. Gallagher also wants to increase oil production in state. Guest: Assemblymember James Gallagher, R-Yuba City This Week in California News and Politics In his State of the State address this week, Gov. Gavin Newsom acknowledged the ongoing crisis in Ukraine and expressed California’s solidarity with the Ukrainian government. Earlier this week, he issued an executive order requiring state agencies and their contractors to comply with economic sanctions against","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Asm. James Gallagher | “Sold Out” | This Week in California News","datePublished":"2022-03-11T17:35:59-08:00","dateModified":"2024-09-23T16:30:36-07:00","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png","isAccessibleForFree":"True","publisher":{"@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","@id":"https://www.kqed.org/#organization","name":"KQED","url":"https://www.kqed.org","logo":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}}},"videoEmbed":"https://youtu.be/PcVrvAZH2yg","sticky":false,"excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","path":"/news/11907959/asm-james-gallagher-sold-out-this-week-in-california-news","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cb>Republican Calls to Repeal CA Gas Tax\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As gas prices climb higher and higher, \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Republican state Assemblymember James Gallagher is \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">calling for California’s gas tax of $0.51 per gallon to be suspended. Gallagher also wants to increase oil production in state.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Guest:\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Assemblymember James Gallagher, R-Yuba City\u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>This Week in California News and Politics\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In his State of the State address this week, Gov. Gavin Newsom acknowledged the ongoing crisis in Ukraine and expressed California’s solidarity with the Ukrainian government. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Earlier this week, he issued an executive order requiring state agencies and their contractors to comply with economic sanctions against Russia. He also touted California’s leadership on clean technology and recognized that while mask mandates and lockdowns during the pandemic were challenging, they also saved lives.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Guests:\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Marisa Lagos, KQED government and politics correspondent\u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Brian Watt, KQED Morning Edition host\u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Housing and Evictions\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">KQED has taken an in-depth look at the housing crisis with its podcast series, “\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/podcasts/soldout\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.” We talk to co-hosts and housing affordability reporters \u003c/span>\u003cb>Erin Baldassari\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and \u003c/span>\u003cb>Molly Solomon\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Something Beautiful: Anti-War Protests\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Around the world, people have rallied in support of Ukraine in its fight against the Russian invasion. In this week’s look at Something Beautiful, we share photos from some San Francisco protests against the war.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/news/11907959/asm-james-gallagher-sold-out-this-week-in-california-news","authors":["236"],"programs":["news_7052","news_33522"],"categories":["news_1758","news_19906","news_1169","news_6188","news_8","news_33520","news_13","news_30302"],"tags":["news_26437","news_18538","news_19105","news_16","news_20297","news_19177","news_20562","news_17968","news_30740","news_20279","news_38","news_28541","news_30632","news_720","news_26723"],"featImg":"news_11907987","label":"news_33522"},"news_11907091":{"type":"posts","id":"news_11907091","meta":{"index":"posts_1716263798","site":"news","id":"11907091","score":null,"sort":[1646650891000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"power-in-the-courts-when-tenants-fight-back","title":"Power in the Courts: When Tenants Fight Back","publishDate":1646650891,"format":"audio","headTitle":"Power in the Courts: When Tenants Fight Back | KQED","labelTerm":{},"content":"\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When it comes to eviction court, tenants are far less likely than property owners to be represented by an attorney. That makes it especially difficult for them to understand their rights and navigate the complex system. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The right to counsel is something that tenant advocates are pushing for across the country, and more cities and states are considering it, especially in light of the economic hardship caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In this episode of Sold Out, we’ll go to Fresno in California’s Central Valley, where rents are rising, and meet tenant advocates who have organized to push for a right to counsel. And we’ll also visit New York, where this movement took off, and speak to the activists behind it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch5 id=\"embed-code\" class=\"inconsolata\">\n\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC6308765795&light=true\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/h5>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>LANDLORD V. TENANT [TRANSCRIPT]\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>ERIKA KELLY, EDITOR\u003c/strong>: I’m Erika Kelly, the editor of Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America, here to say thank you for listening to the show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Our team is wrapping up the season, and we’d love to know what you thought about it, what you liked, what you didn’t like. Most importantly, we’d like to know a little more about you, our listener. What issues or stories [do] you want to hear more of in the future?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Head over to \u003ca href=\"https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/6755022/f959eb5782fc\">kqed.org/soldoutsurvey\u003c/a> to leave us some feedback.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thanks so much!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(KQED music in)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music in)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY SOLOMON, HOST\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Hey, I’m Molly Solomon.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN BALDASSARI, HOST\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And I’m Erin Baldassari. From KQED this is Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This season we’ve been exploring evictions. If you’ve been following along, you already know the system is stacked against tenants. And that evictions have devastating consequences. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Nowhere is that more clear than in eviction court. It’s where most cases end up, and it’s where a push for reform is growing.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">On today’s episode: a fight to balance the scales. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music out)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Sounds: City streets. \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Molly Solomon is walking and speaks into her recorder.)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>MOLLY IN FRESNO\u003c/strong>: OK. We’re on O Street, downtown Fresno.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>MOLLY\u003c/strong>: Last fall I drove out to California’s Central Valley, and pulled up to a mid-century modern building in the middle of downtown, the Fresno County Superior Courthouse.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY IN FRESNO\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There is already a line of people that are getting ready to check in through the front door.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A security guard milled around outside. The crisp early morning air was starting to warm as the sun peeked out from behind the building. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m trying to look for Robert Cortez. He’s going to help me out today check out eviction court. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Are you Robert? Hi, I’m Molly. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ROBERT CORTEZ\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hi, nice to meet you.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Robert is an attorney who represents tenants. His law firm, \u003ca href=\"https://www.centralcallegal.org/\">Central California Legal Services\u003c/a>, handles the vast majority of eviction defense cases in Fresno.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We head up to the fourth floor where eviction hearings start every Tuesday morning at 8:30. Today, there are about 20 cases on the docket. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11907099\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11907099\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/IMG_7937-1-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A gray and tan building with various columns, and two people passing in front of it.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/IMG_7937-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/IMG_7937-1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/IMG_7937-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/IMG_7937-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/IMG_7937-1-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/IMG_7937-1-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Fresno County Superior Courthouse in downtown Fresno. \u003ccite>(Alex Hall/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ROBERT\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So 90% of the time we’re in 404, which is just down the hall.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The room is small, no windows. There are a few rows of benches that are about half full. It’s not as packed as it was before the pandemic. Many hearings are still happening on Zoom. Robert points out some lawyers in the room. He calls them the regulars.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ROBERT\u003c/b>: A\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">bout four or five regular landlord attorneys are here every day.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Robert tells me one of the attorneys also serves as a debt collector for the landlords he represents. He collects past due rent from tenants who’ve been evicted. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ROBERT\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">He gets these unrepresented clients to agree to these deals that are payment plans basically. And they go on for years, like five, six, seven years. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music in)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I couldn’t record inside the courtroom while trials were underway. But I’ll say — you didn’t miss much. There’s a reason you never see TV shows about eviction courts. There’s not a lot of drama. Usually, you don’t call witnesses or present evidence. And a lot of times, evictions aren’t even decided in the courtroom.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Music out)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The action is out in the hallway.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Sounds: Door opens and closes.)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ROBERT\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You’ll see a lot of dealmaking out here in the hallways. A lot of times attorneys will come outside and, you know, see if there’s a deal to be made. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> That’s how most cases end up: in deals or settlements. And that’s what Robert’s trying to do for his client Lea Esparza. Lea came to Robert after the court had already issued a default judgment against her, which is basically an automatic win for the landlord. It happens when tenants don’t show up or don’t file their paperwork in time. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In Lea’s case, she tried to file her paperwork. The problem was she’d hired a paralegal off of Craigslist to help her fill it out.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>LEA ESPARZA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She charged me $500 and she didn’t turn in the paperwork. That’s why we ended up with the lockout.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ROBERT\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So the sheriff is scheduled to come to the residence on Thursday. So what I’m trying to get the judge to do is delay that sheriff.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>LEA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yes, they said they were going to come at 6 a.m. and lock me out.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music in) \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Lea had to stop working about a year ago after she was diagnosed with cancer.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>LEA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I am battling cervical cancer and I’m also battling — I just had a surgery three months ago.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She says after this morning’s hearing she’s going back to the hospital for another surgery. And if her eviction goes through, she doesn’t know where she and her kids will go.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>LEA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I got four daughters and myself and like I said, I do, I am battling my health, so I don’t think I have anywhere to go. I don’t got family around here.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music out)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Robert has just come out of a small mediators’ room with the landlord’s attorney. He and Lea huddle in a corner of the hallway, and keep their voices low. He’s got good news: Lea can stay through the end of the year, 109 more days. He’s also gotten her rent payments lowered to about $2 a day.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ROBERT\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A lot of this work is delaying the inevitable. Sometimes eviction is inevitable. But we just try to get as much time as possible, so the client’s not on the street.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Lea will\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">eventually \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">have to leave. But the deal is way better than what she could have negotiated on her own.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Most people don’t have someone like Robert on their side. These eviction cases move quickly and play out in courtrooms every day. And wherever you go, there’s the same imbalance: Landlords have attorneys. And tenants don’t.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JOHN POLLOCK\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And that kind of representational imbalance yields the kind of results you would expect, which is it’s just completely one-sided.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> John Pollock is with the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://civilrighttocounsel.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Their data shows that across the country, 81% of landlords have a lawyer, but only 3% of tenants do.\u003c/span>\u003cb> \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JOHN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The tenants always lose, and half of them don’t even participate in the process because it is such a hopeless, disempowering process right now.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> He says many tenants get pushed into deals that are on the landlord’s terms. And that’s why Pollock says tenants need attorneys, too. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Sold Out theme song begins.)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>MOLLY\u003c/strong>: Think of it this way: We grant defendants a right to an attorney in criminal cases. Why should it be any different for housing court?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JOHN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">From our perspective, these are very serious proceedings on par with criminal ones in terms of the consequences. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Now, the eviction protections put in place during the pandemic are expiring. And, eviction courts are filling up again. As they do, the calls for change are getting louder. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Because tenants and their allies say the current system isn’t fair, and it needs to change.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Sold Out theme song ends.)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11843281\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 657px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11843281\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2020/10/SOLD-OUT-Web-Banners__Tune-In_656x336.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"657\" height=\"337\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/10/SOLD-OUT-Web-Banners__Tune-In_656x336.png 657w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/10/SOLD-OUT-Web-Banners__Tune-In_656x336-160x82.png 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 657px) 100vw, 657px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sold Out: Rethinking Housing In America is a five-part series reimagining what housing could be by examining California, the epicenter of the nation’s housing affordability crisis.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">On a windy morning last spring, a couple dozen people gathered outside Fresno City Hall.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There were tenants, faith leaders and housing advocates. And they were there to call attention to evictions in their neighborhoods.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>A SPEAKER AT CITY HALL\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What is a home when one is renting from a landlord who abuses their power dynamic and refuses to fix these conditions and then threatens to evict tenants who complain? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They directed their protest to the city council, which was meeting inside the gleaming stainless steel building. On their agenda was a proposal to help tenants avoid eviction. Outside, a local pastor, D.J. Criner, took the mic.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>D.J. CRINER\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Are you going to hold landlords just as accountable as landlords think they’re holding residents? Are you going to give individuals an opportunity to have legal aid? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Renters held signs and shared their stories about the rent going up, about being forced to move, about worrying for their children. One of them was Jessica Ramirez, a mother of five who was born and raised in Fresno.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music in)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She was evicted a few years ago and didn’t have an attorney to help her out. Now with that on her record, it’s almost impossible to find new housing. Speaking to the crowd, she held up her eviction papers. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JESSICA RAMIREZ\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is why I’m here today, I’m here to raise my voice. You know, this voice that I have is not for one, but for many.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She shared how she and her family had to live in their car. How her kids had to bathe themselves in the restrooms of a public park.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JESSICA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You know, many out here in this world. You know, I live. This is a struggle. I’m in pain. You know, you guys don’t know how it is, living in the streets. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Pastor Criner called on the city council to protect renters like Jessica. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>D.J.\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is about a call to action. Speak for this young lady and mother of five that is praying for an opportunity to raise her children in the same decent housing you’re able to raise yours in. So we studied the problem. We found the solution. We wrote the proposal, and the money has already been found. The question is now, are you listening and are you going to do something about it?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music out)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Fresno City Hall is in the middle of downtown. It’s densely packed with tall office buildings. But you don’t have to drive far before you’re surrounded by farmland.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Fresno sits at the center of California’s San Joaquin Valley. Founded as a railroad town, it’s grown into an agricultural powerhouse. It’s also been an affordable city in an extremely unaffordable state, at least until recently.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CLIPS FROM FRESNO RENT NEWSCASTS\u003c/b>: “\u003cem>The real estate market is buzzing in the valley.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>“According to a story in The Los Angeles Times called Fresno the hottest market in the country.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>“\u003c/em>\u003cem>Monthly rent in Fresno has soared over the last year — experts cite high demand and low inventory.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> In the last year alone, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.fresnobee.com/fresnoland/article258073823.html\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">rents spiked 28%\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Now, the average one-bedroom is over \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.zumper.com/rent-research/fresno-ca\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">$1,400 a month\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.fresnobee.com/article252425493.html\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And home prices are way up, too\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Driving around Fresno, you can almost feel the hype. Everywhere you go, there are these advertisements for new housing developments. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Alexandra Alvarado has felt it, too. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ALEXANDRA ALVARADO\u003c/b>:\u003cb> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Central Valley has this myth of affordability that, like, people can just come in and afford it and be able to buy houses.\u003c/span>\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She’s always lived around Fresno. She grew up in a small town nearby, moved here for college. Alexandra is now a community organizer with a group called \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://faithinthevalley.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Faith in the Valley\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> — the same group that organized the tenant protest outside City Hall. She says the idea of Fresno as an affordable place … is part of what’s driving up prices.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ALEXANDRA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Especially during the pandemic, when people were working from home, we were running across stories of people from the bay or from LA that were saying, oh, I could buy two houses in Fresno.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Fresno might be cheaper than San Francisco or Los Angeles, but it’s also \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/article209826869.html\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">one of the poorest cities in the country\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/fresnocitycalifornia/INC110219\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">One in four families\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> here live below the federal poverty line.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As prices rise, it’s becoming harder for people to find safe housing. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ALEXANDRA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What they end up being pushed to is what they can afford.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[HOST]\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">An investigation\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> by local newspaper The Fresno Bee found that \u003ca href=\"https://www.fresnobee.com/fresnoland/article249299005.html\">some tenants were living in terrible conditions\u003c/a>: with no heat, leaky pipes, and mold. And when they complained, they were often threatened with an eviction.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music in)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Even before the pandemic, there are anywhere from three [thousand] to 4,000 eviction filings in Fresno each year. That’s according to a 2019 report from two researchers at Fresno State University.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>AMBER CROWELL\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So that’s a lot of people. And it was, you know, 200 or 300 families a month. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s Amber Crowell. She wrote the report with her colleague Janine Nkosi. They also work on housing advocacy with Faith in the Valley.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Janine and Amber spent months observing eviction hearings at the Fresno courthouse, the same place I met up with Robert and Lea. And they saw a lot of the same disparities that I did. Landlords had lawyers, and tenants didn’t. Here’s Janine:\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JANINE NKOSI\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I could literally cry right now when I think about it. Three, like maybe three people, were able to get some type of legal representation in housing court.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">According to the \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">most recent data from Eviction Lab\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, \u003ca href=\"https://evictionlab.org/map/#/2016?geography=counties&bounds=-122.192,35.603,-116.28,37.847&type=er&locations=06019,-119.443,36.916\">Fresno has one of the highest eviction rates in the state\u003c/a>. Far higher than in Los Angeles and San Francisco. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But there’s only one legal aid organization in Fresno. And about half of the residents here are renters. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JANINE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The challenges that we are experiencing, they are not so different than what folks in the Bay Area, right, or Northern California, are experiencing, or in Southern California, but they are happening at an accelerated rate. We have the highest need and the fewest amount of resources.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music out)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[HOST]\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What Janine and Amber found inspired a growing coalition of renters, faith leaders and students — one that only grew as economic shutdowns during the pandemic made it harder for tenants to pay their rent, tenants like Shar Thompson.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>SHAR THOMPSON\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m a single mom that works two jobs. So, you know, it’s really tough.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Shar works part time at Costco. When her shift ends in the afternoon, she heads to her second job at Walmart, where she works overnight stocking shelves. Shar’s from the Central Valley. She grew up in a small farming town nearby called Coalinga.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>SHAR\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you drive down I-5 and smell the fresh air of cow manure, that’s Coalinga. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She moved to Fresno during the pandemic and was having trouble paying her rent. She found Faith in the Valley when she Googled local rent assistance programs.\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Then she started showing up at meetings, learning about her rights as a tenant, and discovered what was possible when she worked alongside other renters.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music in)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>SHAR\u003c/b>: There’s passion behind it from everybody. And I love the fact that we’re all from different walks of life, but we all have the same main goal and that’s to make a whole new housing system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: Shar and the ot\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">her Fresno renters had specific demands for the city. They wanted every tenant fighting an eviction to have an attorney: a\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://leadershipcounsel.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Fresno-Right-to-Counsel-Coalition-Community-Proposal.pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> right to counsel\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But they took it even further. They wanted the city to connect tenants with rent relief. And create a diversion program to help tenants and\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">landlords avoid the courtroom altogether. By early last year, their proposal was ready for the city council.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>SPEAKER AT CITY COUNCIL\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Thank you. Last item — that’s public item that we have is 4-B, it’s a workshop to discuss right-to-counsel proposal.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11907097\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11907097 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/IMG_7983-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A woman stares pensively off into the distance, she wears a green shirt.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/IMG_7983-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/IMG_7983-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/IMG_7983-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/IMG_7983-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/IMG_7983-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/IMG_7983-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fresno renter Jessica Ramirez. \u003ccite>(Alex Hall/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jessica Ramirez, the same renter who spoke outside City Hall, called into this meeting, too. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JESSICA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I am one of many that are speaking out asking for help because I know it only takes one eviction on someone’s record to change their lives forever.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But there’s pushback from landlords and within City Hall. Here’s City Council member Garry Bredefeld.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>GARRY BREDEFELD\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So I know. Imagine, I guess we’re pretty flush with money at the City of Fresno, and now we’re going into the rental tenant defense business. I don’t see any way that I will support these kinds of things. I don’t think this is what we should be doing. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[HOST]\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Renters continued to pressure the city for months to vote on their proposal. But eventually, it became clear: A true right to counsel was not going to pass. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music out)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Here’s Amber Crowell, the eviction researcher at Fresno State.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>AMBER\u003c/b>: It was tough. It was a tough battle. And we didn’t get everything we wanted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> What they got was something of a compromise. The city calls it the Eviction Protection Program. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s not for all tenants — just the ones who are being wrongfully evicted, like if their landlord’s retaliating against them, or illegally locking them out. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Amber and other housing activists think only a small number of tenants will qualify or even know the program exists, leaving many still vulnerable.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But City Councilmember Tyler Maxwell is more optimistic.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>TYLER MAXWELL\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I can tell you, it is an uphill battle to get where we’re at today. I’m happy we’re able to get our foot in the door.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">He helped introduce the Eviction Protection Program. \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.fresnobee.com/fresnoland/article258184263.html\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s already helped 180 people get free legal help.\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Nearly all of them were able to avoid trial. For the few who did go, most were able to get the eviction off their record. And that’s important, because having an eviction on your record can lock you out of new housing. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11907096\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11907096\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/IMG_7874-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/IMG_7874-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/IMG_7874-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/IMG_7874-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/IMG_7874-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/IMG_7874-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/IMG_7874-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A mural in downtown Fresno. \u003ccite>(Alex Hall/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The program is only funded for one year and Tyler hopes they’ll extend it. But a right to counsel is still a pretty radical idea for Fresno, and he thinks there’s always going to be some people questioning whether it’s worth it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>TYLER\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Why are we giving away free things? You know, why? Why are we providing something for free for people? You know they need to pick themselves up from the bootstraps, which, representing a district like I do, I know that’s a bunch of B.S. — picking yourself up by the bootstraps doesn’t work when you can’t afford the bootstraps. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music in)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This story isn’t over. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A couple months ago, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.fresnobee.com/news/politics-government/article256467491.html\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">150 people showed up at City Hall to demand the city use federal COVID dollars\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to pass a true right to counsel, rent control and more eviction protections. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Amber Crowell and Janine Nkosi say renters in Fresno can’t back down now, even if it feels like a battle between David and Goliath. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>AMBER\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The groups that represent property owners are much more powerful politically than the groups that represent tenants. And so that’s just an ideology that we’re always fighting against.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JANINE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You know, it’s always a battle between individual rights versus, like, collective care and collective responsibility. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They say it’s a battle worth fighting. And you can’t win anything if you don’t ask for it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JANINE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We are made to believe that these are big asks, but we should be dreaming much, much bigger than we ever have been. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Fresno isn’t the only place to fight for a right to counsel. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Coming up on Sold Out: where the movement first began.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music out)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CROWD CHANTING\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Housing is a human right. Fight, fight, fight.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>RANDY DILLARD\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Good morning, good morning, good morning. My name is Randy Dillard and we are facing an eviction crisis in the Bronx.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Randy Dillard wears a bright orange T-shirt. On it is a fist thrust in the air. He energizes the crowd outside New York City Hall in lower Manhattan. It’s 2013 and he’s part of a tenants group in the South Bronx.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>RANDY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Representation for tenants in housing court should be a right.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Randy was familiar with housing court. Before he was an organizer, he worked as a bricklayer. A single dad with five kids, Randy was on Section 8, but his apartment was not up to code. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>RANDY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We have mold all over the apartment. We had leaks coming from up above into an open-light fixture in the bathroom that could have started a fire. We had to put plastic bags up.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">He said the leaks were so bad, sometimes they had to use an umbrella inside the house to keep from getting wet. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Because of the conditions, Randy’s home failed a Section 8 inspection, so the government program stopped making payments to his landlord. And then he developed emphysema and ended up in the hospital. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>RANDY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And they was getting ready to put me on a breathing machine ’cause my lungs was getting ready to collapse. I almost, almost died.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">He was in the hospital for two months. Three days after he got out, he got a knock on his door.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>RANDY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">My landlord’s lawyer served me with eviction papers.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Randy says going to housing court to fight his eviction was confusing and scary. When he got there, he was met with long lines and little information.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>RANDY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It leaves you numb, and empty inside. As soon as you get there first, you don’t know what to look for and you’ve got a long line of people. And some of them are emotional, crying, you know, while you waiting in line to go through the metal detector to get in there.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">At that time, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://newsettlement.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/CDP.WEB_.doc_Report_CASA-TippingScales-full_201303.pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">about 2,000 tenants were showing up at the Bronx housing court \u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">every day. It was the busiest eviction courtroom in all five boroughs. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Ultimately, Randy did end up getting an attorney. He found someone through a legal help group in his neighborhood. His case took almost two years, but he eventually won, an outcome he says would have been impossible without his attorney. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>RANDY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I don’t think no tenant should have to go through what me and my kids went through, and no tenant should have to stand before a judge and not know what their rights are. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Randy got involved with the group \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://newsettlement.org/casa/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Community Action for Safe Apartments, or CASA\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">CASA and a coalition of housing groups pressured the city to adopt a right to counsel. Organizers made the moral case that no one should have to face something as life-altering as losing your home without the benefit of an attorney.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Susanna Blankley was the group’s director at the time.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>SUSANNA BLANKLEY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It meant the right to not face eviction alone. It meant the right to know that you would be protected. It meant the right to have power within the court system.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music in)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The coalition kept pushing, whipping up support wherever they could. First at a neighborhood board meeting, then City Council hearings, delivering a petition with 7,000 signatures to the mayor’s office. They even got the chief judge of the New York court system to testify in support of a right to counsel.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Until finally, after three years of organizing, New York City tenants made history. And won something that didn’t exist anywhere else in America: a right to counsel.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When the program rolled out in 2017, it guaranteed most low-income tenants access to an attorney if they’re facing eviction. Former Mayor Bill de Blasio signed the legislation at CASA’s offices in the Bronx. Standing beside him was Randy Dillard.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Sounds from the moments when Mayor Bill de Blasio was signing the legislation.) \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>RANDY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The reason why I’m here today, you wouldn’t be able to see me if I didn’t have an attorney. That’s why I’m standing up here. That’s why I’ve been fighting with the coalition and with CASA to make this possible.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> In a video of the signing, Randy has this big smile on his face. Afterward, de Blasio turns to him and hands him the pen. He still has it today, framed on his wall.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>RANDY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I introduced the mayor and I, and I spoke. They let me speak. It was powerful. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It was something that I had never imagined. Something that big that I will be a part of. I never looked at it starting out when we was fighting for it. I only looked at it, that is something that needed to be done. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music out)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003ca href=\"https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/EKYbCM890xsxzEyOiQa3O9?domain=www1.nyc.gov\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And early results show it’s working.\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Since a right to counsel passed in 2017, more than half a million New Yorkers have gotten legal representation. And 84% of them were able to stay in their homes.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Fewer evictions means fewer households falling into homelessness.\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/4408380/PDF/Cost-Benefit-Impact-Studies/SRR%20Report%20-%20Eviction%20Right%20to%20Counsel%20%203%2016%2016.pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> A cost-benefit analysis\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> on New York City predicted it would save $320 million, most of it in emergency shelter costs.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When a tenant is guaranteed an attorney, it also changes the way landlords use eviction courts. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/EKYbCM890xsxzEyOiQa3O9?domain=www1.nyc.gov\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Since 2013, eviction filings have dropped by about 40%, and bogus cases are thrown out quickly.\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Again, here’s Susanna Blankley:\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>SUSANNA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We’ve seen filings go down. It means landlords are suing people less. You see people show up to court way more because they believe that they have a chance to win. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It might not be surprising to hear that landlords don’t welcome the right-to-counsel laws. Sam Gilboard is the senior manager of public policy at the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://apartmentalize.naahq.org/?utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=apt22&utm_term=national-apartment-association&utm_content=responsive-search&gclid=Cj0KCQiA64GRBhCZARIsAHOLriL66LfyCp8d1UMwyleBNAQfzwlSf7ohYlCMaPJNOEqaQm5f-RJEuUoaAiYpEALw_wcB\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">National Apartment Association\u003c/span>\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>SAM GILBOARD\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It prolongs an already lengthy process. When you have a right to counsel, you’re prolonging an experience that is stressful. It’s costly. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sam says landlords try to avoid evictions whenever possible.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>SAM\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Evictions are the only legal pathway that a housing provider has to dealing with issues of nonpayment or breach of lease. It’s a last-resort measure that is used in only the most dire of circumstances. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Instead, Gilboard advocates for different solutions — like more rental assistance. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But landlord opposition isn’t the only challenge. Legal defense programs are expensive. New York City budgeted $166 million for right to counsel this year. And not every city has that kind of money.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Brandi Snow is the legal director with \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.centralcallegal.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Central California Legal Services.\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>BRANDI SNOW\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It obviously costs money to pay lawyers to do that, somebody has to pay for it. And there is a resistance in some places to the idea of using taxpayer money to assist those who didn’t pay their rent.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The other issue is bandwidth, and having enough tenant attorneys to make sure they can actually take those cases. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>BRANDI\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When you’re lacking enough attorneys for it now, you’ve created this right to something that you can’t provide.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> But that isn’t stopping this idea from taking off.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>BRANDI\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Across the country, you’re seeing more of these right-to-counsel programs pop up that are doing amazing things. You know, New York has it, Cleveland has it, San Francisco has this also, and so does LA.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Last year\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Washington became the first state\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">to pass it. John Pollock with the National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel says that’s a big deal. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JOHN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s everything. It’s the fact that we went from having no jurisdiction with the right to counsel, to having 13. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So, you know, from a movement standpoint, I think it’s really come to a high point.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In the last year, 11 more states have introduced the idea. John says the pandemic is driving a lot of the interest.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Even President Joe Biden is paying attention. Right to counsel and other court diversion programs were the focus of a White House summit last year.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music in)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And that’s the biggest win for tenants like Randy Dillard, who started this fight — that it didn’t stop with New York City.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>RANDY\u003c/b>: For other cities to follow, to me, is a great achievement, and I never knew that I would ever be a part of something so great. I feel good. I really do. And you know, knowing that somebody like me that was getting ready to go in front of a judge can sleep a little bit peaceful at night because they got somebody fighting for them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It’s a reminder that movements don’t happen overnight. They’re usually built on small victories. But sometimes they turn into something bigger that shifts the power and changes the narrative, and gives tenants the right to a fighting chance to stay in their homes.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music out)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Sold Out theme song begins.)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Next time on Sold Out: We go to the root of the problem — how to keep people housed when they can’t pay the rent.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEMANIE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Knowing that we had the housing voucher, we thought it was going to be easier because it was a guarantee.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>EVA ROSEN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It can be really hard to find a place to live with that voucher at all.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>EUGENE ZINCHIK\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It’s like dealing with the DMV. It’s, you know, we’ve all been there, but you know, we don’t really want to do that, unless we have to.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m Erin Baldassari.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And I’m Molly Solomon. You’ve been listening to Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you like what you hear, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts — and tell a friend about the show!\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sold Out is a production of KQED. This episode was written and reported by us: Molly Solomon and Erin Baldassari.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Adhiti Bandlamudi produced this episode. Kyana Moghadam is our senior producer. Brendan Willard is our sound engineer. And Rob Speight wrote our theme song. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Natalia Aldana is our senior engagement producer and Gerald Fermin is our engagement intern.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Thank you to our editor, Erika Kelly. Additional editing from Jessica Placzek and Otis Taylor Jr.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We couldn’t have made this season without Ethan Toven-Lindsey, Holly Kernan, Erika Aguilar and Vinnee Tong. Thanks so much for listening. We’ll see you next week.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"In this episode of Sold Out, we'll go to Fresno in California's Central Valley and meet tenant advocates who are pushing for a right to counsel. And we'll also visit New York, where this movement took off, and speak to the activists behind it.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1727134443,"stats":{"hasAudio":true,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":208,"wordCount":5510},"headData":{"title":"Power in the Courts: When Tenants Fight Back | KQED","description":"In this episode of Sold Out, we'll go to Fresno in California's Central Valley and meet tenant advocates who are pushing for a right to counsel. And we'll also visit New York, where this movement took off, and speak to the activists behind it.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Power in the Courts: When Tenants Fight Back","datePublished":"2022-03-07T03:01:31-08:00","dateModified":"2024-09-23T16:34:03-07:00","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png","isAccessibleForFree":"True","publisher":{"@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","@id":"https://www.kqed.org/#organization","name":"KQED","url":"https://www.kqed.org","logo":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}}},"source":"SOLD OUT","sourceUrl":"https://www.kqed.org/podcasts/soldout","audioUrl":"https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.megaphone.fm/KQINC6308765795.mp3?updated=1646440197","sticky":false,"excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","path":"/news/11907091/power-in-the-courts-when-tenants-fight-back","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When it comes to eviction court, tenants are far less likely than property owners to be represented by an attorney. That makes it especially difficult for them to understand their rights and navigate the complex system. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The right to counsel is something that tenant advocates are pushing for across the country, and more cities and states are considering it, especially in light of the economic hardship caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In this episode of Sold Out, we’ll go to Fresno in California’s Central Valley, where rents are rising, and meet tenant advocates who have organized to push for a right to counsel. And we’ll also visit New York, where this movement took off, and speak to the activists behind it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch5 id=\"embed-code\" class=\"inconsolata\">\n\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC6308765795&light=true\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/h5>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>LANDLORD V. TENANT [TRANSCRIPT]\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>ERIKA KELLY, EDITOR\u003c/strong>: I’m Erika Kelly, the editor of Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America, here to say thank you for listening to the show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Our team is wrapping up the season, and we’d love to know what you thought about it, what you liked, what you didn’t like. Most importantly, we’d like to know a little more about you, our listener. What issues or stories [do] you want to hear more of in the future?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Head over to \u003ca href=\"https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/6755022/f959eb5782fc\">kqed.org/soldoutsurvey\u003c/a> to leave us some feedback.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thanks so much!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(KQED music in)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music in)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY SOLOMON, HOST\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Hey, I’m Molly Solomon.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN BALDASSARI, HOST\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And I’m Erin Baldassari. From KQED this is Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This season we’ve been exploring evictions. If you’ve been following along, you already know the system is stacked against tenants. And that evictions have devastating consequences. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Nowhere is that more clear than in eviction court. It’s where most cases end up, and it’s where a push for reform is growing.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">On today’s episode: a fight to balance the scales. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music out)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Sounds: City streets. \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Molly Solomon is walking and speaks into her recorder.)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>MOLLY IN FRESNO\u003c/strong>: OK. We’re on O Street, downtown Fresno.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>MOLLY\u003c/strong>: Last fall I drove out to California’s Central Valley, and pulled up to a mid-century modern building in the middle of downtown, the Fresno County Superior Courthouse.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY IN FRESNO\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There is already a line of people that are getting ready to check in through the front door.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A security guard milled around outside. The crisp early morning air was starting to warm as the sun peeked out from behind the building. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m trying to look for Robert Cortez. He’s going to help me out today check out eviction court. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Are you Robert? Hi, I’m Molly. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ROBERT CORTEZ\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hi, nice to meet you.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Robert is an attorney who represents tenants. His law firm, \u003ca href=\"https://www.centralcallegal.org/\">Central California Legal Services\u003c/a>, handles the vast majority of eviction defense cases in Fresno.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We head up to the fourth floor where eviction hearings start every Tuesday morning at 8:30. Today, there are about 20 cases on the docket. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11907099\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11907099\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/IMG_7937-1-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A gray and tan building with various columns, and two people passing in front of it.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/IMG_7937-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/IMG_7937-1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/IMG_7937-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/IMG_7937-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/IMG_7937-1-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/IMG_7937-1-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Fresno County Superior Courthouse in downtown Fresno. \u003ccite>(Alex Hall/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ROBERT\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So 90% of the time we’re in 404, which is just down the hall.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The room is small, no windows. There are a few rows of benches that are about half full. It’s not as packed as it was before the pandemic. Many hearings are still happening on Zoom. Robert points out some lawyers in the room. He calls them the regulars.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ROBERT\u003c/b>: A\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">bout four or five regular landlord attorneys are here every day.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Robert tells me one of the attorneys also serves as a debt collector for the landlords he represents. He collects past due rent from tenants who’ve been evicted. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ROBERT\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">He gets these unrepresented clients to agree to these deals that are payment plans basically. And they go on for years, like five, six, seven years. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music in)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I couldn’t record inside the courtroom while trials were underway. But I’ll say — you didn’t miss much. There’s a reason you never see TV shows about eviction courts. There’s not a lot of drama. Usually, you don’t call witnesses or present evidence. And a lot of times, evictions aren’t even decided in the courtroom.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Music out)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The action is out in the hallway.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Sounds: Door opens and closes.)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ROBERT\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You’ll see a lot of dealmaking out here in the hallways. A lot of times attorneys will come outside and, you know, see if there’s a deal to be made. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> That’s how most cases end up: in deals or settlements. And that’s what Robert’s trying to do for his client Lea Esparza. Lea came to Robert after the court had already issued a default judgment against her, which is basically an automatic win for the landlord. It happens when tenants don’t show up or don’t file their paperwork in time. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In Lea’s case, she tried to file her paperwork. The problem was she’d hired a paralegal off of Craigslist to help her fill it out.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>LEA ESPARZA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She charged me $500 and she didn’t turn in the paperwork. That’s why we ended up with the lockout.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ROBERT\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So the sheriff is scheduled to come to the residence on Thursday. So what I’m trying to get the judge to do is delay that sheriff.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>LEA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yes, they said they were going to come at 6 a.m. and lock me out.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music in) \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Lea had to stop working about a year ago after she was diagnosed with cancer.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>LEA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I am battling cervical cancer and I’m also battling — I just had a surgery three months ago.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She says after this morning’s hearing she’s going back to the hospital for another surgery. And if her eviction goes through, she doesn’t know where she and her kids will go.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>LEA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I got four daughters and myself and like I said, I do, I am battling my health, so I don’t think I have anywhere to go. I don’t got family around here.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music out)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Robert has just come out of a small mediators’ room with the landlord’s attorney. He and Lea huddle in a corner of the hallway, and keep their voices low. He’s got good news: Lea can stay through the end of the year, 109 more days. He’s also gotten her rent payments lowered to about $2 a day.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ROBERT\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A lot of this work is delaying the inevitable. Sometimes eviction is inevitable. But we just try to get as much time as possible, so the client’s not on the street.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Lea will\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">eventually \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">have to leave. But the deal is way better than what she could have negotiated on her own.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Most people don’t have someone like Robert on their side. These eviction cases move quickly and play out in courtrooms every day. And wherever you go, there’s the same imbalance: Landlords have attorneys. And tenants don’t.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JOHN POLLOCK\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And that kind of representational imbalance yields the kind of results you would expect, which is it’s just completely one-sided.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> John Pollock is with the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://civilrighttocounsel.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Their data shows that across the country, 81% of landlords have a lawyer, but only 3% of tenants do.\u003c/span>\u003cb> \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JOHN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The tenants always lose, and half of them don’t even participate in the process because it is such a hopeless, disempowering process right now.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> He says many tenants get pushed into deals that are on the landlord’s terms. And that’s why Pollock says tenants need attorneys, too. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Sold Out theme song begins.)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>MOLLY\u003c/strong>: Think of it this way: We grant defendants a right to an attorney in criminal cases. Why should it be any different for housing court?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JOHN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">From our perspective, these are very serious proceedings on par with criminal ones in terms of the consequences. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Now, the eviction protections put in place during the pandemic are expiring. And, eviction courts are filling up again. As they do, the calls for change are getting louder. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Because tenants and their allies say the current system isn’t fair, and it needs to change.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Sold Out theme song ends.)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11843281\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 657px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11843281\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2020/10/SOLD-OUT-Web-Banners__Tune-In_656x336.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"657\" height=\"337\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/10/SOLD-OUT-Web-Banners__Tune-In_656x336.png 657w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/10/SOLD-OUT-Web-Banners__Tune-In_656x336-160x82.png 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 657px) 100vw, 657px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sold Out: Rethinking Housing In America is a five-part series reimagining what housing could be by examining California, the epicenter of the nation’s housing affordability crisis.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">On a windy morning last spring, a couple dozen people gathered outside Fresno City Hall.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There were tenants, faith leaders and housing advocates. And they were there to call attention to evictions in their neighborhoods.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>A SPEAKER AT CITY HALL\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What is a home when one is renting from a landlord who abuses their power dynamic and refuses to fix these conditions and then threatens to evict tenants who complain? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They directed their protest to the city council, which was meeting inside the gleaming stainless steel building. On their agenda was a proposal to help tenants avoid eviction. Outside, a local pastor, D.J. Criner, took the mic.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>D.J. CRINER\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Are you going to hold landlords just as accountable as landlords think they’re holding residents? Are you going to give individuals an opportunity to have legal aid? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Renters held signs and shared their stories about the rent going up, about being forced to move, about worrying for their children. One of them was Jessica Ramirez, a mother of five who was born and raised in Fresno.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music in)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She was evicted a few years ago and didn’t have an attorney to help her out. Now with that on her record, it’s almost impossible to find new housing. Speaking to the crowd, she held up her eviction papers. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JESSICA RAMIREZ\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is why I’m here today, I’m here to raise my voice. You know, this voice that I have is not for one, but for many.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She shared how she and her family had to live in their car. How her kids had to bathe themselves in the restrooms of a public park.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JESSICA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You know, many out here in this world. You know, I live. This is a struggle. I’m in pain. You know, you guys don’t know how it is, living in the streets. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Pastor Criner called on the city council to protect renters like Jessica. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>D.J.\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is about a call to action. Speak for this young lady and mother of five that is praying for an opportunity to raise her children in the same decent housing you’re able to raise yours in. So we studied the problem. We found the solution. We wrote the proposal, and the money has already been found. The question is now, are you listening and are you going to do something about it?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music out)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Fresno City Hall is in the middle of downtown. It’s densely packed with tall office buildings. But you don’t have to drive far before you’re surrounded by farmland.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Fresno sits at the center of California’s San Joaquin Valley. Founded as a railroad town, it’s grown into an agricultural powerhouse. It’s also been an affordable city in an extremely unaffordable state, at least until recently.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CLIPS FROM FRESNO RENT NEWSCASTS\u003c/b>: “\u003cem>The real estate market is buzzing in the valley.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>“According to a story in The Los Angeles Times called Fresno the hottest market in the country.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>“\u003c/em>\u003cem>Monthly rent in Fresno has soared over the last year — experts cite high demand and low inventory.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> In the last year alone, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.fresnobee.com/fresnoland/article258073823.html\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">rents spiked 28%\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Now, the average one-bedroom is over \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.zumper.com/rent-research/fresno-ca\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">$1,400 a month\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.fresnobee.com/article252425493.html\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And home prices are way up, too\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Driving around Fresno, you can almost feel the hype. Everywhere you go, there are these advertisements for new housing developments. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Alexandra Alvarado has felt it, too. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ALEXANDRA ALVARADO\u003c/b>:\u003cb> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Central Valley has this myth of affordability that, like, people can just come in and afford it and be able to buy houses.\u003c/span>\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She’s always lived around Fresno. She grew up in a small town nearby, moved here for college. Alexandra is now a community organizer with a group called \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://faithinthevalley.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Faith in the Valley\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> — the same group that organized the tenant protest outside City Hall. She says the idea of Fresno as an affordable place … is part of what’s driving up prices.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ALEXANDRA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Especially during the pandemic, when people were working from home, we were running across stories of people from the bay or from LA that were saying, oh, I could buy two houses in Fresno.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Fresno might be cheaper than San Francisco or Los Angeles, but it’s also \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/article209826869.html\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">one of the poorest cities in the country\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/fresnocitycalifornia/INC110219\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">One in four families\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> here live below the federal poverty line.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As prices rise, it’s becoming harder for people to find safe housing. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ALEXANDRA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What they end up being pushed to is what they can afford.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[HOST]\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">An investigation\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> by local newspaper The Fresno Bee found that \u003ca href=\"https://www.fresnobee.com/fresnoland/article249299005.html\">some tenants were living in terrible conditions\u003c/a>: with no heat, leaky pipes, and mold. And when they complained, they were often threatened with an eviction.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music in)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Even before the pandemic, there are anywhere from three [thousand] to 4,000 eviction filings in Fresno each year. That’s according to a 2019 report from two researchers at Fresno State University.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>AMBER CROWELL\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So that’s a lot of people. And it was, you know, 200 or 300 families a month. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s Amber Crowell. She wrote the report with her colleague Janine Nkosi. They also work on housing advocacy with Faith in the Valley.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Janine and Amber spent months observing eviction hearings at the Fresno courthouse, the same place I met up with Robert and Lea. And they saw a lot of the same disparities that I did. Landlords had lawyers, and tenants didn’t. Here’s Janine:\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JANINE NKOSI\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I could literally cry right now when I think about it. Three, like maybe three people, were able to get some type of legal representation in housing court.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">According to the \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">most recent data from Eviction Lab\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, \u003ca href=\"https://evictionlab.org/map/#/2016?geography=counties&bounds=-122.192,35.603,-116.28,37.847&type=er&locations=06019,-119.443,36.916\">Fresno has one of the highest eviction rates in the state\u003c/a>. Far higher than in Los Angeles and San Francisco. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But there’s only one legal aid organization in Fresno. And about half of the residents here are renters. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JANINE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The challenges that we are experiencing, they are not so different than what folks in the Bay Area, right, or Northern California, are experiencing, or in Southern California, but they are happening at an accelerated rate. We have the highest need and the fewest amount of resources.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music out)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[HOST]\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What Janine and Amber found inspired a growing coalition of renters, faith leaders and students — one that only grew as economic shutdowns during the pandemic made it harder for tenants to pay their rent, tenants like Shar Thompson.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>SHAR THOMPSON\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m a single mom that works two jobs. So, you know, it’s really tough.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Shar works part time at Costco. When her shift ends in the afternoon, she heads to her second job at Walmart, where she works overnight stocking shelves. Shar’s from the Central Valley. She grew up in a small farming town nearby called Coalinga.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>SHAR\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you drive down I-5 and smell the fresh air of cow manure, that’s Coalinga. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She moved to Fresno during the pandemic and was having trouble paying her rent. She found Faith in the Valley when she Googled local rent assistance programs.\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Then she started showing up at meetings, learning about her rights as a tenant, and discovered what was possible when she worked alongside other renters.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music in)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>SHAR\u003c/b>: There’s passion behind it from everybody. And I love the fact that we’re all from different walks of life, but we all have the same main goal and that’s to make a whole new housing system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: Shar and the ot\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">her Fresno renters had specific demands for the city. They wanted every tenant fighting an eviction to have an attorney: a\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://leadershipcounsel.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Fresno-Right-to-Counsel-Coalition-Community-Proposal.pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> right to counsel\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But they took it even further. They wanted the city to connect tenants with rent relief. And create a diversion program to help tenants and\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">landlords avoid the courtroom altogether. By early last year, their proposal was ready for the city council.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>SPEAKER AT CITY COUNCIL\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Thank you. Last item — that’s public item that we have is 4-B, it’s a workshop to discuss right-to-counsel proposal.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11907097\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11907097 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/IMG_7983-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A woman stares pensively off into the distance, she wears a green shirt.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/IMG_7983-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/IMG_7983-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/IMG_7983-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/IMG_7983-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/IMG_7983-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/IMG_7983-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fresno renter Jessica Ramirez. \u003ccite>(Alex Hall/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jessica Ramirez, the same renter who spoke outside City Hall, called into this meeting, too. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JESSICA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I am one of many that are speaking out asking for help because I know it only takes one eviction on someone’s record to change their lives forever.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But there’s pushback from landlords and within City Hall. Here’s City Council member Garry Bredefeld.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>GARRY BREDEFELD\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So I know. Imagine, I guess we’re pretty flush with money at the City of Fresno, and now we’re going into the rental tenant defense business. I don’t see any way that I will support these kinds of things. I don’t think this is what we should be doing. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>[HOST]\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Renters continued to pressure the city for months to vote on their proposal. But eventually, it became clear: A true right to counsel was not going to pass. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music out)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Here’s Amber Crowell, the eviction researcher at Fresno State.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>AMBER\u003c/b>: It was tough. It was a tough battle. And we didn’t get everything we wanted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> What they got was something of a compromise. The city calls it the Eviction Protection Program. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s not for all tenants — just the ones who are being wrongfully evicted, like if their landlord’s retaliating against them, or illegally locking them out. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Amber and other housing activists think only a small number of tenants will qualify or even know the program exists, leaving many still vulnerable.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But City Councilmember Tyler Maxwell is more optimistic.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>TYLER MAXWELL\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I can tell you, it is an uphill battle to get where we’re at today. I’m happy we’re able to get our foot in the door.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">He helped introduce the Eviction Protection Program. \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.fresnobee.com/fresnoland/article258184263.html\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s already helped 180 people get free legal help.\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Nearly all of them were able to avoid trial. For the few who did go, most were able to get the eviction off their record. And that’s important, because having an eviction on your record can lock you out of new housing. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11907096\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11907096\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/IMG_7874-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/IMG_7874-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/IMG_7874-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/IMG_7874-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/IMG_7874-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/IMG_7874-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/IMG_7874-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A mural in downtown Fresno. \u003ccite>(Alex Hall/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The program is only funded for one year and Tyler hopes they’ll extend it. But a right to counsel is still a pretty radical idea for Fresno, and he thinks there’s always going to be some people questioning whether it’s worth it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>TYLER\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Why are we giving away free things? You know, why? Why are we providing something for free for people? You know they need to pick themselves up from the bootstraps, which, representing a district like I do, I know that’s a bunch of B.S. — picking yourself up by the bootstraps doesn’t work when you can’t afford the bootstraps. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music in)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This story isn’t over. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A couple months ago, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.fresnobee.com/news/politics-government/article256467491.html\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">150 people showed up at City Hall to demand the city use federal COVID dollars\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to pass a true right to counsel, rent control and more eviction protections. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Amber Crowell and Janine Nkosi say renters in Fresno can’t back down now, even if it feels like a battle between David and Goliath. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>AMBER\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The groups that represent property owners are much more powerful politically than the groups that represent tenants. And so that’s just an ideology that we’re always fighting against.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JANINE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You know, it’s always a battle between individual rights versus, like, collective care and collective responsibility. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They say it’s a battle worth fighting. And you can’t win anything if you don’t ask for it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JANINE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We are made to believe that these are big asks, but we should be dreaming much, much bigger than we ever have been. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Fresno isn’t the only place to fight for a right to counsel. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Coming up on Sold Out: where the movement first began.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music out)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CROWD CHANTING\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Housing is a human right. Fight, fight, fight.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>RANDY DILLARD\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Good morning, good morning, good morning. My name is Randy Dillard and we are facing an eviction crisis in the Bronx.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Randy Dillard wears a bright orange T-shirt. On it is a fist thrust in the air. He energizes the crowd outside New York City Hall in lower Manhattan. It’s 2013 and he’s part of a tenants group in the South Bronx.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>RANDY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Representation for tenants in housing court should be a right.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Randy was familiar with housing court. Before he was an organizer, he worked as a bricklayer. A single dad with five kids, Randy was on Section 8, but his apartment was not up to code. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>RANDY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We have mold all over the apartment. We had leaks coming from up above into an open-light fixture in the bathroom that could have started a fire. We had to put plastic bags up.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">He said the leaks were so bad, sometimes they had to use an umbrella inside the house to keep from getting wet. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Because of the conditions, Randy’s home failed a Section 8 inspection, so the government program stopped making payments to his landlord. And then he developed emphysema and ended up in the hospital. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>RANDY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And they was getting ready to put me on a breathing machine ’cause my lungs was getting ready to collapse. I almost, almost died.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">He was in the hospital for two months. Three days after he got out, he got a knock on his door.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>RANDY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">My landlord’s lawyer served me with eviction papers.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Randy says going to housing court to fight his eviction was confusing and scary. When he got there, he was met with long lines and little information.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>RANDY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It leaves you numb, and empty inside. As soon as you get there first, you don’t know what to look for and you’ve got a long line of people. And some of them are emotional, crying, you know, while you waiting in line to go through the metal detector to get in there.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">At that time, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://newsettlement.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/CDP.WEB_.doc_Report_CASA-TippingScales-full_201303.pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">about 2,000 tenants were showing up at the Bronx housing court \u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">every day. It was the busiest eviction courtroom in all five boroughs. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Ultimately, Randy did end up getting an attorney. He found someone through a legal help group in his neighborhood. His case took almost two years, but he eventually won, an outcome he says would have been impossible without his attorney. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>RANDY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I don’t think no tenant should have to go through what me and my kids went through, and no tenant should have to stand before a judge and not know what their rights are. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Randy got involved with the group \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://newsettlement.org/casa/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Community Action for Safe Apartments, or CASA\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">CASA and a coalition of housing groups pressured the city to adopt a right to counsel. Organizers made the moral case that no one should have to face something as life-altering as losing your home without the benefit of an attorney.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Susanna Blankley was the group’s director at the time.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>SUSANNA BLANKLEY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It meant the right to not face eviction alone. It meant the right to know that you would be protected. It meant the right to have power within the court system.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music in)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The coalition kept pushing, whipping up support wherever they could. First at a neighborhood board meeting, then City Council hearings, delivering a petition with 7,000 signatures to the mayor’s office. They even got the chief judge of the New York court system to testify in support of a right to counsel.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Until finally, after three years of organizing, New York City tenants made history. And won something that didn’t exist anywhere else in America: a right to counsel.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When the program rolled out in 2017, it guaranteed most low-income tenants access to an attorney if they’re facing eviction. Former Mayor Bill de Blasio signed the legislation at CASA’s offices in the Bronx. Standing beside him was Randy Dillard.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Sounds from the moments when Mayor Bill de Blasio was signing the legislation.) \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>RANDY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The reason why I’m here today, you wouldn’t be able to see me if I didn’t have an attorney. That’s why I’m standing up here. That’s why I’ve been fighting with the coalition and with CASA to make this possible.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> In a video of the signing, Randy has this big smile on his face. Afterward, de Blasio turns to him and hands him the pen. He still has it today, framed on his wall.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>RANDY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I introduced the mayor and I, and I spoke. They let me speak. It was powerful. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It was something that I had never imagined. Something that big that I will be a part of. I never looked at it starting out when we was fighting for it. I only looked at it, that is something that needed to be done. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music out)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003ca href=\"https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/EKYbCM890xsxzEyOiQa3O9?domain=www1.nyc.gov\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And early results show it’s working.\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Since a right to counsel passed in 2017, more than half a million New Yorkers have gotten legal representation. And 84% of them were able to stay in their homes.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Fewer evictions means fewer households falling into homelessness.\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/4408380/PDF/Cost-Benefit-Impact-Studies/SRR%20Report%20-%20Eviction%20Right%20to%20Counsel%20%203%2016%2016.pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> A cost-benefit analysis\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> on New York City predicted it would save $320 million, most of it in emergency shelter costs.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When a tenant is guaranteed an attorney, it also changes the way landlords use eviction courts. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/EKYbCM890xsxzEyOiQa3O9?domain=www1.nyc.gov\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Since 2013, eviction filings have dropped by about 40%, and bogus cases are thrown out quickly.\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Again, here’s Susanna Blankley:\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>SUSANNA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We’ve seen filings go down. It means landlords are suing people less. You see people show up to court way more because they believe that they have a chance to win. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It might not be surprising to hear that landlords don’t welcome the right-to-counsel laws. Sam Gilboard is the senior manager of public policy at the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://apartmentalize.naahq.org/?utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=apt22&utm_term=national-apartment-association&utm_content=responsive-search&gclid=Cj0KCQiA64GRBhCZARIsAHOLriL66LfyCp8d1UMwyleBNAQfzwlSf7ohYlCMaPJNOEqaQm5f-RJEuUoaAiYpEALw_wcB\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">National Apartment Association\u003c/span>\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>SAM GILBOARD\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It prolongs an already lengthy process. When you have a right to counsel, you’re prolonging an experience that is stressful. It’s costly. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sam says landlords try to avoid evictions whenever possible.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>SAM\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Evictions are the only legal pathway that a housing provider has to dealing with issues of nonpayment or breach of lease. It’s a last-resort measure that is used in only the most dire of circumstances. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Instead, Gilboard advocates for different solutions — like more rental assistance. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But landlord opposition isn’t the only challenge. Legal defense programs are expensive. New York City budgeted $166 million for right to counsel this year. And not every city has that kind of money.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Brandi Snow is the legal director with \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.centralcallegal.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Central California Legal Services.\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>BRANDI SNOW\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It obviously costs money to pay lawyers to do that, somebody has to pay for it. And there is a resistance in some places to the idea of using taxpayer money to assist those who didn’t pay their rent.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The other issue is bandwidth, and having enough tenant attorneys to make sure they can actually take those cases. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>BRANDI\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When you’re lacking enough attorneys for it now, you’ve created this right to something that you can’t provide.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> But that isn’t stopping this idea from taking off.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>BRANDI\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Across the country, you’re seeing more of these right-to-counsel programs pop up that are doing amazing things. You know, New York has it, Cleveland has it, San Francisco has this also, and so does LA.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Last year\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Washington became the first state\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">to pass it. John Pollock with the National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel says that’s a big deal. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JOHN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s everything. It’s the fact that we went from having no jurisdiction with the right to counsel, to having 13. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So, you know, from a movement standpoint, I think it’s really come to a high point.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In the last year, 11 more states have introduced the idea. John says the pandemic is driving a lot of the interest.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Even President Joe Biden is paying attention. Right to counsel and other court diversion programs were the focus of a White House summit last year.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music in)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And that’s the biggest win for tenants like Randy Dillard, who started this fight — that it didn’t stop with New York City.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>RANDY\u003c/b>: For other cities to follow, to me, is a great achievement, and I never knew that I would ever be a part of something so great. I feel good. I really do. And you know, knowing that somebody like me that was getting ready to go in front of a judge can sleep a little bit peaceful at night because they got somebody fighting for them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It’s a reminder that movements don’t happen overnight. They’re usually built on small victories. But sometimes they turn into something bigger that shifts the power and changes the narrative, and gives tenants the right to a fighting chance to stay in their homes.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music out)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Sold Out theme song begins.)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Next time on Sold Out: We go to the root of the problem — how to keep people housed when they can’t pay the rent.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEMANIE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Knowing that we had the housing voucher, we thought it was going to be easier because it was a guarantee.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>EVA ROSEN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It can be really hard to find a place to live with that voucher at all.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>EUGENE ZINCHIK\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It’s like dealing with the DMV. It’s, you know, we’ve all been there, but you know, we don’t really want to do that, unless we have to.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m Erin Baldassari.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And I’m Molly Solomon. You’ve been listening to Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you like what you hear, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts — and tell a friend about the show!\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sold Out is a production of KQED. This episode was written and reported by us: Molly Solomon and Erin Baldassari.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Adhiti Bandlamudi produced this episode. Kyana Moghadam is our senior producer. Brendan Willard is our sound engineer. And Rob Speight wrote our theme song. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Natalia Aldana is our senior engagement producer and Gerald Fermin is our engagement intern.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Thank you to our editor, Erika Kelly. Additional editing from Jessica Placzek and Otis Taylor Jr.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We couldn’t have made this season without Ethan Toven-Lindsey, Holly Kernan, Erika Aguilar and Vinnee Tong. Thanks so much for listening. We’ll see you next week.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/news/11907091/power-in-the-courts-when-tenants-fight-back","authors":["11651","11652"],"programs":["news_33522"],"categories":["news_6266","news_8","news_33520"],"tags":["news_3921","news_18538","news_18372","news_27626","news_37","news_21216","news_1775","news_9","news_28426","news_28541","news_28527"],"featImg":"news_11907094","label":"source_news_11907091"},"news_11906451":{"type":"posts","id":"news_11906451","meta":{"index":"posts_1716263798","site":"news","id":"11906451","score":null,"sort":[1646046063000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"the-landlords-game-who-has-the-power-to-evict","title":"The Landlord's Game: Who Has the Power to Evict?","publishDate":1646046063,"format":"audio","headTitle":"The Landlord’s Game: Who Has the Power to Evict? | KQED","labelTerm":{},"content":"\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Getting evicted can hinder a renter’s ability to find stable housing for years afterward. And the capacity to evict gives landlords a lot of power over their tenants.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In this episode of Sold Out, we explore when and why landlords decide to evict. We also look at how property ownership has shifted in recent years from largely small “mom and pop” landlords to an increasing number of investors and corporations — and what that means for tenants and our housing system.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch5 id=\"embed-code\" class=\"inconsolata\">\n\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC9294160459&light=true\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/h5>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>THE LANDLORD’S GAME [TRANSCRIPT]\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Sounds: Birds whistling, gravel, road, someone walking)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN BALDASSARI, HOST\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It’s a warm fall day in Antioch, California, and Donna Ridge has spent the morning delivering eviction notices. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She’s the property manager for a local landlord, Kevin Davidson, and also one of his tenants. We gather around Donna’s small kitchen table. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Sounds: Papers being shuffled)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>DONNA RIDGE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oh, you got some three-day-notices.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEVIN DAVIDSON\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mm-hmm.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Kevin owns around 100 apartments spread across 15 buildings in the San Francisco Bay Area. And California’s eviction moratorium had just expired about a month earlier. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Sounds: The reporter, Erin, is talking to Donna and Kevin in person)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">How many do you have?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEVIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Total? I don’t know. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I have three here.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>DONNA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Can’t count that high.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEVIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You got three, right? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY SOLOMON, HOST\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Kevin says that during the pandemic, about a third of his tenants stopped paying rent at one point or another. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>DONNA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Some of these tenants are really good tenants. They didn’t deliberately get behind, but when they did, I mean, bills still have to be paid, you know? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music in)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Most tenants who fell behind received rent relief. But for some, it didn’t cover everything they owed.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEVIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They gotta start paying. Once rent relief has paid up their part, then they gotta pay their part and if they don’t pay, then …\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>DONNA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They get noticed. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEVIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They get a notice.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Each tenant was struggling for a different reason. One guy told Donna he gave his rent money to his roommate, the leaseholder. But the leaseholder wasn’t paying rent. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>DONNA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s not my problem. My problem is that you need to pay your rent, and you need to pay it on time like everybody else does. You know? That’s the way it works.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Another tenant stopped paying rent at the beginning of the pandemic. And while the state had given her the maximum amount of rent relief, she still owed more.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEVIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Now this woman here, we’ll probably have to end up evicting her.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Donna says the tenant had just started going back to work. But then her son ended up in the hospital. Understandably difficult, but by this point Donna had been trying to get her rent money for a year and a half.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>DONNA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She’s got excuse after excuse. Basically, I think she bit off more than she could chew, is what it is. Now she says she doesn’t want to move at all, and I said, “Well, then you better start paying rent.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> With the eviction notices delivered, Kevin has a decision to make. He could work out a deal and maybe come up with a payment plan so his tenants could catch up on missed rent. Or he could file an eviction lawsuit.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If he does file a lawsuit, his tenant could have as little as five days to find a new place to live — no easy task with rents that just keep rising. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEVIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s really a tight rental market right now, so these guys would be smart to pay their rent.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music out)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Sold Out theme song begins.)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">All landlords have the power to evict. But they don’t all wield that power in the same way. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We’ve learned it depends a lot on who\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">the landlord is — and that’s\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">changing. Large corporations are scooping up more rental properties, and as they do, their relationship with tenants becomes less personal and more profit-driven. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m Molly Solomon.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And I’m Erin Baldassari. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">From KQED, you’re listening to Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America. This season, we’re talking about evictions. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Coming up: The business of being a landlord — and when it pays to evict. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Sold Out theme song ends.)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11839127\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 657px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11839127\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2020/09/SOLD-OUT-Web-Banners__Tune-In_656x336.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"657\" height=\"337\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/09/SOLD-OUT-Web-Banners__Tune-In_656x336.png 657w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/09/SOLD-OUT-Web-Banners__Tune-In_656x336-160x82.png 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 657px) 100vw, 657px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">KQED’s podcast Sold Out looks at the history of and solutions to California’s housing crisis. \u003ccite>(KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">To understand how landlords make decisions about evictions, it helps to know why they got into the business. When I asked Kevin, he said he sort of fell into it. He started working as a property manager to help pay his way through college.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Sounds: Highways, cars driving nearby, street sounds)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEVIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So I kind of learned the business a little bit, and I saw the people that were the owners and they seem to be doing pretty good. So I figure that, you know, long term, this would be a good thing to do.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> He bought his first rental property — a single-family home — around 40 years ago, while still holding down a day job at an oil refinery. A few years later, he bought a triplex.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEVIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And I had just gone from there. What happens is property goes up, you refinance it, buy another. Two properties go up, you refinance it and buy another.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Now, he doesn’t need a day job. And he’s not what you’d call a mom-and-pop landlord. He’s bigger than that — more of a mid-sized investor. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEVIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For the most part, my main investment is real estate.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Why?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEVIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And it’s done well. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Yeah. \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Erin laughs.)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEVIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yes, it’s done well.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It’s not all profit, though. He says the maintenance, mortgages, property taxes and insurance cost about 65 to 70% of what he gets in rent. The rest he keeps.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEVIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So your profit margin’s somewhere around 30, 35%.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Most of Kevin’s properties are on the eastern edge of the Bay Area. They’re in low-income neighborhoods. Even if it seems counterintuitive, he says that’s where you get a bigger bang for your buck.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And studies back that up. Researchers from Princeton and MIT found that on average, landlords in low-income neighborhoods took home\u003c/span> \u003ca href=\"https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/701697?mobileUi=0#_i9\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">double the profit\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, compared to landlords in wealthy neighborhoods.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s because they have lower mortgages and property taxes. And despite living in worse neighborhoods, tenants pay about the same in rent. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music in)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But Kevin’s business model of specializing in low-income neighborhoods doesn’t always work out — for him or his tenants. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">He co-owns an RV park and marina in Bethel Island, a small town more than an hour’s drive from San Francisco. County officials there have labeled it a \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2022/02/09/dozens-to-be-evicted-in-messy-battle-over-illegal-east-bay-rv-park/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">public nuisance\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Officials say it was never properly permitted to begin with — even though people had been living there before Kevin and his business partner bought the place back in 2004.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The county and the owners reached a stalemate over how to bring the place up to code. So in November, the owners told the 30-or-so tenants they had to leave. But most had nowhere to go. They stayed and saw bad conditions get worse.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The electricity was cut off in late January, shared bathrooms boarded up and trash service stopped. A few weeks later, a fire broke out in one of the RVs, sending a woman to the hospital with severe burns. She had been using a propane heater to stay warm.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The rents there are about as cheap as they get in the Bay Area, with people paying around $400 to $750 a month.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Deanna Hughes moved into a houseboat on the marina about a year ago. She says a lot of her neighbors survive on disability checks or social security. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>DEANNA HUGHES\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is what they have, you know? Might not be the best place, but it’s a home. It’s a roof over their head. And where are they going to be when they don’t have this, you know? We have enough homeless people in the state of California, I think, without them adding to it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Kevin says he feels bad for the long-term tenants who have lived there for years. But he felt like the situation had just spiraled too far out of control. And, he and his partner are now in the process of selling the property. But first, they have to get everyone out.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music out)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Kevin typically tries to avoid\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">evictions as much as possible. Because they’re expensive. Each time, he has to pay courts and legal services more than $500 in fees. It can cost even more if he has to hire a lawyer. He might go through that whole process only to end up working out a deal with the tenant at the courthouse.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEVIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You know, we don’t want them to leave. When they leave, they cost more money than it does if they just pay.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I asked Kevin if he ever lowered someone’s rent, given the cost of evictions and turnover. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Sounds: Highway, cars on the road, air whistling)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEVIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Well, I don’t really do that much because word gets around. And so if you do it for one person, then you got to start doing it for other people.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Usually, though, if one of his tenants is having trouble coming up with rent, it’s not Kevin they call, it’s his property manager, Donna.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I met up with her one day while she was making the rounds at Kevin’s properties. It was 100 degrees outside, and Donna was sweating under the afternoon sun. But she was still out there raking up debris.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Donna does all kinds of odd jobs for Kevin. On this particular day, there was a duck — a dead duck.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>DONNA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A dead duck? Oh, well, then let’s get that cleaned up then. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Who would do that? That’s disgusting. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She says there’s always something. As Donna repaired a fence, tenants driving by slowed down to wave or call out a quick hello. Others walked over to chat.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Sounds: A drill being operated, highway sounds, wind whistling)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>TENANT SPEAKING TO DONNA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Annabele, she’s starting to stand up by herself now.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>DONNA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oh, no, not already!\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>TENANT\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So, she’s going to start walking.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For Donna, being friendly with the tenants is easy.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>DONNA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And a lot of them say, you know, you’re so great to work with. They’re all, because you understand things, because I’m a tenant, too.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In exchange for her work as property manager, Kevin pays Donna’s utility bills. He also bought the big white truck she drives around when she does maintenance on the properties. Those visits have another benefit, though — they help her keep tabs on folks who are behind on rent.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>DONNA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You have your rent? You have your rent? She better have the rent. She owes last month’s, too. But see, we were working with her. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JILLIAN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I have it all. Just about.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>DONNA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Good girl.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JILLIAN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’ll be there.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>DONNA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Get it all, girl. See ya later. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Donna’s the buffer between Kevin and his tenants. She talks with them, tries to get a sense for why they’re behind, and she can help plead their case to Kevin. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>DONNA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Well, they’ll call me, and then I’ll call him. And he’ll either say, OK, that’s OK. Or, yeah, we’ll wait. Or he won’t. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I asked Kevin how he felt about serving evictions, knowing that an eviction judgment on your record makes it really hard to find another place to live.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEVIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Well, I don’t like it. That’s why I talk to them. That’s why I try to set up payment plans. That’s why we give them every opportunity to pay. But if they don’t, then they can’t live there for free. So we go through with the eviction.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Kevin’s approach to evictions is pretty common. \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/philipgarboden\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Philip Garboden\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> researches landlord behavior at the University of Hawaii.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>PHILIP GARBODEN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sometimes I feel like the sort of public discussion of eviction assumes that landlords love evicting tenants, right? But almost every landlord we talked to felt that actually evicting a tenant was a business failure and a significant business cost.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Most landlords who start the eviction process don’t actually follow through. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In a review of over \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://abell.org/sites/default/files/files/cd-justicediverted216.pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">150,000 eviction notices in Baltimore\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, just under 5% resulted in a court-ordered eviction where a tenant was forced out. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Phillip says even if tenants do end up staying, most landlords see real benefits from filing that first notice. Because it helps them \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://evictionlab.org/serial-eviction-filings/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">collect rent\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>PHILIP\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The goal of the eviction is to — what one landlord called the “first shot over the bow” — to show that tenant that if they don’t pay, there’s going to be severe consequences and those consequences are going to be backed up by the legal system. And those consequences will be lasting.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And there are other benefits for landlords.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>PHILIP\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Many of our landlords explained to us that by filing, they recognize that a tenant is less likely to complain about property issues, right? Is much less likely to, you know, report a landlord.\u003c/span>\u003cb> \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music in)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When you owe someone money, it changes your relationship. You’re probably going to try to avoid them as much as possible. And if that person is your landlord, there’s an added layer of anxiety because your housing’s on the line.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>PHILIP\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And now all of a sudden you have a relationship where in order for that family to stay stably housed, they need to pay back their debt to a landlord. And the way that we treat people to whom we owe money is a fundamentally different social relationship, has fundamentally different power dynamics, than the way we treat people who we buy or rent things from. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Philip says eviction notices help landlords flex their power over their tenants. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But that power imbalance is\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> established much earlier, during the tenant-screening process.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>PHILIP\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Landlords have all the power to sort of give access to families or to deny access to families.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music out)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In Kevin’s case, that screening process starts with Donna. She’s in charge of posting his apartments on Craigslist and sorting through applications.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>DONNA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We ask that they make double the rent, and they have the means to be able to support their children, like if the emergency happened, if they fell and broke an arm or leg or whatever, that they could handle that and the rent still, you know?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She says there’s one red flag they always look for. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>DONNA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mainly, no evictions.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They make a few exceptions but most of the time, they pass. Because whatever the reason, it could happen again, and they don’t want to take that chance. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Philip says that’s the way a lot of landlords operate. And it makes sense: They want tenants who will pay rent on time. All this to say, if you have past evictions, a low income, bad credit, or kids, it can be very hard to find a landlord willing to rent you a home.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music in)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>PHILIP\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That becomes much more of this relationship of, you’re applying for admission, right? And the fewer resources, the lower income, the more income volatility that a particular family experiences, the stronger that power dynamic is.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This power imbalance between landlords and tenants, it’s nothing new. But in some cases, it’s growing. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Coming up: What to expect when your landlord is a corporation.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music out)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Sounds: Game pieces being thrown onto a game board, shuffling of objects)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIKA KELLY, EDITOR\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So everybody gets how much money? $1,500? I can’t remember what we start with.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I can’t remember what we start with.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oh, wow, I didn’t even know we started with that much. \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Molly laughs.)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIKA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, you gotta be able to pay rent, you gotta be able to buy stuff.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s our editor, Erika Kelly. We all got together the other day for a game we all played as kids. You can probably guess what it is.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cb>MONOPOLY COMMERCIAL CIRCA 1981\u003c/b>\u003c/em>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">To make it big, you’ve got to play the game. I’m Monopoly Game. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> For everyone who’s played Monopoly, you know the point of the game: Buy up all the properties and get as rich as possible. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIKA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, you want to bankrupt everybody else. If you don’t buy stuff, there’s no way to make money.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It was pretty clear who was dominating the game.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: There’s not even even any $100 bills left in here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I know, because Erika has them all. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIKA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They are all over here. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(All three players laugh.)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music in)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But this version of the game we all know, that’s not the way the game was intended\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">to be played.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The original concept came from a woman named Lizzie Magie. Her version of the game \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/15/business/behind-monopoly-an-inventor-who-didnt-pass-go.html\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">came out in 1903\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a time when a lot of people really struggled to pay rent. And she wanted the game to be a cautionary tale. Not to glorify capitalism, but steer people away\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">from it. She called it: The Landlord’s Game.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music out)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> In Magie’s version of the game, there were two ways to play: the version we know today, and one where everyone shared the profit. In real life, there are also different ways for landlords to play. Some just want a steady income. But increasingly, others are out to own the whole board. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Up until the late ‘80s, the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/1998/demo/h121-98-01.pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">vast majority\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> of landlords owned fewer than five units — you know, mom and pops. That began to change as more midsized players, like Kevin, got into the game. And corporations\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">began buying more and more apartment buildings. Companies now own at least \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.census.gov/data-tools/demo/rhfs/#/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">two-thirds\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> of all apartment buildings nationwide. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And it’s not just apartments. According to the Census Bureau, nearly\u003c/span> \u003ca href=\"https://www.census.gov/data-tools/demo/rhfs/#/?s_type=1&s_tableName=TABLE2&s_byGroup1=3&s_filterGroup1=2\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">3 million single-family homes \u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">are now owned by LLCs, LLPs or LPs — shell companies that mask the identity of the true owner. And each one of those houses has a tenant who pays rent.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Neal Dennis III was one of those tenants. He’s a former security guard and a father of seven. In 2015, he and his family moved into a new home in Antioch. Two years later, Neal wasn’t getting as many hours at work, and bills began piling up. He and his wife had to make a choice.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NEAL DENNIS III\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You know PG&E was going up in the house. Water, garbage, you know, all that adds up so when you’re trying to divvy it out to everybody, somebody is going to get cut short sometimes. We need water, we need PG&E. Well, rent is going to be a little short this month.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For the first time, Neal was late paying rent. His landlord was Waypoint Homes. At the time, Neal had no idea the company owned more than \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160105006880/en/Colony-Starwood-Homes-Announces-Closing-of-7.7-Billion-Merger-of-Starwood-Waypoint-Residential-Trust-with-Colony-American-Homes-Creating-the-Premier-Single-Family-REIT\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">23,000 homes across four states\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. When he fell behind, no one offered to get him on a payment plan. Instead …\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NEAL\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I think they filed within a week.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">After not paying?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NEAL\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> After not paying.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Wow, that’s so quick. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NEAL\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You know, it was quick.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Did anyone call you ahead of time? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NEAL\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">No, we just got a letter in the mail, you know, and a letter on the door.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Neal couldn’t afford a lawyer who might’ve worked out a deal. So, he and his wife agreed to pay the back rent, and then packed up to leave.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> We tried to track down Waypoint for comment, but the company \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://news.theregistrysf.com/gi-partners-sells-waypoint-portfolio-colony-starwood-815mm/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">no longer exists\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Just a few months after Neal and his family were evicted, it was swallowed up in a string of consolidations by \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://news.theregistrysf.com/gi-partners-sells-waypoint-portfolio-colony-starwood-815mm/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">larger\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.housingwire.com/articles/41839-invitation-homes-starwood-waypoint-homes-merge-to-create-largest-single-family-landlord/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">larger\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> players, eventually merging with Invitation Homes — the country’s largest owner of single-family rentals. Today, they own more than \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://s28.q4cdn.com/264003623/files/doc_financials/2021/q4/Q4-2021-Supplemental_FINAL.pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">81,000 across 12 states\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11906470\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11906470 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/Invitation-Homes-Growth-800x545.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"545\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/Invitation-Homes-Growth-800x545.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/Invitation-Homes-Growth-1020x695.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/Invitation-Homes-Growth-160x109.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/Invitation-Homes-Growth-1536x1047.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/Invitation-Homes-Growth-2048x1396.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/Invitation-Homes-Growth-1920x1308.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">This graphic shows the growth of Invitation Homes over time and its mergers with other large single-family-home landlords. \u003ccite>(Graphic courtesy of Desiree Fields/UC Berkeley. Graphic by Manon Vergerio/independent researcher and Desiree Fields/UC Berkeley)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Their rapid growth is emblematic of a big shift towards corporate landlords. \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://fcic-static.law.stanford.edu/cdn_media/fcic-reports/fcic_final_report_chapter22.pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Millions of families lost their homes\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to foreclosure during the 2008 housing bust. And many of them became renters. New corporate landlords took advantage of dirt-cheap prices, buying up homes by the thousands. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/fieldsdesiree\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Desiree Fields\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> is a professor of geography and urban studies at the University of California in Berkeley. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music in) \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>DESIREE FIELDS\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And it is this huge loss of wealth at the household level that is what enables these players to get their start. So there’s something important there, right? This, \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">like, v\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">ery direct transfer of wealth from Main Street to Wall Street.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Invitation Homes was founded in 2012 by Blackstone — one of the biggest private equity firms in the world. Invitation Homes CEO Dallas Tanner \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2cAVzYwnyo\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">recently told\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> the podcast RealWealth the fact that the company owns so many homes is a good thing. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2cAVzYwnyo\">\u003cb>\u003cem>DALLAS TANNER ON REALWEALTH SHOW\u003c/em>\u003c/b>\u003c/a>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We can drive down the costs because of our economies of scale in terms of how we, you know, fit and finish your home, offer upgraded standards within a home, whether it’s kitchens, countertops, master bathrooms, whatever. And the law of large numbers really helps us create a better product at a more affordable price.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Those cost savings don’t appear to be passed on to tenants. Instead, they go to investors as profits. Invitation Homes increased rents \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://s28.q4cdn.com/264003623/files/doc_news/Q4-2021-Supplemental_Press-Release-FINAL.pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">last year\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> by an average of 9%. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That translated into more than $260 million in profits paid out to shareholders.\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The company capitalized on increased demand for single-family rentals during the pandemic. And they continued to buy up more homes, even amid sky-high prices.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>DESIREE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They can kind of outcompete would-be-owner occupiers. And that, in turn, just kind of shunts people back into the rental market and increases demand for essentially the products the invitation homes is renting out.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music out) \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Despite its financial success, the company has recently come under fire, and a big part of that has to do with evictions.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://coronavirus.house.gov/sites/democrats.coronavirus.house.gov/files/2021-07-19.Clyburn%20to%20Invitation%20Homes%20re%20Pandemic%20Evictions.pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Congress is investigating\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Invitation Homes and \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://coronavirus.house.gov/news/press-releases/clyburn-investigate-pandemic-evictions-corporate-landlords\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">three other big corporate landlords\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> for evicting people during the pandemic. The company filed more than\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lgntfTGWT4rbylrmtYDiEWJODbrHAofNMrKaqcHXG9E/edit#gid=2047\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> 1,300 evictions\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> last year alone, according to a compilation of court records by a watchdog group.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Invitation Homes wouldn’t agree to a recorded interview, but they said in a statement they’ve been trying to work with tenants during the pandemic, even signing up hundreds for rent relief. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But when it comes to its eviction practices, Invitation Homes isn’t that different from other big corporations. \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2893552\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Studies\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> have shown corporate landlords are more likely to evict than smaller landlords, even two to three times more likely, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://academic.oup.com/sf/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/sf/soab063/6301048\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">according to one study out of Princeton.\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Again, here’s University of Hawaii researcher Philip Garboden.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>PHILIP\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There’s big differences in how landlords do eviction, based on who that landlord is. T\u003c/span>he large corporate entities are much more likely to file quickly and a lot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Philip says that’s partly because those decisions are standardized. And they’re not made by property managers like Donna. Notices go out automatically. It’s a process that doesn’t usually leave tenants much leeway to work out a deal. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>PHILIP\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Warnings go out on the fifth of the month to all tenants who are late. Then by the seventh or ninth of the month there’s an official filing process. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Corporate landlords are under extreme pressure to increase their profits. And Desiree Fields says they have other kinds of demands. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>DESIREE\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> They have imperatives to pay dividends to, you know, to their investors, to shareholders. They have large amounts of debt that they need to pay down. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Corporate landlords typically charge more fees for things like late rent, pets, pest control and parking. And while smaller landlords typically cover maintenance, corporate landlords are increasingly sticking tenants with those bills.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>DESIREE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So we see them increasing rents, but we also see them in general trying to squeeze the asset any way they can. So we see things like piling on lots of extra fees as a way of generating revenue.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music in)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> After Neal Dennis III and his family were evicted, they did end up finding another place to live. It’s a small blue house with white trim, not far from where they were before. They’re coming up on five years in the house. And this time, Neal’s home is owned by a small landlord who lives in the area. He says the interactions are a lot more forgiving.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NEAL\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Look, if I’m going to be late, I’ll give him a call let him know, “Hey, I need until this time.” “No problem.” “I’ll have it in your account at this certain time.” “No problem.” Never no notice on my door. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> In a lot of ways, what small landlords are looking for in tenants is pretty similar to what tenants want from their landlords: stability. Most have day jobs. They manage the properties themselves, and they don’t want a lot of extra work. So they \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01944363.2020.1798806\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">tend to charge their tenants less\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, because they want to hold onto them and reduce turnover.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>DESIREE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They’re looking for, you know, their rent checks to flow in as a supplement to their income. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music out)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> But there are downsides to having a smaller landlord. Philip Garboden says a closer personal relationship with tenants can also lead to more friction.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>PHILIP\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When they feel a tenant is hiding from them or when they feel for whatever reason a tenant isn’t trying their hardest to pay the rent, things can go south in a hurry sort of emotionally.\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And that can influence their decision to evict.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>PHILIP\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Small owners can be so frustrated that maybe they will go and execute an eviction, even if it’s not profitable for them. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There’s also \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/00031224211029618?journalCode=asra\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">evidence\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> that small landlords tend to rely on gut feelings, which can lead to all kinds of discrimination.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>PHILIP\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So there are trade-offs involved.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But big or small, all landlords hold a lot of power. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>DESIREE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So just by virtue of, you know, having the resources to, you know, to purchase a property and own it, landlords are able to charge tenants for access to something that’s a fundamental human need, right? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And she says that points to a larger, systemic problem. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>DESIREE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We treat housing as a market commodity.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s something to be bought and sold, to make money off of.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And, Desiree says you can hate certain players, especially the ones who are trying to squeeze every last penny from their tenants. But, it’s the game that’s rigged. Big corporations are just taking it to its logical end, by trying to make the most money possible. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>DESIREE\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I do think that’s incompatible with the idea of having housing that is meaningfully affordable, but also to a system where people feel like they have like some power and control over, like, their basic living conditions and, you know, the kinds of choices they’re able to make about their housing.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Owning property has been the main way for middle-class people to build wealth in this country. And, for people who’ve been able to buy into that system, it’s worked really well.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But as rents continue to rise, and \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/07/19/more-u-s-households-are-renting-than-at-any-point-in-50-years/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">more people\u003c/span>\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.nmhc.org/research-insight/quick-facts-figures/quick-facts-resident-demographics/renters-and-owners/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">become renters\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, property ownership is increasingly benefiting a smaller group.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Which raises the question: Is the system we’ve got the one we want? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And is it time to check some of that power and profits, to make sure we all have a place to live?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music out)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Sold Out theme song begins.)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Coming up on Sold Out: fighting evictions in the courts. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">How activists across the country are leveling the playing field between landlords and tenants.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>D.J. \u003c/b>\u003cb>CRINER\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Are you going to hold landlords just as accountable as landlords think they’re holding residents? Are you going to give individuals an opportunity to have legal aid? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JOHN POLLOCK\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">These are very serious proceedings on par with criminal ones in terms of the consequences.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>RANDY \u003c/b>\u003cb>DILLARD\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">No tenant should have to stand before a judge and not know their rights.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m Molly Solomon.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And I’m Erin Baldassari. You’ve been listening to Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you like what you hear, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts — it really helps us share the show.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Sold Out is a production of KQED. This episode was written and reported by us, Molly Solomon and Erin Baldassari.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Adhiti Bandlamudi produced this episode. Kyana Moghadam is our senior producer. Brendan Willard is our sound engineer. Rob Speight wrote our theme song. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Natalia Aldana is our senior engagement producer and Gerald Fermin is our engagement intern.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Thanks to our editor, Erika Kelly. Additional editing from Jessica Placzek and Otis Taylor Jr.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We couldn’t have made this season without Ethan Toven-Lindsey, Holly Kernan, Erika Aguilar and Vinnee Tong.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Thanks for listening. We’ll see you next week!\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":null,"status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1727134447,"stats":{"hasAudio":true,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":214,"wordCount":5281},"headData":{"title":"The Landlord's Game: Who Has the Power to Evict? | KQED","description":"Getting evicted can hinder a renter's ability to find stable housing for years afterward. And the capacity to evict gives landlords a lot of power over their tenants. In this episode of Sold Out, we explore when and why landlords decide to evict. We also look at how property ownership has shifted in recent years from largely small “mom and pop” landlords to an increasing number of investors and corporations — and what that means for tenants and our housing system. THE LANDLORD’S GAME (Sounds: Birds whistling, gravel, road, someone walking) ERIN BALDASSARI, HOST: It’s a warm fall day","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"The Landlord's Game: Who Has the Power to Evict?","datePublished":"2022-02-28T03:01:03-08:00","dateModified":"2024-09-23T16:34:07-07:00","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png","isAccessibleForFree":"True","publisher":{"@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","@id":"https://www.kqed.org/#organization","name":"KQED","url":"https://www.kqed.org","logo":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}}},"source":"SOLD OUT","sourceUrl":"https://www.kqed.org/podcasts/soldout","audioUrl":"https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.megaphone.fm/KQINC9294160459.mp3?updated=1645829114","sticky":false,"excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","path":"/news/11906451/the-landlords-game-who-has-the-power-to-evict","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Getting evicted can hinder a renter’s ability to find stable housing for years afterward. And the capacity to evict gives landlords a lot of power over their tenants.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In this episode of Sold Out, we explore when and why landlords decide to evict. We also look at how property ownership has shifted in recent years from largely small “mom and pop” landlords to an increasing number of investors and corporations — and what that means for tenants and our housing system.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch5 id=\"embed-code\" class=\"inconsolata\">\n\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC9294160459&light=true\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/h5>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>THE LANDLORD’S GAME [TRANSCRIPT]\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Sounds: Birds whistling, gravel, road, someone walking)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN BALDASSARI, HOST\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It’s a warm fall day in Antioch, California, and Donna Ridge has spent the morning delivering eviction notices. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She’s the property manager for a local landlord, Kevin Davidson, and also one of his tenants. We gather around Donna’s small kitchen table. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Sounds: Papers being shuffled)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>DONNA RIDGE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oh, you got some three-day-notices.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEVIN DAVIDSON\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mm-hmm.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Kevin owns around 100 apartments spread across 15 buildings in the San Francisco Bay Area. And California’s eviction moratorium had just expired about a month earlier. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Sounds: The reporter, Erin, is talking to Donna and Kevin in person)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">How many do you have?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEVIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Total? I don’t know. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I have three here.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>DONNA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Can’t count that high.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEVIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You got three, right? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY SOLOMON, HOST\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Kevin says that during the pandemic, about a third of his tenants stopped paying rent at one point or another. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>DONNA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Some of these tenants are really good tenants. They didn’t deliberately get behind, but when they did, I mean, bills still have to be paid, you know? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music in)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Most tenants who fell behind received rent relief. But for some, it didn’t cover everything they owed.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEVIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They gotta start paying. Once rent relief has paid up their part, then they gotta pay their part and if they don’t pay, then …\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>DONNA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They get noticed. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEVIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They get a notice.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Each tenant was struggling for a different reason. One guy told Donna he gave his rent money to his roommate, the leaseholder. But the leaseholder wasn’t paying rent. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>DONNA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s not my problem. My problem is that you need to pay your rent, and you need to pay it on time like everybody else does. You know? That’s the way it works.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Another tenant stopped paying rent at the beginning of the pandemic. And while the state had given her the maximum amount of rent relief, she still owed more.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEVIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Now this woman here, we’ll probably have to end up evicting her.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Donna says the tenant had just started going back to work. But then her son ended up in the hospital. Understandably difficult, but by this point Donna had been trying to get her rent money for a year and a half.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>DONNA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She’s got excuse after excuse. Basically, I think she bit off more than she could chew, is what it is. Now she says she doesn’t want to move at all, and I said, “Well, then you better start paying rent.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> With the eviction notices delivered, Kevin has a decision to make. He could work out a deal and maybe come up with a payment plan so his tenants could catch up on missed rent. Or he could file an eviction lawsuit.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If he does file a lawsuit, his tenant could have as little as five days to find a new place to live — no easy task with rents that just keep rising. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEVIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s really a tight rental market right now, so these guys would be smart to pay their rent.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music out)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Sold Out theme song begins.)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">All landlords have the power to evict. But they don’t all wield that power in the same way. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We’ve learned it depends a lot on who\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">the landlord is — and that’s\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">changing. Large corporations are scooping up more rental properties, and as they do, their relationship with tenants becomes less personal and more profit-driven. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m Molly Solomon.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And I’m Erin Baldassari. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">From KQED, you’re listening to Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America. This season, we’re talking about evictions. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Coming up: The business of being a landlord — and when it pays to evict. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Sold Out theme song ends.)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11839127\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 657px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11839127\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2020/09/SOLD-OUT-Web-Banners__Tune-In_656x336.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"657\" height=\"337\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/09/SOLD-OUT-Web-Banners__Tune-In_656x336.png 657w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/09/SOLD-OUT-Web-Banners__Tune-In_656x336-160x82.png 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 657px) 100vw, 657px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">KQED’s podcast Sold Out looks at the history of and solutions to California’s housing crisis. \u003ccite>(KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">To understand how landlords make decisions about evictions, it helps to know why they got into the business. When I asked Kevin, he said he sort of fell into it. He started working as a property manager to help pay his way through college.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Sounds: Highways, cars driving nearby, street sounds)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEVIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So I kind of learned the business a little bit, and I saw the people that were the owners and they seem to be doing pretty good. So I figure that, you know, long term, this would be a good thing to do.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> He bought his first rental property — a single-family home — around 40 years ago, while still holding down a day job at an oil refinery. A few years later, he bought a triplex.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEVIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And I had just gone from there. What happens is property goes up, you refinance it, buy another. Two properties go up, you refinance it and buy another.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Now, he doesn’t need a day job. And he’s not what you’d call a mom-and-pop landlord. He’s bigger than that — more of a mid-sized investor. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEVIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For the most part, my main investment is real estate.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Why?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEVIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And it’s done well. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Yeah. \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Erin laughs.)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEVIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yes, it’s done well.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It’s not all profit, though. He says the maintenance, mortgages, property taxes and insurance cost about 65 to 70% of what he gets in rent. The rest he keeps.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEVIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So your profit margin’s somewhere around 30, 35%.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Most of Kevin’s properties are on the eastern edge of the Bay Area. They’re in low-income neighborhoods. Even if it seems counterintuitive, he says that’s where you get a bigger bang for your buck.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And studies back that up. Researchers from Princeton and MIT found that on average, landlords in low-income neighborhoods took home\u003c/span> \u003ca href=\"https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/701697?mobileUi=0#_i9\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">double the profit\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, compared to landlords in wealthy neighborhoods.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s because they have lower mortgages and property taxes. And despite living in worse neighborhoods, tenants pay about the same in rent. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music in)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But Kevin’s business model of specializing in low-income neighborhoods doesn’t always work out — for him or his tenants. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">He co-owns an RV park and marina in Bethel Island, a small town more than an hour’s drive from San Francisco. County officials there have labeled it a \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2022/02/09/dozens-to-be-evicted-in-messy-battle-over-illegal-east-bay-rv-park/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">public nuisance\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Officials say it was never properly permitted to begin with — even though people had been living there before Kevin and his business partner bought the place back in 2004.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The county and the owners reached a stalemate over how to bring the place up to code. So in November, the owners told the 30-or-so tenants they had to leave. But most had nowhere to go. They stayed and saw bad conditions get worse.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The electricity was cut off in late January, shared bathrooms boarded up and trash service stopped. A few weeks later, a fire broke out in one of the RVs, sending a woman to the hospital with severe burns. She had been using a propane heater to stay warm.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The rents there are about as cheap as they get in the Bay Area, with people paying around $400 to $750 a month.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Deanna Hughes moved into a houseboat on the marina about a year ago. She says a lot of her neighbors survive on disability checks or social security. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>DEANNA HUGHES\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is what they have, you know? Might not be the best place, but it’s a home. It’s a roof over their head. And where are they going to be when they don’t have this, you know? We have enough homeless people in the state of California, I think, without them adding to it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Kevin says he feels bad for the long-term tenants who have lived there for years. But he felt like the situation had just spiraled too far out of control. And, he and his partner are now in the process of selling the property. But first, they have to get everyone out.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music out)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Kevin typically tries to avoid\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">evictions as much as possible. Because they’re expensive. Each time, he has to pay courts and legal services more than $500 in fees. It can cost even more if he has to hire a lawyer. He might go through that whole process only to end up working out a deal with the tenant at the courthouse.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEVIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You know, we don’t want them to leave. When they leave, they cost more money than it does if they just pay.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I asked Kevin if he ever lowered someone’s rent, given the cost of evictions and turnover. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Sounds: Highway, cars on the road, air whistling)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEVIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Well, I don’t really do that much because word gets around. And so if you do it for one person, then you got to start doing it for other people.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Usually, though, if one of his tenants is having trouble coming up with rent, it’s not Kevin they call, it’s his property manager, Donna.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I met up with her one day while she was making the rounds at Kevin’s properties. It was 100 degrees outside, and Donna was sweating under the afternoon sun. But she was still out there raking up debris.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Donna does all kinds of odd jobs for Kevin. On this particular day, there was a duck — a dead duck.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>DONNA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A dead duck? Oh, well, then let’s get that cleaned up then. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Who would do that? That’s disgusting. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She says there’s always something. As Donna repaired a fence, tenants driving by slowed down to wave or call out a quick hello. Others walked over to chat.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Sounds: A drill being operated, highway sounds, wind whistling)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>TENANT SPEAKING TO DONNA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Annabele, she’s starting to stand up by herself now.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>DONNA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oh, no, not already!\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>TENANT\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So, she’s going to start walking.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For Donna, being friendly with the tenants is easy.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>DONNA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And a lot of them say, you know, you’re so great to work with. They’re all, because you understand things, because I’m a tenant, too.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In exchange for her work as property manager, Kevin pays Donna’s utility bills. He also bought the big white truck she drives around when she does maintenance on the properties. Those visits have another benefit, though — they help her keep tabs on folks who are behind on rent.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>DONNA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You have your rent? You have your rent? She better have the rent. She owes last month’s, too. But see, we were working with her. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JILLIAN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I have it all. Just about.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>DONNA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Good girl.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JILLIAN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’ll be there.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>DONNA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Get it all, girl. See ya later. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Donna’s the buffer between Kevin and his tenants. She talks with them, tries to get a sense for why they’re behind, and she can help plead their case to Kevin. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>DONNA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Well, they’ll call me, and then I’ll call him. And he’ll either say, OK, that’s OK. Or, yeah, we’ll wait. Or he won’t. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I asked Kevin how he felt about serving evictions, knowing that an eviction judgment on your record makes it really hard to find another place to live.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEVIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Well, I don’t like it. That’s why I talk to them. That’s why I try to set up payment plans. That’s why we give them every opportunity to pay. But if they don’t, then they can’t live there for free. So we go through with the eviction.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Kevin’s approach to evictions is pretty common. \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/philipgarboden\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Philip Garboden\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> researches landlord behavior at the University of Hawaii.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>PHILIP GARBODEN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sometimes I feel like the sort of public discussion of eviction assumes that landlords love evicting tenants, right? But almost every landlord we talked to felt that actually evicting a tenant was a business failure and a significant business cost.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Most landlords who start the eviction process don’t actually follow through. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In a review of over \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://abell.org/sites/default/files/files/cd-justicediverted216.pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">150,000 eviction notices in Baltimore\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, just under 5% resulted in a court-ordered eviction where a tenant was forced out. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Phillip says even if tenants do end up staying, most landlords see real benefits from filing that first notice. Because it helps them \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://evictionlab.org/serial-eviction-filings/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">collect rent\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>PHILIP\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The goal of the eviction is to — what one landlord called the “first shot over the bow” — to show that tenant that if they don’t pay, there’s going to be severe consequences and those consequences are going to be backed up by the legal system. And those consequences will be lasting.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And there are other benefits for landlords.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>PHILIP\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Many of our landlords explained to us that by filing, they recognize that a tenant is less likely to complain about property issues, right? Is much less likely to, you know, report a landlord.\u003c/span>\u003cb> \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music in)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When you owe someone money, it changes your relationship. You’re probably going to try to avoid them as much as possible. And if that person is your landlord, there’s an added layer of anxiety because your housing’s on the line.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>PHILIP\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And now all of a sudden you have a relationship where in order for that family to stay stably housed, they need to pay back their debt to a landlord. And the way that we treat people to whom we owe money is a fundamentally different social relationship, has fundamentally different power dynamics, than the way we treat people who we buy or rent things from. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Philip says eviction notices help landlords flex their power over their tenants. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But that power imbalance is\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> established much earlier, during the tenant-screening process.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>PHILIP\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Landlords have all the power to sort of give access to families or to deny access to families.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music out)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In Kevin’s case, that screening process starts with Donna. She’s in charge of posting his apartments on Craigslist and sorting through applications.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>DONNA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We ask that they make double the rent, and they have the means to be able to support their children, like if the emergency happened, if they fell and broke an arm or leg or whatever, that they could handle that and the rent still, you know?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She says there’s one red flag they always look for. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>DONNA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mainly, no evictions.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They make a few exceptions but most of the time, they pass. Because whatever the reason, it could happen again, and they don’t want to take that chance. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Philip says that’s the way a lot of landlords operate. And it makes sense: They want tenants who will pay rent on time. All this to say, if you have past evictions, a low income, bad credit, or kids, it can be very hard to find a landlord willing to rent you a home.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music in)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>PHILIP\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That becomes much more of this relationship of, you’re applying for admission, right? And the fewer resources, the lower income, the more income volatility that a particular family experiences, the stronger that power dynamic is.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This power imbalance between landlords and tenants, it’s nothing new. But in some cases, it’s growing. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Coming up: What to expect when your landlord is a corporation.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music out)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Sounds: Game pieces being thrown onto a game board, shuffling of objects)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIKA KELLY, EDITOR\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So everybody gets how much money? $1,500? I can’t remember what we start with.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I can’t remember what we start with.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oh, wow, I didn’t even know we started with that much. \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Molly laughs.)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIKA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, you gotta be able to pay rent, you gotta be able to buy stuff.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s our editor, Erika Kelly. We all got together the other day for a game we all played as kids. You can probably guess what it is.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cb>MONOPOLY COMMERCIAL CIRCA 1981\u003c/b>\u003c/em>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">To make it big, you’ve got to play the game. I’m Monopoly Game. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> For everyone who’s played Monopoly, you know the point of the game: Buy up all the properties and get as rich as possible. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIKA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, you want to bankrupt everybody else. If you don’t buy stuff, there’s no way to make money.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It was pretty clear who was dominating the game.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: There’s not even even any $100 bills left in here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I know, because Erika has them all. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIKA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They are all over here. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(All three players laugh.)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music in)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But this version of the game we all know, that’s not the way the game was intended\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">to be played.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The original concept came from a woman named Lizzie Magie. Her version of the game \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/15/business/behind-monopoly-an-inventor-who-didnt-pass-go.html\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">came out in 1903\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a time when a lot of people really struggled to pay rent. And she wanted the game to be a cautionary tale. Not to glorify capitalism, but steer people away\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">from it. She called it: The Landlord’s Game.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music out)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> In Magie’s version of the game, there were two ways to play: the version we know today, and one where everyone shared the profit. In real life, there are also different ways for landlords to play. Some just want a steady income. But increasingly, others are out to own the whole board. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Up until the late ‘80s, the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/1998/demo/h121-98-01.pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">vast majority\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> of landlords owned fewer than five units — you know, mom and pops. That began to change as more midsized players, like Kevin, got into the game. And corporations\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">began buying more and more apartment buildings. Companies now own at least \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.census.gov/data-tools/demo/rhfs/#/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">two-thirds\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> of all apartment buildings nationwide. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And it’s not just apartments. According to the Census Bureau, nearly\u003c/span> \u003ca href=\"https://www.census.gov/data-tools/demo/rhfs/#/?s_type=1&s_tableName=TABLE2&s_byGroup1=3&s_filterGroup1=2\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">3 million single-family homes \u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">are now owned by LLCs, LLPs or LPs — shell companies that mask the identity of the true owner. And each one of those houses has a tenant who pays rent.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Neal Dennis III was one of those tenants. He’s a former security guard and a father of seven. In 2015, he and his family moved into a new home in Antioch. Two years later, Neal wasn’t getting as many hours at work, and bills began piling up. He and his wife had to make a choice.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NEAL DENNIS III\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You know PG&E was going up in the house. Water, garbage, you know, all that adds up so when you’re trying to divvy it out to everybody, somebody is going to get cut short sometimes. We need water, we need PG&E. Well, rent is going to be a little short this month.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For the first time, Neal was late paying rent. His landlord was Waypoint Homes. At the time, Neal had no idea the company owned more than \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160105006880/en/Colony-Starwood-Homes-Announces-Closing-of-7.7-Billion-Merger-of-Starwood-Waypoint-Residential-Trust-with-Colony-American-Homes-Creating-the-Premier-Single-Family-REIT\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">23,000 homes across four states\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. When he fell behind, no one offered to get him on a payment plan. Instead …\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NEAL\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I think they filed within a week.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">After not paying?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NEAL\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> After not paying.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Wow, that’s so quick. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NEAL\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You know, it was quick.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Did anyone call you ahead of time? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NEAL\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">No, we just got a letter in the mail, you know, and a letter on the door.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Neal couldn’t afford a lawyer who might’ve worked out a deal. So, he and his wife agreed to pay the back rent, and then packed up to leave.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> We tried to track down Waypoint for comment, but the company \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://news.theregistrysf.com/gi-partners-sells-waypoint-portfolio-colony-starwood-815mm/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">no longer exists\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Just a few months after Neal and his family were evicted, it was swallowed up in a string of consolidations by \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://news.theregistrysf.com/gi-partners-sells-waypoint-portfolio-colony-starwood-815mm/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">larger\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.housingwire.com/articles/41839-invitation-homes-starwood-waypoint-homes-merge-to-create-largest-single-family-landlord/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">larger\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> players, eventually merging with Invitation Homes — the country’s largest owner of single-family rentals. Today, they own more than \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://s28.q4cdn.com/264003623/files/doc_financials/2021/q4/Q4-2021-Supplemental_FINAL.pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">81,000 across 12 states\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11906470\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11906470 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/Invitation-Homes-Growth-800x545.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"545\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/Invitation-Homes-Growth-800x545.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/Invitation-Homes-Growth-1020x695.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/Invitation-Homes-Growth-160x109.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/Invitation-Homes-Growth-1536x1047.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/Invitation-Homes-Growth-2048x1396.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/Invitation-Homes-Growth-1920x1308.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">This graphic shows the growth of Invitation Homes over time and its mergers with other large single-family-home landlords. \u003ccite>(Graphic courtesy of Desiree Fields/UC Berkeley. Graphic by Manon Vergerio/independent researcher and Desiree Fields/UC Berkeley)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Their rapid growth is emblematic of a big shift towards corporate landlords. \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://fcic-static.law.stanford.edu/cdn_media/fcic-reports/fcic_final_report_chapter22.pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Millions of families lost their homes\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to foreclosure during the 2008 housing bust. And many of them became renters. New corporate landlords took advantage of dirt-cheap prices, buying up homes by the thousands. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/fieldsdesiree\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Desiree Fields\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> is a professor of geography and urban studies at the University of California in Berkeley. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music in) \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>DESIREE FIELDS\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And it is this huge loss of wealth at the household level that is what enables these players to get their start. So there’s something important there, right? This, \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">like, v\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">ery direct transfer of wealth from Main Street to Wall Street.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Invitation Homes was founded in 2012 by Blackstone — one of the biggest private equity firms in the world. Invitation Homes CEO Dallas Tanner \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2cAVzYwnyo\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">recently told\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> the podcast RealWealth the fact that the company owns so many homes is a good thing. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2cAVzYwnyo\">\u003cb>\u003cem>DALLAS TANNER ON REALWEALTH SHOW\u003c/em>\u003c/b>\u003c/a>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We can drive down the costs because of our economies of scale in terms of how we, you know, fit and finish your home, offer upgraded standards within a home, whether it’s kitchens, countertops, master bathrooms, whatever. And the law of large numbers really helps us create a better product at a more affordable price.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Those cost savings don’t appear to be passed on to tenants. Instead, they go to investors as profits. Invitation Homes increased rents \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://s28.q4cdn.com/264003623/files/doc_news/Q4-2021-Supplemental_Press-Release-FINAL.pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">last year\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> by an average of 9%. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That translated into more than $260 million in profits paid out to shareholders.\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The company capitalized on increased demand for single-family rentals during the pandemic. And they continued to buy up more homes, even amid sky-high prices.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>DESIREE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They can kind of outcompete would-be-owner occupiers. And that, in turn, just kind of shunts people back into the rental market and increases demand for essentially the products the invitation homes is renting out.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music out) \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Despite its financial success, the company has recently come under fire, and a big part of that has to do with evictions.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://coronavirus.house.gov/sites/democrats.coronavirus.house.gov/files/2021-07-19.Clyburn%20to%20Invitation%20Homes%20re%20Pandemic%20Evictions.pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Congress is investigating\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Invitation Homes and \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://coronavirus.house.gov/news/press-releases/clyburn-investigate-pandemic-evictions-corporate-landlords\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">three other big corporate landlords\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> for evicting people during the pandemic. The company filed more than\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lgntfTGWT4rbylrmtYDiEWJODbrHAofNMrKaqcHXG9E/edit#gid=2047\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> 1,300 evictions\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> last year alone, according to a compilation of court records by a watchdog group.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Invitation Homes wouldn’t agree to a recorded interview, but they said in a statement they’ve been trying to work with tenants during the pandemic, even signing up hundreds for rent relief. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But when it comes to its eviction practices, Invitation Homes isn’t that different from other big corporations. \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2893552\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Studies\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> have shown corporate landlords are more likely to evict than smaller landlords, even two to three times more likely, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://academic.oup.com/sf/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/sf/soab063/6301048\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">according to one study out of Princeton.\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Again, here’s University of Hawaii researcher Philip Garboden.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>PHILIP\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There’s big differences in how landlords do eviction, based on who that landlord is. T\u003c/span>he large corporate entities are much more likely to file quickly and a lot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Philip says that’s partly because those decisions are standardized. And they’re not made by property managers like Donna. Notices go out automatically. It’s a process that doesn’t usually leave tenants much leeway to work out a deal. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>PHILIP\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Warnings go out on the fifth of the month to all tenants who are late. Then by the seventh or ninth of the month there’s an official filing process. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Corporate landlords are under extreme pressure to increase their profits. And Desiree Fields says they have other kinds of demands. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>DESIREE\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> They have imperatives to pay dividends to, you know, to their investors, to shareholders. They have large amounts of debt that they need to pay down. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Corporate landlords typically charge more fees for things like late rent, pets, pest control and parking. And while smaller landlords typically cover maintenance, corporate landlords are increasingly sticking tenants with those bills.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>DESIREE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So we see them increasing rents, but we also see them in general trying to squeeze the asset any way they can. So we see things like piling on lots of extra fees as a way of generating revenue.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music in)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> After Neal Dennis III and his family were evicted, they did end up finding another place to live. It’s a small blue house with white trim, not far from where they were before. They’re coming up on five years in the house. And this time, Neal’s home is owned by a small landlord who lives in the area. He says the interactions are a lot more forgiving.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NEAL\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Look, if I’m going to be late, I’ll give him a call let him know, “Hey, I need until this time.” “No problem.” “I’ll have it in your account at this certain time.” “No problem.” Never no notice on my door. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> In a lot of ways, what small landlords are looking for in tenants is pretty similar to what tenants want from their landlords: stability. Most have day jobs. They manage the properties themselves, and they don’t want a lot of extra work. So they \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01944363.2020.1798806\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">tend to charge their tenants less\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, because they want to hold onto them and reduce turnover.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>DESIREE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They’re looking for, you know, their rent checks to flow in as a supplement to their income. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music out)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> But there are downsides to having a smaller landlord. Philip Garboden says a closer personal relationship with tenants can also lead to more friction.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>PHILIP\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When they feel a tenant is hiding from them or when they feel for whatever reason a tenant isn’t trying their hardest to pay the rent, things can go south in a hurry sort of emotionally.\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And that can influence their decision to evict.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>PHILIP\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Small owners can be so frustrated that maybe they will go and execute an eviction, even if it’s not profitable for them. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There’s also \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/00031224211029618?journalCode=asra\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">evidence\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> that small landlords tend to rely on gut feelings, which can lead to all kinds of discrimination.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>PHILIP\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So there are trade-offs involved.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But big or small, all landlords hold a lot of power. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>DESIREE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So just by virtue of, you know, having the resources to, you know, to purchase a property and own it, landlords are able to charge tenants for access to something that’s a fundamental human need, right? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And she says that points to a larger, systemic problem. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>DESIREE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We treat housing as a market commodity.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s something to be bought and sold, to make money off of.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And, Desiree says you can hate certain players, especially the ones who are trying to squeeze every last penny from their tenants. But, it’s the game that’s rigged. Big corporations are just taking it to its logical end, by trying to make the most money possible. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>DESIREE\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I do think that’s incompatible with the idea of having housing that is meaningfully affordable, but also to a system where people feel like they have like some power and control over, like, their basic living conditions and, you know, the kinds of choices they’re able to make about their housing.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Owning property has been the main way for middle-class people to build wealth in this country. And, for people who’ve been able to buy into that system, it’s worked really well.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But as rents continue to rise, and \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/07/19/more-u-s-households-are-renting-than-at-any-point-in-50-years/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">more people\u003c/span>\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.nmhc.org/research-insight/quick-facts-figures/quick-facts-resident-demographics/renters-and-owners/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">become renters\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, property ownership is increasingly benefiting a smaller group.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Which raises the question: Is the system we’ve got the one we want? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And is it time to check some of that power and profits, to make sure we all have a place to live?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music out)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Sold Out theme song begins.)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Coming up on Sold Out: fighting evictions in the courts. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">How activists across the country are leveling the playing field between landlords and tenants.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>D.J. \u003c/b>\u003cb>CRINER\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Are you going to hold landlords just as accountable as landlords think they’re holding residents? Are you going to give individuals an opportunity to have legal aid? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JOHN POLLOCK\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">These are very serious proceedings on par with criminal ones in terms of the consequences.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>RANDY \u003c/b>\u003cb>DILLARD\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">No tenant should have to stand before a judge and not know their rights.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m Molly Solomon.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And I’m Erin Baldassari. You’ve been listening to Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you like what you hear, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts — it really helps us share the show.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Sold Out is a production of KQED. This episode was written and reported by us, Molly Solomon and Erin Baldassari.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Adhiti Bandlamudi produced this episode. Kyana Moghadam is our senior producer. Brendan Willard is our sound engineer. Rob Speight wrote our theme song. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Natalia Aldana is our senior engagement producer and Gerald Fermin is our engagement intern.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Thanks to our editor, Erika Kelly. Additional editing from Jessica Placzek and Otis Taylor Jr.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We couldn’t have made this season without Ethan Toven-Lindsey, Holly Kernan, Erika Aguilar and Vinnee Tong.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Thanks for listening. We’ll see you next week!\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/news/11906451/the-landlords-game-who-has-the-power-to-evict","authors":["11652","11651"],"programs":["news_33522"],"categories":["news_6266","news_8","news_33520"],"tags":["news_19122","news_18538","news_30292","news_21883","news_27701","news_18372","news_1775","news_9","news_28082","news_27660","news_28426","news_20967","news_28541","news_28527"],"featImg":"news_11906468","label":"source_news_11906451"},"news_11905386":{"type":"posts","id":"news_11905386","meta":{"index":"posts_1716263798","site":"news","id":"11905386","score":null,"sort":[1645441269000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"why-black-women-are-more-likely-to-face-eviction","title":"Why Black Women Are More Likely to Face Eviction","publishDate":1645441269,"format":"audio","headTitle":"Why Black Women Are More Likely to Face Eviction | KQED","labelTerm":{},"content":"\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Evictions do not affect everyone equally. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Millions of renters in this country have struggled to make rent after losing income during the pandemic. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And Black renters, particularly Black women, are more likely to be evicted than white renters.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jean Kendrick and her son were evicted during the early days of the pandemic. We follow their journey to find affordable housing, while examining the factors driving the racial disparities in eviction rates — including generations of racist housing policies and predatory home lending practices. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch5 id=\"embed-code\" class=\"inconsolata\">\n\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC5557493952&light=true\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/h5>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>THE COLOR OF EVICTIONS [TRANSCRIPT]\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A quick note before we begin: This episode includes descriptions of violence and attempted suicide.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Music in)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY SOLOMON, HOST\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s July 30, 2021 — the last Friday before Congress breaks for summer vacation. But not Congresswoman Cori Bush.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>U.S. REPRESENTATIVE CORI BUSH\u003c/b>: \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=3835032279936286\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We are out here, we want to continue to be out here. I’m calling on my colleagues, Congress members, if you support this, come back out here and be with us today.\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN BALDASSARI, HOST\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The representative from St. Louis, Missouri, was standing on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, and she was calling on Congress to come back and do their jobs. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CORI\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Come back out here because we need to be brought back to this house to finish this work so that people don’t end up on the street while we go vacation. We cannot go on vacation while people are at risk.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She’s talking about the millions of renters in this country, disproportionately Black and Brown families, struggling to make rent after losing income during the pandemic. They had been protected from eviction for more than a year, but those protections were about to expire if Congress didn’t act.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Music out)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Sounds from the organized sit-in on the steps of the U.S. Capitol to extend the eviction moratorium, August 2021.)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The congresswoman wasn’t alone — there were protesters, too, with signs and sleeping bags. And they stayed there for five days, in the cold, in the rain.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CORI\u003c/b>: H\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">ere we are. We’re still out here. It is pouring, it’s pouring on us. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11884130\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11884130 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/08/cori-bush-getty.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"599\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/08/cori-bush-getty.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/08/cori-bush-getty-160x120.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">U.S. Rep. Cori Bush, D-Missouri (center), speaks at a rally at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2021. Bush slept on the steps of the Capitol for days to protest that the CDC’s eviction moratorium was being allowed to expire. \u003ccite>(Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>SENATOR \u003c/b>\u003cb>CHUCK SCHUMER\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> We cannot have these people lose their homes.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JOYCE \u003c/b>\u003cb>BEATTY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Fifty-seven members of the Congressional Black Caucus all supported extending the moratorium.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">: We spoke to the Congresswoman a few months after the protest. She said sleeping on the steps of the Capitol brought back memories.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Music in)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CORI\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Once the temperature started to drop, I was triggered.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Almost two decades ago, Congresswoman Cori Bush was an unhoused single mom, living out of her Ford Explorer with two young kids.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CORI\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">: It took me back to those moments when I was cold and sleeping in a car, wondering if my babies were warm enough. Not having enough blankets, no matter how many blankets we put on us, no matter how many items of clothing that we pulled out of the trash bags that were in the car to cover it —\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> you know, \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">it was just like you just couldn’t get warm enough.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Not only has Bush been homeless, she’s been evicted — three times. Before she was elected to Congress, she was a nurse and a Black Lives Matter activist.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CORI\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I kept thinking, who speaks for us? Who speaks for us? Who speaks for single parents? Who speaks for Black women? Who speaks for us?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For all the women who’ve been through what she’s been through. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CORI\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The number of Black women that I know, just through the course of my life, who’ve been evicted from homes is very high.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And the data backs that up. Even before the pandemic, Black women were the most vulnerable to job loss, most likely to be single heads of households and most likely to be evicted. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Research from the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.aclu.org/news/racial-justice/clearing-the-record-how-eviction-sealing-laws-can-advance-housing-access-for-women-of-color/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">ACLU and Princeton’s Eviction Lab\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> show Black women renters get evicted at twice the rate of white renters.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But that story that Cori Bush has lived, and seen all around her, it’s not a new one. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CORI\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> This has been going on since America, since the United States of America, that there has been this discrimination, harmful policies that have been put in place to make sure that there is a group that is supreme in this country. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Music out)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Bush’s protests caught the attention of the nation, including President Joe Biden, who extended the eviction moratorium one final time.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Sold Out theme song begins.)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Her protest got us thinking a lot about who is on the receiving end of an eviction order. And what we learned is that evictions do not affect everyone equally.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m Molly Solomon.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And I’m Erin Baldassari. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You’re listening to Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America. And this season, we’re taking a closer look at evictions: who they happen to, and what that says about inequality in this country.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In this episode, we’ll look at how Black women are more likely to be evicted, and why they are more likely to be renters in the first place.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> For the last year and a half, I’ve been following one woman and her son after they were evicted. Her story tells us a lot about the causes of an eviction, and the consequences. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And how even when you think you’ve done everything right, you can still lose it all.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Sold Out theme song ends.)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11843281\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 657px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11843281\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2020/10/SOLD-OUT-Web-Banners__Tune-In_656x336.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"657\" height=\"337\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/10/SOLD-OUT-Web-Banners__Tune-In_656x336.png 657w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/10/SOLD-OUT-Web-Banners__Tune-In_656x336-160x82.png 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 657px) 100vw, 657px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America is a five-part series reimagining what housing could be by examining California, the epicenter of the nation’s housing affordability crisis.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Sounds: Someone knocks on a door and says, “Hi, Jean!”)\u003c/span>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The first time I met Jean Kendrick in person last summer, she greeted me with a warm smile and a hug. It was exciting to finally see each other. We’d been talking on the phone for months. But with the pandemic, we’d kept our distance. Once we were finally vaccinated, I went to see her.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JEAN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In this room right now, we’re in the bedroom. Right now we’re in the living room. \u003cem>(Laughs)\u003c/em>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We met in Jean’s room at an Extended Stay hotel in Richmond, California, a city north of Oakland. The building is three stories high, plain, with a big parking lot. Jean’s room is close to the lobby on the first floor.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JEAN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And then that’s the kitchenette. And then there’s a bathroom.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, it’s all one room.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>JEAN\u003c/strong>: All one room!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>STANLEY JACKSON III\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The master dining room is over here. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> That’s her son Stanley, making a joke that the corner of the room with a side table is the master dining room.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It can be hard to understand Stanley when he speaks. That’s because when he was 19, he got in a major car accident. He was hit by a street sweeper. Now he’s 43 and lives with a traumatic brain injury. He’s partially paralyzed on the right side of his body and uses a power wheelchair to get around.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>STANLEY\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">: I have a traumatic brain injury and I suffer seizures. So I definitely need someone to stay with me at all times.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11905575\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11905575 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS46474_002_KQED_Richmond_Eviction_12222020-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A mother and her son standing in front of a building. The woman is holding onto this wheelchair handles. They are both wearing masks.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS46474_002_KQED_Richmond_Eviction_12222020-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS46474_002_KQED_Richmond_Eviction_12222020-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS46474_002_KQED_Richmond_Eviction_12222020-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS46474_002_KQED_Richmond_Eviction_12222020-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS46474_002_KQED_Richmond_Eviction_12222020-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jean Kendrick and her son Stanley at an Extended Stay America in Richmond on Dec. 22, 2020. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> That person is Jean. Taking care of Stanley comes naturally to her. She’s retired now, but for nearly 40 years she was a nurse.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JEAN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I loved the idea that I was helping people. And when I originally, back in ‘71, when I first became a nurse, it was actually bedside hands-on care. I like the idea that you go in there and you give a back rub, you turn the patient over.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jean never expected to be 70 years old and living out of a hotel room with her adult son.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JEAN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> This was supposed to have been like a temporary stop until we got something. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> How long did you think you’d stay here?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JEAN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> A month at the most. A month turned into seven months. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> They’ve been living here since they were evicted.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Evicted from the two-bedroom duplex they shared, a short 15-minute drive from here. It was public housing, and the rent was less than $200 a month. It was something they could afford on Jean’s Social Security income and Stanley’s disability checks.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> A quick note before we go any further: This story of Jean and Stanley’s eviction is complicated. And what we’ve learned is that every eviction is. Theirs started in 2019 — before the pandemic. But it kept getting pushed back once COVID-19 hit. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Stanley had gotten into a dispute with his neighbor, and the police were called. According to the police report, the neighbor sprayed Stanley in the face with bug spray, and she stabbed him with a corkscrew.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> What happened next sparked off more than two years of legal battles that included their eviction, plus a felony charge against Stanley. We tried to speak to the Housing Authority about what happened, but they said they couldn’t comment because of federal privacy laws. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> So we put in a public records request and got court tape from their eviction hearing.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>\u003ci>JUDGE IN EVICTION COURT\u003c/i>\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The court’s going to call the matter of the Housing Authority of the City of Richmond vs. Stanley Jackson and Jean Kendrick. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The property manager testified that Stanley had been called into a meeting to talk about the incident with the neighbor. Things got heated, and Stanley lost his temper and started swearing.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>\u003ci>PROPERTY MANAGER IN EVICTION COURT\u003c/i>\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And then he pushed the table, wheeled his wheelchair around towards me. I stood up and backed up towards my wall. And he pulled his wheelchair up to me and kicked me about three to four times.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is ultimately what prompted their eviction. It was a violation of Stanley’s lease. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jean knows Stanley has a temper, and when he feels threatened or misunderstood, he can lash out. This stems from his bipolar disorder and his traumatic brain injury. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jean said she asked the Housing Authority to include her in any meetings with him. But that didn’t happen this time.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JEAN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And he’s not to actually talk to anyone unless he has someone there, because sometimes you can’t understand him. And he gets frustrated when you have to keep, “What did you say? What did you say?” He gets frustrated at me. But I’m around him, I can understand him a little bit better. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> She felt like, if they had done that, and she had been with him, none of this would have happened. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Music in)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JEAN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> For them to have evicted him knowing our situation was cruel and unjust punishment, especially during a pandemic. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Where is your heart?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11905574\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11905574 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS50272_010_Richmond_JeanStanley_07152021-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A woman sits on a bed in a hotel room, surrounded by her belongings.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS50272_010_Richmond_JeanStanley_07152021-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS50272_010_Richmond_JeanStanley_07152021-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS50272_010_Richmond_JeanStanley_07152021-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS50272_010_Richmond_JeanStanley_07152021-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS50272_010_Richmond_JeanStanley_07152021-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jean Kendrick sits on the bed in her hotel room on July 15, 2021. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Sound: Rain falling)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The day of the eviction was a rainy Sunday morning, a couple of weeks before Christmas 2020. Sheriff deputies were scheduled to show up to change the locks at 6 a.m. Jean and Stanley woke up early to start moving everything into a storage unit.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JEAN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> That day was very depressing.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> She and Stanley had nowhere to go. When they looked around at other housing in the Bay Area, everything was too expensive. Which is how they ended up in the hotel room at the Extended Stay.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">After we first reported on Jean and Stanley’s story, people heard it on the radio and found \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.gofundme.com/f/k4jmr-fund-to-relocate?qid=4c56ddb3f6fb8a9c2e55b279a08231b7\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">their GoFundMe page\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Close to $14,000 came in, a lot of it from strangers. But they burned through it in a matter of months. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JEAN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> We’re paying $805 a week here, and so that’s depleted. Everything that we had from GoFundMe, that’s depleted. Everything is gone, you know.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They were paying more than $3,000 a month for their room at the Extended Stay Hotel — that’s more than most people pay for a mortgage. Jean told me she was shopping for a tent and thought about moving into her car. And she worried a lot about what would happen to both of them if they ended up on the street. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JEAN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Because we can’t be on the street. He has a power wheelchair that has to be charged every night. I got a CPAP machine to breathe at night, so if we go out, if we live on the street, we’re dead.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jean has diabetes. Hypertension. She can’t stand for long because of her back. She had surgery on it before the eviction began, but it never really healed and she’s constantly in pain.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JEAN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">My doctor’s checking because my blood pressure is high again, and so is the stress level. Like I keep telling people, I’ve never had to go through this before, and not knowing which avenues to take, and the ins and outs, it’s hard. Not even my worst enemy, I wouldn’t wish this on.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Jean and Stanley are among the millions of people who get evicted every year in this country. There are many reasons why, but the biggest is failure to pay rent. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And for everyone who is evicted, it’s about more than losing the roof over your head. It affects all aspects of your life, including your health.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>EMILY\u003c/b> \u003cb>BENFER\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">: Especially for someone who already has comorbidities, so who’s already suffering from other impairments or disabilities.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/emilyabenfer?lang=en\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Emily Benfer\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> is a professor of law and public health at Wake Forest University. She’s spent a lot of time researching the intersection of housing and health. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When she says “comorbidities,” she’s referring to things like cardiac disease, high blood pressure, respiratory disease. Conditions that would put you at a higher risk of death or serious illness if you were evicted.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>EMILY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Housing is critical. It’s how you refrigerate your medication, it’s how you plug in a nebulizer for respiratory distress. It’s how you keep yourself safe from environmental harm. It’s that sense of stability that can improve mental health outcomes.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>ERIN\u003c/strong>: Studies have shown that an eviction can even take years off your life. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That losing your housing or even just the threat of it can result in a higher mortality rate. It can also bring on depression. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And that was definitely true for Jean. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JEAN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Even though I’m in Extended Stay and we have a place to sleep right now, it’s not like resting sleep. I keep telling my son, yes, I’m laying down. And you may hear me snoring but I’m not resting. I’m exhausted. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It’s impacting Stanley, too.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>STANLEY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> This hotel living is not for me. I’ve never lived like this before in my life. This is not the life for me.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11905570\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11905570 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS50276_014_Richmond_JeanStanley_07152021-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A woman holds a room card for the Extended Stay hotel chain.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS50276_014_Richmond_JeanStanley_07152021-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS50276_014_Richmond_JeanStanley_07152021-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS50276_014_Richmond_JeanStanley_07152021-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS50276_014_Richmond_JeanStanley_07152021-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS50276_014_Richmond_JeanStanley_07152021-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jean Kendrick holds the hotel key for her room on July 15, 2021. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Stanley says he’s also ashamed that they ended up here. And that they got evicted in the first place. He has two kids and he hasn’t told them that he and Jean are living out of this hotel.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>STANLEY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I want them to be proud of me. I don’t want them to look down on me.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jean told me his moods have gotten worse. For a while, he talked about suicide. And then, he tried to swallow a bottle of medication. He had to go to the hospital. He’s doing better now but he still needs his mom’s help.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JEAN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I have to be the strong one for both of us and continually talk him down off of that ledge that he’s on. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Coming up, we break down why evictions keep happening to families like Jean’s. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s about making rent, and so much more.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Stay tuned.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Advertisement]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Evictions do not affect everyone equally. When you go to eviction court, you’ll see that the majority of people being evicted are Black women and other women of color.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We spoke to people who research these inequities. People like \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/KEBroady\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Kristen Broady,\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> she’s a professor of financial economics and a fellow at the Brookings Institution. She says part of this is about money.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KRISTEN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When we think about evictions and why people get evicted, you have to look at how much of their income are they spending on rent? How much savings do they have? What is their income, what is their employment and corresponding unemployment rate?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> She says low wages and high rents explain why 60% of Black women renters are cost-burdened. Meaning they pay at least a third of their income on housing — that’s more than any other group.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Broady says it’s not just how much Black women earn, it’s also about the jobs that are available.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KRISTEN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We know that Black people, and particularly women, have higher unemployment rates compared to the white population, have lower incomes, are concentrated in jobs that are customer facing and at higher risk of automation, like cashiers or secretaries and service workers.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Another reason why women are more likely than men to face eviction: having kids at home. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/sandrapark\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sandra Park\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> is a senior attorney with the ACLU. She says landlords often associate children with all kinds of problems. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>SANDRA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Whether it’s property damage or noise, as well as being concerned that the presence of children may attract more attention from the state. Whether that means Child Protective Services, law enforcement, health inspectors, or related to lead poisoning.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And there’s one more reason that we see more Black women being evicted. And it starts with calling 911 for help. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Some cities have laws against the police showing up at a home too many times — regardless of the cause. They’re called \u003ca href=\"https://www.aclu.org/other/i-am-not-nuisance-local-ordinances-punish-victims-crime\">nuisance ordinances\u003c/a> or crime-free policies.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> They were designed to make it easier for landlords to evict tenants who were engaged in drug dealing or fights or were getting the cops called on them a lot. But the problem is, the largest number of calls come from people reporting domestic violence. And even if you are calling for help, you can still get thrown out.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And Sandra Park has seen the tragic consequences of how this can play out. She had a client in Norristown, Pennsylvania, Lakisha Briggs, who was being assaulted by an abusive ex-boyfriend.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>SANDRA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And the police arrived. They arrested him. But then the officer also told her that she was on three strikes and she could face eviction.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When Lakisha learned this, she stopped calling the police. She didn’t want to get kicked out of her home. And then things got so bad. Her partner attacked her and stabbed her in the neck. Even then, she refused to call the police. It was a neighbor who called 911 and Lakisha was airlifted to the hospital.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>PARK\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Her life was luckily saved. But when she returned to her house, her landlord gave her an eviction notice.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Park sued the city of Norristown and got them to strike down the crime-free housing policy. And she’s been leading the ACLU’s national effort against these ordinances. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She says they don’t really stop crime. And research shows they’re more often enforced in Black neighborhoods than white ones, so they add to the disproportionate rate of eviction, especially for Black women.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But Kristen Broady says this is not just about economics or overpolicing. The real reason we see more Black women evicted?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KRISTEN\u003c/b>: Well, \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I think that’s easy. And the answer is racism.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Black women have been the caretakers, as I said, from the time of enslavement. Black women have been used and abused from enslavement through Reconstruction and through the civil rights movement. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And even today, we are the caretakers for this society. But providing that care doesn’t mean that there is reciprocity. That doesn’t mean that we’re cared for when we need something. And that’s always been the problem in this country.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And when you think about it, Jean is the embodiment of this. A nurse for 40 years who in her retirement is taking care of her adult son. They’re now living with the consequences of a system that’s stacked against her.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> In his book “\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.evictedbook.com/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Evicted\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">,” sociologist \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/just_shelter?lang=en\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Matthew Desmond\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> wrote that eviction is not just the result of poverty, it’s also a cause. An eviction can lead to a job loss. It’s linked to homelessness. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Families lose neighborhoods, their schools, their community. People who are evicted tend to move into worse neighborhoods with higher crime.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And an eviction can follow you for years. It’s sometimes referred to as the scarlet E — a stubborn mark on a tenant’s rental history that shows up when a landlord screens them.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For Jean and Stanley, it’s been really hard to find new housing. Housing is so expensive in the Bay Area, and there’s not a lot they can afford.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Back in their hotel room, Jean pulls up an app on her phone.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JEAN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">See, it has all of these different listings throughout the United States.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>MOLLY\u003c/strong>: Oh! So you’re looking everywhere? This is Minnesota.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>JEAN\u003c/strong>: Yeah. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The app allows her to apply for Section 8 or low-income housing anywhere in the country.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JEAN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I’ve applied to a lot of them. And there’s some that have a year’s waiting list, sometimes five year’s waiting lists. And then I just put in …\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Five years?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JEAN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Yeah, five years. People are going to just sit there and go like this, twiddling their thumbs, waiting for someone to call them.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> She thinks she’s applied to 24 places — so many that she had to buy a printer to keep track of all of them. But most places never got back to her at all. She thinks it’s because of their eviction.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There’s usually a box you check on an application. Jean figures it’s better to mark it than leave it blank and have the eviction show up on her background check. She told me about this one place in the Bay Area — she called and they told her there was an opening. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JEAN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And then when I sent them the application, it said eviction. They said, “Oh, we don’t have anything. There’s a year waiting list.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jean didn’t always have to scramble like this for a place to live. Before living in this hotel room, before living in public housing, Jean owned her own home. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Coming up: what caused her to lose it all. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Advertisement]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11905569\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11905569 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS50269_007_Richmond_JeanStanley_07152021-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A woman is looking over her groceries while standing in her hotel room kitchen.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS50269_007_Richmond_JeanStanley_07152021-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS50269_007_Richmond_JeanStanley_07152021-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS50269_007_Richmond_JeanStanley_07152021-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS50269_007_Richmond_JeanStanley_07152021-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS50269_007_Richmond_JeanStanley_07152021-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jean Kendrick cleans the kitchen at her Extended Stay hotel room in Richmond on July 15, 2021. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Jean Kendrick used to own a home way up in the Oakland Hills. It was a three-bedroom ranch with a big yard that looked out toward San Francisco. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JEAN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They said it was the size of, a little less than the size of a football field. When I first moved up there, my legs would get so tired just walking to the house.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It was a nice neighborhood, with lots of families. Jean liked how quiet and peaceful it was up there.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JEAN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It had a nice view so that when the sun went down, you can see the orange and I had this tree. You know, you see the picture with the black tree and then the orange background? That’s the way it looked, and I wish I would have took a picture.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It was Jean’s sister-in-law who bought it in the ’80s. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JEAN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Yeah, she bought the house for $150,000.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Now that same house is worth over $1.6 million. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jean and her husband inherited the house from his sister. And they put a lot of love into the house, adding a walk-in tub and a dishwasher. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JEAN\u003c/b>: Because\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I was putting things in there so that I would be comfortable when I retire.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jean and her husband lived there over a decade, until he passed away. The troubles started when the house needed a new roof. It was going to cost $14,000. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So in 2007, Jean took out a loan on the house to pay for it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JEAN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I had one of those mortgages that was flexible instead of fixed.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She says the mortgage company talked her into it. They told her you can keep this rate for six months, then we’ll get you into a fixed rate. It seemed fine at the time — she could manage the payments, about $1,000 a month. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But then the payments went way up.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JEAN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And when it went up to $3,333 a month, I couldn’t afford it anymore.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In 2010, like so many homeowners, Jean lost her dream house to foreclosure. She filed for bankruptcy, sold the house in a quick sale, and moved into a rental.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JEAN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">At the time, it’s like a shock to your system and you’re perceived as it’s only happening to me, and I’m a loser, I failed.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> But it wasn’t just happening to Jean. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JACOB FABER\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> This story is a real and devastating illustration of a broader pattern.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003ca href=\"https://wagner.nyu.edu/community/faculty/jacob-william-faber\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jacob Faber\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> is a sociologist at New York University who studies housing and racial inequality. He says the story of what happened to Jean during the Great Recession was happening to a lot of American families. And it hit Black families like Jean’s especially hard.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JACOB\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> People of color, primarily Blacks and Latinos, were targeted for these predatory mortgage loans.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> In the wake of the financial crisis, waves of foreclosures sank Black homeownership rates, which hit record lows. Faber analyzed millions of loan applications and found that Black households were more than twice as likely to get a riskier subprime loan than white applicants, even if they had higher incomes.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JACOB\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And so that’s why, for example, we see that Blacks and Latinos in 2006 who are making $250,000 a year were more likely to get subprime loans than white borrowers making $35,000 a year.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It wasn’t just who was being targeted, but where. This subprime lending crisis hit the exact same neighborhoods that have long faced discrimination. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And still do today.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JACOB\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I would argue that one of the biggest reasons, if not the biggest reason, is this weight of history.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">History that goes back to the 1930s — back to when our country first invested in who they thought deserved to own a home, and who didn’t. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Sounds: Trumpets, audio recordings reminiscent of Great Depression-era films. \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Male narrator: “The story of homes, and how people live, is a story of the foundation on which a nation is built.”)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The federal government wanted banks to make it easier for people to afford their homes because they saw homeownership as a way to lift people out of the Great Depression. To make that happen, they created the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage. At the time, it was a revolutionary idea.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Sounds: Trumpets, audio recordings reminiscent of Great Depression-era films. Male narrator: “And now through the use of the National Housing Act, insured mortgage is brought within the reach of all citizens on a monthly payment plan no greater than rent.”)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CHLOE THURSTON\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> A house is a very expensive consumer good, right? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003ca href=\"https://mobile.twitter.com/chloethurstondc\">Chloe Thurston\u003c/a> is an assistant professor of political science at Northwestern University.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CHLOE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Most of us cannot afford to buy a house outright in cash. You know, if someone asked you to pay for a house, you probably don’t have the money to just buy it. And so as a result, most of us have to get financing from somewhere.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But, to make the banks happy, the government also had to promise to pay them for any borrowers who defaulted.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CHLOE\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It ensures private lenders to loan to citizens, but on certain conditions.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Conditions explicitly based on race. It was the practice we know as redlining, where the government backed loans for homes in some neighborhoods — the ones where white families lived. And labeled the places where Black families lived as too risky.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">By 1950, 98% of those loans had gone to white families. And many of them had left for the suburbs. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In cities, Black families and immigrants were confined to old and deteriorating housing. Landlords jacked up the rent, bleeding Black families dry.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> You can hear stories of housing struggles in songs and poems from this time, including this reading of Langston Hughes’s famous poem “\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/maai3/protest/text11/hugheslandlord.pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Ballad of the Landlord\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music in)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Sound: Person reads “Ballad of the Landlord”:\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Landlord, landlord,\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">My roof has sprung a leak.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Don’t you ‘member I told you about it\u003cbr>\nWay last week?\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Landlord, landlord,\u003cbr>\nThese steps is broken down.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When you come up yourself\u003cbr>\nIt’s a wonder you don’t fall down. \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Ten Bucks you say I owe you?\u003cbr>\nTen Bucks you say is due?\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Well, that’s Ten Bucks more’n I’ll pay you\u003cbr>\nTil you fix this house up new. \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“What? You gonna get eviction orders?\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You gonna cut off my heat?\u003cbr>\nYou gonna take my furniture and\u003cbr>\nThrow it in the street?”\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Music out)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003ca href=\"https://slate.com/human-interest/2013/03/rent-parties-langston-hughes-collection-of-rent-party-cards-photo.html\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hughes also wrote about rent parties\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, where Black households in places like Harlem invited musicians to play, to help pay for high rents. Housing was so overcrowded that sometimes two, three, four families lived under one roof. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CHLOE\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> So we know that housing could be very overcrowded, that people weren’t necessarily paying less just because they were living in, you know, what we would consider to be substandard housing. They were actually, in many cases, paying more.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Paying more for housing that was in some cases uninhabitable.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CHLOE\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Reports of issues like rats and not just cracking paint, but crumbling ceilings. Houses without things we would take for granted, like floors or without sort of working plumbing, things like that.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Shut out from conventional home loans, Black families who did become homeowners were often steered to real estate schemes with steep interest rates, where houses could be quickly repossessed with just one missed payment.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Even though Congress passed the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/fair_housing_equal_opp/aboutfheo/history#:~:text=The%201968%20Act%20expanded%20on,Housing%20Act%20(of%201968).\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Fair Housing Act back in 1968\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, realtors and lenders continue to discriminate. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Today, Black homes are undervalued.\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://projects.newsday.com/long-island/real-estate-agents-investigation/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Realtors continue to steer people to segregated neighborhoods.\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And Black communities are still reeling from the foreclosure crisis.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Being shut out from homeownership — what is probably the single biggest investment a person will make — has huge and lasting consequences.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CHLOE\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> If we think about the effects of these laws, it is to lock out from what ended up being this really great opportunity for asset and wealth building, also for living in neighborhoods where public goods are sort of well provided. It locks many people out from those opportunities. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And many of those who are locked out from those opportunities are Black women.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music in)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jean still thinks about her old Oakland house with the big yard. As painful as it was to lose the house, it made her feel better that it went to a young family with kids.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JEAN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’d always see the vision of kids playing in the backyard. And I said it needs to have a family in it. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sometimes she would drive up there to pick up old mail. The family was always nice and welcomed her. But after a while, it stopped feeling like her home.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JEAN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And when I started seeing them make changes, I couldn’t go up there anymore because it was, I said here I worked 13 years to get it this way and you’re moving it around. So, you know, I stopped.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11905571\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11905571 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS46476_004_KQED_Richmond_Eviction_12222020-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A woman pushes her son on his wheelchair in a hotel parking lot.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS46476_004_KQED_Richmond_Eviction_12222020-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS46476_004_KQED_Richmond_Eviction_12222020-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS46476_004_KQED_Richmond_Eviction_12222020-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS46476_004_KQED_Richmond_Eviction_12222020-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS46476_004_KQED_Richmond_Eviction_12222020-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jean Kendrick and her son Stanley at an Extended Stay America in Richmond on Dec. 22, 2020. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If Jean still had her home in the Oakland hills today, things might look different for her and Stanley. They’d have a roof over their heads. They’d have something to help them pay for a medical emergency. Jean could make plans.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And most of all, Jean wouldn’t have to worry about Stanley, and whether he had a safe and affordable place to live.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They did get a break last summer. They moved into a nearby hotel as part of a program that provides free housing for people who are homeless. Jean and Stanley have a caseworker.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But the place they’re staying at is temporary. And it’s still not their home.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Home is something that comes up a lot when I talk to Jean. It’s something that feels out of reach. But, she’s hoping that wherever they land next, it’ll be their forever home.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JEAN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Home means knowing that the rent isn’t outrageous and that we have a roof over our head, something that’s safe. That would be a blessing. I’ve lived in all kinds of places, and like my mansion up on the hill, I’m not looking for that. I’m just looking for something that’s comfortable.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music out)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Sold Out theme song begins.)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>ERIN\u003c/strong>: Next time on Sold Out: Evictions don’t just happen to people. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There’s someone on the other end: Landlords. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>DONNA RIDGE\u003c/b>: That’s not my problem. My problem is that you need to pay your rent, and you need to pay it on time like everybody else does. That’s the way it works.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEVIN DAVIDSON\u003c/b>: That’s why we give them every opportunity to pay. But if they don’t, then they can’t live there for free.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>DESIREE FIELDS\u003c/b>: So just by virtue of, you know, having the resources to, you know, to purchase a property and own it, landlords are able to charge tenants for access to something that’s a fundamental human need, right? Like we all need someplace to live.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>PHILIP GARBODEN\u003c/b>: There’s big differences in how landlords do eviction based on who that landlord is.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We’ll look at who owns rental property, how it’s changing, and why that matters for tenants. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sold Out is a production of KQED. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This episode was written and reported by us, Molly Solomon and Erin Baldassari.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Adhiti Bandlamudi produced this episode. Kyana Moghadam is our senior producer. Brendan Willard is our sound engineer. Rob Speight wrote our theme song. Natalia Aldana is our senior engagement producer, and Gerald Fermin is our engagement intern.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Thanks to our editor, Erika Kelly. Additional editing from Jessica Placzek and Otis Taylor Jr.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you liked this episode, we think you’ll like another podcast from KQED, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/series/american-suburb-podcast/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">American Suburb\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. A big thank-you to Sandhya Dirks, whose previous reporting on Antioch really helped guide us.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We couldn’t have made this season without Ethan Toven-Lindsey, Holly Kernan, Erika Aguilar and Vinnee Tong.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Thanks for listening! \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We’ll see you next week.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"While millions of Americans of all races have struggled to make rent during the pandemic, Black renters — particularly Black women — are more likely to face eviction. We examine why.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1727134451,"stats":{"hasAudio":true,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":222,"wordCount":6266},"headData":{"title":"Why Black Women Are More Likely to Face Eviction | KQED","description":"While millions of Americans of all races have struggled to make rent during the pandemic, Black renters — particularly Black women — are more likely to face eviction. We examine why.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Why Black Women Are More Likely to Face Eviction","datePublished":"2022-02-21T03:01:09-08:00","dateModified":"2024-09-23T16:34:11-07:00","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png","isAccessibleForFree":"True","publisher":{"@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","@id":"https://www.kqed.org/#organization","name":"KQED","url":"https://www.kqed.org","logo":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}}},"source":"SOLD OUT","sourceUrl":"https://www.kqed.org/podcasts/soldout","audioUrl":"https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.megaphone.fm/KQINC5557493952.mp3?updated=1645457500","sticky":false,"excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","path":"/news/11905386/why-black-women-are-more-likely-to-face-eviction","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Evictions do not affect everyone equally. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Millions of renters in this country have struggled to make rent after losing income during the pandemic. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And Black renters, particularly Black women, are more likely to be evicted than white renters.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jean Kendrick and her son were evicted during the early days of the pandemic. We follow their journey to find affordable housing, while examining the factors driving the racial disparities in eviction rates — including generations of racist housing policies and predatory home lending practices. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch5 id=\"embed-code\" class=\"inconsolata\">\n\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC5557493952&light=true\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/h5>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>THE COLOR OF EVICTIONS [TRANSCRIPT]\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A quick note before we begin: This episode includes descriptions of violence and attempted suicide.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Music in)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY SOLOMON, HOST\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s July 30, 2021 — the last Friday before Congress breaks for summer vacation. But not Congresswoman Cori Bush.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>U.S. REPRESENTATIVE CORI BUSH\u003c/b>: \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=3835032279936286\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We are out here, we want to continue to be out here. I’m calling on my colleagues, Congress members, if you support this, come back out here and be with us today.\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN BALDASSARI, HOST\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The representative from St. Louis, Missouri, was standing on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, and she was calling on Congress to come back and do their jobs. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CORI\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Come back out here because we need to be brought back to this house to finish this work so that people don’t end up on the street while we go vacation. We cannot go on vacation while people are at risk.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She’s talking about the millions of renters in this country, disproportionately Black and Brown families, struggling to make rent after losing income during the pandemic. They had been protected from eviction for more than a year, but those protections were about to expire if Congress didn’t act.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Music out)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Sounds from the organized sit-in on the steps of the U.S. Capitol to extend the eviction moratorium, August 2021.)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The congresswoman wasn’t alone — there were protesters, too, with signs and sleeping bags. And they stayed there for five days, in the cold, in the rain.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CORI\u003c/b>: H\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">ere we are. We’re still out here. It is pouring, it’s pouring on us. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11884130\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11884130 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/08/cori-bush-getty.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"599\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/08/cori-bush-getty.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/08/cori-bush-getty-160x120.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">U.S. Rep. Cori Bush, D-Missouri (center), speaks at a rally at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2021. Bush slept on the steps of the Capitol for days to protest that the CDC’s eviction moratorium was being allowed to expire. \u003ccite>(Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>SENATOR \u003c/b>\u003cb>CHUCK SCHUMER\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> We cannot have these people lose their homes.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JOYCE \u003c/b>\u003cb>BEATTY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Fifty-seven members of the Congressional Black Caucus all supported extending the moratorium.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">: We spoke to the Congresswoman a few months after the protest. She said sleeping on the steps of the Capitol brought back memories.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Music in)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CORI\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Once the temperature started to drop, I was triggered.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Almost two decades ago, Congresswoman Cori Bush was an unhoused single mom, living out of her Ford Explorer with two young kids.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CORI\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">: It took me back to those moments when I was cold and sleeping in a car, wondering if my babies were warm enough. Not having enough blankets, no matter how many blankets we put on us, no matter how many items of clothing that we pulled out of the trash bags that were in the car to cover it —\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> you know, \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">it was just like you just couldn’t get warm enough.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Not only has Bush been homeless, she’s been evicted — three times. Before she was elected to Congress, she was a nurse and a Black Lives Matter activist.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CORI\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I kept thinking, who speaks for us? Who speaks for us? Who speaks for single parents? Who speaks for Black women? Who speaks for us?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For all the women who’ve been through what she’s been through. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CORI\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The number of Black women that I know, just through the course of my life, who’ve been evicted from homes is very high.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And the data backs that up. Even before the pandemic, Black women were the most vulnerable to job loss, most likely to be single heads of households and most likely to be evicted. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Research from the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.aclu.org/news/racial-justice/clearing-the-record-how-eviction-sealing-laws-can-advance-housing-access-for-women-of-color/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">ACLU and Princeton’s Eviction Lab\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> show Black women renters get evicted at twice the rate of white renters.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But that story that Cori Bush has lived, and seen all around her, it’s not a new one. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CORI\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> This has been going on since America, since the United States of America, that there has been this discrimination, harmful policies that have been put in place to make sure that there is a group that is supreme in this country. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Music out)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Bush’s protests caught the attention of the nation, including President Joe Biden, who extended the eviction moratorium one final time.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Sold Out theme song begins.)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Her protest got us thinking a lot about who is on the receiving end of an eviction order. And what we learned is that evictions do not affect everyone equally.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m Molly Solomon.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And I’m Erin Baldassari. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You’re listening to Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America. And this season, we’re taking a closer look at evictions: who they happen to, and what that says about inequality in this country.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In this episode, we’ll look at how Black women are more likely to be evicted, and why they are more likely to be renters in the first place.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> For the last year and a half, I’ve been following one woman and her son after they were evicted. Her story tells us a lot about the causes of an eviction, and the consequences. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And how even when you think you’ve done everything right, you can still lose it all.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Sold Out theme song ends.)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11843281\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 657px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11843281\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2020/10/SOLD-OUT-Web-Banners__Tune-In_656x336.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"657\" height=\"337\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/10/SOLD-OUT-Web-Banners__Tune-In_656x336.png 657w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/10/SOLD-OUT-Web-Banners__Tune-In_656x336-160x82.png 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 657px) 100vw, 657px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America is a five-part series reimagining what housing could be by examining California, the epicenter of the nation’s housing affordability crisis.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Sounds: Someone knocks on a door and says, “Hi, Jean!”)\u003c/span>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The first time I met Jean Kendrick in person last summer, she greeted me with a warm smile and a hug. It was exciting to finally see each other. We’d been talking on the phone for months. But with the pandemic, we’d kept our distance. Once we were finally vaccinated, I went to see her.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JEAN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In this room right now, we’re in the bedroom. Right now we’re in the living room. \u003cem>(Laughs)\u003c/em>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We met in Jean’s room at an Extended Stay hotel in Richmond, California, a city north of Oakland. The building is three stories high, plain, with a big parking lot. Jean’s room is close to the lobby on the first floor.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JEAN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And then that’s the kitchenette. And then there’s a bathroom.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, it’s all one room.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>JEAN\u003c/strong>: All one room!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>STANLEY JACKSON III\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The master dining room is over here. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> That’s her son Stanley, making a joke that the corner of the room with a side table is the master dining room.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It can be hard to understand Stanley when he speaks. That’s because when he was 19, he got in a major car accident. He was hit by a street sweeper. Now he’s 43 and lives with a traumatic brain injury. He’s partially paralyzed on the right side of his body and uses a power wheelchair to get around.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>STANLEY\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">: I have a traumatic brain injury and I suffer seizures. So I definitely need someone to stay with me at all times.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11905575\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11905575 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS46474_002_KQED_Richmond_Eviction_12222020-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A mother and her son standing in front of a building. The woman is holding onto this wheelchair handles. They are both wearing masks.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS46474_002_KQED_Richmond_Eviction_12222020-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS46474_002_KQED_Richmond_Eviction_12222020-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS46474_002_KQED_Richmond_Eviction_12222020-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS46474_002_KQED_Richmond_Eviction_12222020-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS46474_002_KQED_Richmond_Eviction_12222020-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jean Kendrick and her son Stanley at an Extended Stay America in Richmond on Dec. 22, 2020. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> That person is Jean. Taking care of Stanley comes naturally to her. She’s retired now, but for nearly 40 years she was a nurse.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JEAN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I loved the idea that I was helping people. And when I originally, back in ‘71, when I first became a nurse, it was actually bedside hands-on care. I like the idea that you go in there and you give a back rub, you turn the patient over.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jean never expected to be 70 years old and living out of a hotel room with her adult son.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JEAN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> This was supposed to have been like a temporary stop until we got something. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> How long did you think you’d stay here?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JEAN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> A month at the most. A month turned into seven months. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> They’ve been living here since they were evicted.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Evicted from the two-bedroom duplex they shared, a short 15-minute drive from here. It was public housing, and the rent was less than $200 a month. It was something they could afford on Jean’s Social Security income and Stanley’s disability checks.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> A quick note before we go any further: This story of Jean and Stanley’s eviction is complicated. And what we’ve learned is that every eviction is. Theirs started in 2019 — before the pandemic. But it kept getting pushed back once COVID-19 hit. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Stanley had gotten into a dispute with his neighbor, and the police were called. According to the police report, the neighbor sprayed Stanley in the face with bug spray, and she stabbed him with a corkscrew.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> What happened next sparked off more than two years of legal battles that included their eviction, plus a felony charge against Stanley. We tried to speak to the Housing Authority about what happened, but they said they couldn’t comment because of federal privacy laws. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> So we put in a public records request and got court tape from their eviction hearing.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>\u003ci>JUDGE IN EVICTION COURT\u003c/i>\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The court’s going to call the matter of the Housing Authority of the City of Richmond vs. Stanley Jackson and Jean Kendrick. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The property manager testified that Stanley had been called into a meeting to talk about the incident with the neighbor. Things got heated, and Stanley lost his temper and started swearing.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>\u003ci>PROPERTY MANAGER IN EVICTION COURT\u003c/i>\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And then he pushed the table, wheeled his wheelchair around towards me. I stood up and backed up towards my wall. And he pulled his wheelchair up to me and kicked me about three to four times.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is ultimately what prompted their eviction. It was a violation of Stanley’s lease. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jean knows Stanley has a temper, and when he feels threatened or misunderstood, he can lash out. This stems from his bipolar disorder and his traumatic brain injury. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jean said she asked the Housing Authority to include her in any meetings with him. But that didn’t happen this time.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JEAN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And he’s not to actually talk to anyone unless he has someone there, because sometimes you can’t understand him. And he gets frustrated when you have to keep, “What did you say? What did you say?” He gets frustrated at me. But I’m around him, I can understand him a little bit better. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> She felt like, if they had done that, and she had been with him, none of this would have happened. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Music in)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JEAN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> For them to have evicted him knowing our situation was cruel and unjust punishment, especially during a pandemic. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Where is your heart?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11905574\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11905574 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS50272_010_Richmond_JeanStanley_07152021-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A woman sits on a bed in a hotel room, surrounded by her belongings.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS50272_010_Richmond_JeanStanley_07152021-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS50272_010_Richmond_JeanStanley_07152021-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS50272_010_Richmond_JeanStanley_07152021-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS50272_010_Richmond_JeanStanley_07152021-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS50272_010_Richmond_JeanStanley_07152021-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jean Kendrick sits on the bed in her hotel room on July 15, 2021. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Sound: Rain falling)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The day of the eviction was a rainy Sunday morning, a couple of weeks before Christmas 2020. Sheriff deputies were scheduled to show up to change the locks at 6 a.m. Jean and Stanley woke up early to start moving everything into a storage unit.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JEAN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> That day was very depressing.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> She and Stanley had nowhere to go. When they looked around at other housing in the Bay Area, everything was too expensive. Which is how they ended up in the hotel room at the Extended Stay.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">After we first reported on Jean and Stanley’s story, people heard it on the radio and found \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.gofundme.com/f/k4jmr-fund-to-relocate?qid=4c56ddb3f6fb8a9c2e55b279a08231b7\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">their GoFundMe page\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Close to $14,000 came in, a lot of it from strangers. But they burned through it in a matter of months. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JEAN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> We’re paying $805 a week here, and so that’s depleted. Everything that we had from GoFundMe, that’s depleted. Everything is gone, you know.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They were paying more than $3,000 a month for their room at the Extended Stay Hotel — that’s more than most people pay for a mortgage. Jean told me she was shopping for a tent and thought about moving into her car. And she worried a lot about what would happen to both of them if they ended up on the street. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JEAN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Because we can’t be on the street. He has a power wheelchair that has to be charged every night. I got a CPAP machine to breathe at night, so if we go out, if we live on the street, we’re dead.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jean has diabetes. Hypertension. She can’t stand for long because of her back. She had surgery on it before the eviction began, but it never really healed and she’s constantly in pain.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JEAN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">My doctor’s checking because my blood pressure is high again, and so is the stress level. Like I keep telling people, I’ve never had to go through this before, and not knowing which avenues to take, and the ins and outs, it’s hard. Not even my worst enemy, I wouldn’t wish this on.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Jean and Stanley are among the millions of people who get evicted every year in this country. There are many reasons why, but the biggest is failure to pay rent. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And for everyone who is evicted, it’s about more than losing the roof over your head. It affects all aspects of your life, including your health.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>EMILY\u003c/b> \u003cb>BENFER\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">: Especially for someone who already has comorbidities, so who’s already suffering from other impairments or disabilities.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/emilyabenfer?lang=en\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Emily Benfer\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> is a professor of law and public health at Wake Forest University. She’s spent a lot of time researching the intersection of housing and health. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When she says “comorbidities,” she’s referring to things like cardiac disease, high blood pressure, respiratory disease. Conditions that would put you at a higher risk of death or serious illness if you were evicted.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>EMILY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Housing is critical. It’s how you refrigerate your medication, it’s how you plug in a nebulizer for respiratory distress. It’s how you keep yourself safe from environmental harm. It’s that sense of stability that can improve mental health outcomes.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>ERIN\u003c/strong>: Studies have shown that an eviction can even take years off your life. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That losing your housing or even just the threat of it can result in a higher mortality rate. It can also bring on depression. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And that was definitely true for Jean. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JEAN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Even though I’m in Extended Stay and we have a place to sleep right now, it’s not like resting sleep. I keep telling my son, yes, I’m laying down. And you may hear me snoring but I’m not resting. I’m exhausted. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It’s impacting Stanley, too.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>STANLEY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> This hotel living is not for me. I’ve never lived like this before in my life. This is not the life for me.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11905570\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11905570 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS50276_014_Richmond_JeanStanley_07152021-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A woman holds a room card for the Extended Stay hotel chain.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS50276_014_Richmond_JeanStanley_07152021-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS50276_014_Richmond_JeanStanley_07152021-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS50276_014_Richmond_JeanStanley_07152021-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS50276_014_Richmond_JeanStanley_07152021-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS50276_014_Richmond_JeanStanley_07152021-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jean Kendrick holds the hotel key for her room on July 15, 2021. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Stanley says he’s also ashamed that they ended up here. And that they got evicted in the first place. He has two kids and he hasn’t told them that he and Jean are living out of this hotel.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>STANLEY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I want them to be proud of me. I don’t want them to look down on me.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jean told me his moods have gotten worse. For a while, he talked about suicide. And then, he tried to swallow a bottle of medication. He had to go to the hospital. He’s doing better now but he still needs his mom’s help.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JEAN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I have to be the strong one for both of us and continually talk him down off of that ledge that he’s on. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Coming up, we break down why evictions keep happening to families like Jean’s. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s about making rent, and so much more.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Stay tuned.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Advertisement]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Evictions do not affect everyone equally. When you go to eviction court, you’ll see that the majority of people being evicted are Black women and other women of color.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We spoke to people who research these inequities. People like \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/KEBroady\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Kristen Broady,\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> she’s a professor of financial economics and a fellow at the Brookings Institution. She says part of this is about money.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KRISTEN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When we think about evictions and why people get evicted, you have to look at how much of their income are they spending on rent? How much savings do they have? What is their income, what is their employment and corresponding unemployment rate?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> She says low wages and high rents explain why 60% of Black women renters are cost-burdened. Meaning they pay at least a third of their income on housing — that’s more than any other group.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Broady says it’s not just how much Black women earn, it’s also about the jobs that are available.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KRISTEN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We know that Black people, and particularly women, have higher unemployment rates compared to the white population, have lower incomes, are concentrated in jobs that are customer facing and at higher risk of automation, like cashiers or secretaries and service workers.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Another reason why women are more likely than men to face eviction: having kids at home. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/sandrapark\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sandra Park\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> is a senior attorney with the ACLU. She says landlords often associate children with all kinds of problems. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>SANDRA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Whether it’s property damage or noise, as well as being concerned that the presence of children may attract more attention from the state. Whether that means Child Protective Services, law enforcement, health inspectors, or related to lead poisoning.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And there’s one more reason that we see more Black women being evicted. And it starts with calling 911 for help. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Some cities have laws against the police showing up at a home too many times — regardless of the cause. They’re called \u003ca href=\"https://www.aclu.org/other/i-am-not-nuisance-local-ordinances-punish-victims-crime\">nuisance ordinances\u003c/a> or crime-free policies.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> They were designed to make it easier for landlords to evict tenants who were engaged in drug dealing or fights or were getting the cops called on them a lot. But the problem is, the largest number of calls come from people reporting domestic violence. And even if you are calling for help, you can still get thrown out.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And Sandra Park has seen the tragic consequences of how this can play out. She had a client in Norristown, Pennsylvania, Lakisha Briggs, who was being assaulted by an abusive ex-boyfriend.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>SANDRA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And the police arrived. They arrested him. But then the officer also told her that she was on three strikes and she could face eviction.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When Lakisha learned this, she stopped calling the police. She didn’t want to get kicked out of her home. And then things got so bad. Her partner attacked her and stabbed her in the neck. Even then, she refused to call the police. It was a neighbor who called 911 and Lakisha was airlifted to the hospital.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>PARK\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Her life was luckily saved. But when she returned to her house, her landlord gave her an eviction notice.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Park sued the city of Norristown and got them to strike down the crime-free housing policy. And she’s been leading the ACLU’s national effort against these ordinances. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She says they don’t really stop crime. And research shows they’re more often enforced in Black neighborhoods than white ones, so they add to the disproportionate rate of eviction, especially for Black women.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But Kristen Broady says this is not just about economics or overpolicing. The real reason we see more Black women evicted?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KRISTEN\u003c/b>: Well, \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I think that’s easy. And the answer is racism.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Black women have been the caretakers, as I said, from the time of enslavement. Black women have been used and abused from enslavement through Reconstruction and through the civil rights movement. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And even today, we are the caretakers for this society. But providing that care doesn’t mean that there is reciprocity. That doesn’t mean that we’re cared for when we need something. And that’s always been the problem in this country.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And when you think about it, Jean is the embodiment of this. A nurse for 40 years who in her retirement is taking care of her adult son. They’re now living with the consequences of a system that’s stacked against her.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> In his book “\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.evictedbook.com/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Evicted\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">,” sociologist \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/just_shelter?lang=en\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Matthew Desmond\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> wrote that eviction is not just the result of poverty, it’s also a cause. An eviction can lead to a job loss. It’s linked to homelessness. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Families lose neighborhoods, their schools, their community. People who are evicted tend to move into worse neighborhoods with higher crime.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And an eviction can follow you for years. It’s sometimes referred to as the scarlet E — a stubborn mark on a tenant’s rental history that shows up when a landlord screens them.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For Jean and Stanley, it’s been really hard to find new housing. Housing is so expensive in the Bay Area, and there’s not a lot they can afford.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Back in their hotel room, Jean pulls up an app on her phone.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JEAN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">See, it has all of these different listings throughout the United States.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>MOLLY\u003c/strong>: Oh! So you’re looking everywhere? This is Minnesota.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>JEAN\u003c/strong>: Yeah. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The app allows her to apply for Section 8 or low-income housing anywhere in the country.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JEAN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I’ve applied to a lot of them. And there’s some that have a year’s waiting list, sometimes five year’s waiting lists. And then I just put in …\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Five years?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JEAN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Yeah, five years. People are going to just sit there and go like this, twiddling their thumbs, waiting for someone to call them.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> She thinks she’s applied to 24 places — so many that she had to buy a printer to keep track of all of them. But most places never got back to her at all. She thinks it’s because of their eviction.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There’s usually a box you check on an application. Jean figures it’s better to mark it than leave it blank and have the eviction show up on her background check. She told me about this one place in the Bay Area — she called and they told her there was an opening. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JEAN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And then when I sent them the application, it said eviction. They said, “Oh, we don’t have anything. There’s a year waiting list.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jean didn’t always have to scramble like this for a place to live. Before living in this hotel room, before living in public housing, Jean owned her own home. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Coming up: what caused her to lose it all. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Advertisement]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11905569\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11905569 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS50269_007_Richmond_JeanStanley_07152021-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A woman is looking over her groceries while standing in her hotel room kitchen.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS50269_007_Richmond_JeanStanley_07152021-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS50269_007_Richmond_JeanStanley_07152021-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS50269_007_Richmond_JeanStanley_07152021-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS50269_007_Richmond_JeanStanley_07152021-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS50269_007_Richmond_JeanStanley_07152021-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jean Kendrick cleans the kitchen at her Extended Stay hotel room in Richmond on July 15, 2021. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Jean Kendrick used to own a home way up in the Oakland Hills. It was a three-bedroom ranch with a big yard that looked out toward San Francisco. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JEAN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They said it was the size of, a little less than the size of a football field. When I first moved up there, my legs would get so tired just walking to the house.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It was a nice neighborhood, with lots of families. Jean liked how quiet and peaceful it was up there.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JEAN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It had a nice view so that when the sun went down, you can see the orange and I had this tree. You know, you see the picture with the black tree and then the orange background? That’s the way it looked, and I wish I would have took a picture.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It was Jean’s sister-in-law who bought it in the ’80s. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JEAN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Yeah, she bought the house for $150,000.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Now that same house is worth over $1.6 million. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jean and her husband inherited the house from his sister. And they put a lot of love into the house, adding a walk-in tub and a dishwasher. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JEAN\u003c/b>: Because\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I was putting things in there so that I would be comfortable when I retire.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jean and her husband lived there over a decade, until he passed away. The troubles started when the house needed a new roof. It was going to cost $14,000. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So in 2007, Jean took out a loan on the house to pay for it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JEAN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I had one of those mortgages that was flexible instead of fixed.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She says the mortgage company talked her into it. They told her you can keep this rate for six months, then we’ll get you into a fixed rate. It seemed fine at the time — she could manage the payments, about $1,000 a month. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But then the payments went way up.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JEAN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And when it went up to $3,333 a month, I couldn’t afford it anymore.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In 2010, like so many homeowners, Jean lost her dream house to foreclosure. She filed for bankruptcy, sold the house in a quick sale, and moved into a rental.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JEAN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">At the time, it’s like a shock to your system and you’re perceived as it’s only happening to me, and I’m a loser, I failed.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> But it wasn’t just happening to Jean. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JACOB FABER\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> This story is a real and devastating illustration of a broader pattern.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003ca href=\"https://wagner.nyu.edu/community/faculty/jacob-william-faber\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jacob Faber\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> is a sociologist at New York University who studies housing and racial inequality. He says the story of what happened to Jean during the Great Recession was happening to a lot of American families. And it hit Black families like Jean’s especially hard.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JACOB\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> People of color, primarily Blacks and Latinos, were targeted for these predatory mortgage loans.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> In the wake of the financial crisis, waves of foreclosures sank Black homeownership rates, which hit record lows. Faber analyzed millions of loan applications and found that Black households were more than twice as likely to get a riskier subprime loan than white applicants, even if they had higher incomes.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JACOB\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And so that’s why, for example, we see that Blacks and Latinos in 2006 who are making $250,000 a year were more likely to get subprime loans than white borrowers making $35,000 a year.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It wasn’t just who was being targeted, but where. This subprime lending crisis hit the exact same neighborhoods that have long faced discrimination. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And still do today.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JACOB\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I would argue that one of the biggest reasons, if not the biggest reason, is this weight of history.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">History that goes back to the 1930s — back to when our country first invested in who they thought deserved to own a home, and who didn’t. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Sounds: Trumpets, audio recordings reminiscent of Great Depression-era films. \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Male narrator: “The story of homes, and how people live, is a story of the foundation on which a nation is built.”)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The federal government wanted banks to make it easier for people to afford their homes because they saw homeownership as a way to lift people out of the Great Depression. To make that happen, they created the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage. At the time, it was a revolutionary idea.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Sounds: Trumpets, audio recordings reminiscent of Great Depression-era films. Male narrator: “And now through the use of the National Housing Act, insured mortgage is brought within the reach of all citizens on a monthly payment plan no greater than rent.”)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CHLOE THURSTON\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> A house is a very expensive consumer good, right? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003ca href=\"https://mobile.twitter.com/chloethurstondc\">Chloe Thurston\u003c/a> is an assistant professor of political science at Northwestern University.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CHLOE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Most of us cannot afford to buy a house outright in cash. You know, if someone asked you to pay for a house, you probably don’t have the money to just buy it. And so as a result, most of us have to get financing from somewhere.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But, to make the banks happy, the government also had to promise to pay them for any borrowers who defaulted.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CHLOE\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It ensures private lenders to loan to citizens, but on certain conditions.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Conditions explicitly based on race. It was the practice we know as redlining, where the government backed loans for homes in some neighborhoods — the ones where white families lived. And labeled the places where Black families lived as too risky.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">By 1950, 98% of those loans had gone to white families. And many of them had left for the suburbs. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In cities, Black families and immigrants were confined to old and deteriorating housing. Landlords jacked up the rent, bleeding Black families dry.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> You can hear stories of housing struggles in songs and poems from this time, including this reading of Langston Hughes’s famous poem “\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/maai3/protest/text11/hugheslandlord.pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Ballad of the Landlord\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music in)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Sound: Person reads “Ballad of the Landlord”:\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Landlord, landlord,\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">My roof has sprung a leak.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Don’t you ‘member I told you about it\u003cbr>\nWay last week?\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Landlord, landlord,\u003cbr>\nThese steps is broken down.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When you come up yourself\u003cbr>\nIt’s a wonder you don’t fall down. \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Ten Bucks you say I owe you?\u003cbr>\nTen Bucks you say is due?\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Well, that’s Ten Bucks more’n I’ll pay you\u003cbr>\nTil you fix this house up new. \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“What? You gonna get eviction orders?\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You gonna cut off my heat?\u003cbr>\nYou gonna take my furniture and\u003cbr>\nThrow it in the street?”\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Music out)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003ca href=\"https://slate.com/human-interest/2013/03/rent-parties-langston-hughes-collection-of-rent-party-cards-photo.html\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hughes also wrote about rent parties\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, where Black households in places like Harlem invited musicians to play, to help pay for high rents. Housing was so overcrowded that sometimes two, three, four families lived under one roof. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CHLOE\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> So we know that housing could be very overcrowded, that people weren’t necessarily paying less just because they were living in, you know, what we would consider to be substandard housing. They were actually, in many cases, paying more.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Paying more for housing that was in some cases uninhabitable.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CHLOE\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Reports of issues like rats and not just cracking paint, but crumbling ceilings. Houses without things we would take for granted, like floors or without sort of working plumbing, things like that.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Shut out from conventional home loans, Black families who did become homeowners were often steered to real estate schemes with steep interest rates, where houses could be quickly repossessed with just one missed payment.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Even though Congress passed the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/fair_housing_equal_opp/aboutfheo/history#:~:text=The%201968%20Act%20expanded%20on,Housing%20Act%20(of%201968).\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Fair Housing Act back in 1968\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, realtors and lenders continue to discriminate. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Today, Black homes are undervalued.\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://projects.newsday.com/long-island/real-estate-agents-investigation/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Realtors continue to steer people to segregated neighborhoods.\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And Black communities are still reeling from the foreclosure crisis.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Being shut out from homeownership — what is probably the single biggest investment a person will make — has huge and lasting consequences.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CHLOE\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> If we think about the effects of these laws, it is to lock out from what ended up being this really great opportunity for asset and wealth building, also for living in neighborhoods where public goods are sort of well provided. It locks many people out from those opportunities. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And many of those who are locked out from those opportunities are Black women.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music in)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jean still thinks about her old Oakland house with the big yard. As painful as it was to lose the house, it made her feel better that it went to a young family with kids.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JEAN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’d always see the vision of kids playing in the backyard. And I said it needs to have a family in it. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sometimes she would drive up there to pick up old mail. The family was always nice and welcomed her. But after a while, it stopped feeling like her home.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JEAN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And when I started seeing them make changes, I couldn’t go up there anymore because it was, I said here I worked 13 years to get it this way and you’re moving it around. So, you know, I stopped.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11905571\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11905571 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS46476_004_KQED_Richmond_Eviction_12222020-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A woman pushes her son on his wheelchair in a hotel parking lot.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS46476_004_KQED_Richmond_Eviction_12222020-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS46476_004_KQED_Richmond_Eviction_12222020-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS46476_004_KQED_Richmond_Eviction_12222020-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS46476_004_KQED_Richmond_Eviction_12222020-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS46476_004_KQED_Richmond_Eviction_12222020-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jean Kendrick and her son Stanley at an Extended Stay America in Richmond on Dec. 22, 2020. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If Jean still had her home in the Oakland hills today, things might look different for her and Stanley. They’d have a roof over their heads. They’d have something to help them pay for a medical emergency. Jean could make plans.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And most of all, Jean wouldn’t have to worry about Stanley, and whether he had a safe and affordable place to live.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They did get a break last summer. They moved into a nearby hotel as part of a program that provides free housing for people who are homeless. Jean and Stanley have a caseworker.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But the place they’re staying at is temporary. And it’s still not their home.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Home is something that comes up a lot when I talk to Jean. It’s something that feels out of reach. But, she’s hoping that wherever they land next, it’ll be their forever home.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JEAN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Home means knowing that the rent isn’t outrageous and that we have a roof over our head, something that’s safe. That would be a blessing. I’ve lived in all kinds of places, and like my mansion up on the hill, I’m not looking for that. I’m just looking for something that’s comfortable.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music out)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>(Sold Out theme song begins.)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>ERIN\u003c/strong>: Next time on Sold Out: Evictions don’t just happen to people. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There’s someone on the other end: Landlords. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>DONNA RIDGE\u003c/b>: That’s not my problem. My problem is that you need to pay your rent, and you need to pay it on time like everybody else does. That’s the way it works.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEVIN DAVIDSON\u003c/b>: That’s why we give them every opportunity to pay. But if they don’t, then they can’t live there for free.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>DESIREE FIELDS\u003c/b>: So just by virtue of, you know, having the resources to, you know, to purchase a property and own it, landlords are able to charge tenants for access to something that’s a fundamental human need, right? Like we all need someplace to live.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>PHILIP GARBODEN\u003c/b>: There’s big differences in how landlords do eviction based on who that landlord is.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We’ll look at who owns rental property, how it’s changing, and why that matters for tenants. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sold Out is a production of KQED. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This episode was written and reported by us, Molly Solomon and Erin Baldassari.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Adhiti Bandlamudi produced this episode. Kyana Moghadam is our senior producer. Brendan Willard is our sound engineer. Rob Speight wrote our theme song. Natalia Aldana is our senior engagement producer, and Gerald Fermin is our engagement intern.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Thanks to our editor, Erika Kelly. Additional editing from Jessica Placzek and Otis Taylor Jr.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you liked this episode, we think you’ll like another podcast from KQED, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/series/american-suburb-podcast/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">American Suburb\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. A big thank-you to Sandhya Dirks, whose previous reporting on Antioch really helped guide us.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We couldn’t have made this season without Ethan Toven-Lindsey, Holly Kernan, Erika Aguilar and Vinnee Tong.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Thanks for listening! \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We’ll see you next week.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/news/11905386/why-black-women-are-more-likely-to-face-eviction","authors":["11651","11652"],"programs":["news_33522"],"categories":["news_6266","news_8","news_33520"],"tags":["news_24805","news_1386","news_30678","news_18538","news_27504","news_30292","news_21883","news_27701","news_1775","news_9","news_28082","news_27660","news_17968","news_20967","news_579","news_28541","news_28527"],"featImg":"news_11905573","label":"source_news_11905386"}},"programsReducer":{"possible":{"id":"possible","title":"Possible","info":"Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. 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