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"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=\"auto, (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=\"auto, (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=\"auto, (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=\"auto, (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",
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"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.",
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"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>",
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"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=\"auto, (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=\"auto, (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=\"auto, (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=\"auto, (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>",
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"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>",
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"slug": "only-16-of-californias-rent-relief-applicants-have-received-checks-new-study-finds",
"title": "Only 16% of California's COVID Rent Relief Applicants Have Received Their Checks, New Study Finds",
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"headTitle": "Only 16% of California’s COVID Rent Relief Applicants Have Received Their Checks, New Study Finds | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>California is far behind in its efforts to help people with COVID-19-related hardships pay their back rent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s according to a \u003ca href=\"https://nationalequityatlas.org/CARentalAssistance\">report out this week from the National Equity Atlas\u003c/a>, which found that a year into the state’s rent relief program, only 16% of applicants have received any money, largely due to bureaucratic delays.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The analysis is based on data from the state’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.hcd.ca.gov/\">Housing and Community Development Department\u003c/a> tracking all rental assistance applications submitted through Feb. 23, 2022. It shows that hundreds of thousands of applicants are still waiting for rent relief.\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside postID=news_11908640 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/pexels-thuongdaihua-4203996-1020x680.png']\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The findings come less than a month before the state’s March 31 deadline, after which lower-income residents financially affected by the pandemic can no longer apply for the relief. That’s also the expiration date for the state’s limited protections that currently prevent those residents from being evicted if they can show they have applied for the aid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report found that over 488,000 California renter households had applied for COVID-related rent relief as of late February. More than 180,000 of them had been approved, but fewer than 76,000 had actually received payments, either directly or through a landlord.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report also found it took an average of about three months for tenants to be informed of the status of their applications, and an additional month after being approved to actually receive their checks.[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Madeline Howard, senior attorney, Western Center on Law and Poverty\"]‘It really is very problematic to have people still waiting for their money when they’re about to be subject to eviction if they can’t pay.’[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It really is very problematic to have people still waiting for their money when they’re about to be subject to eviction if they can’t pay,” said Madeline Howard, a senior attorney at the Western Center on Law and Poverty, and one of the study’s authors. The state, she said, must speed up the payment process and extend eviction protections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It would be so profoundly unfair and wrong for tenants to be evicted because of these bureaucratic delays,” Howard said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state’s housing agency, however, disputes the report’s findings. Its \u003ca href=\"https://housing.ca.gov/covid_rr/dashboard.html\">public dashboard\u003c/a> shows that 41% of applicants — or 190,900 households — have already been “served.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That total, though, includes applicants who have been approved but have not yet received payment, and whose claims are designated as “complete: payment pending.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Geoffrey Ross, the agency’s deputy director, told KQED that the checks for those applications “are either physically in the mail or they have been received and have not been cashed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Howard said that doesn’t square with what she was told by the agency, who confirmed to her in an email that “payment pending” referred to applicants who had been approved for payment but had not yet received funds.[aside label=\"Related Coverage\" tag=\"rent-relief\"]Howard said it’s misleading for the state to count any unpaid applicants as “served.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We felt that it was very important to distinguish between the reality of someone actually being paid versus this pending payment,” she said. “In our view, someone who hasn’t actually gotten the money, they’re not ‘served,’ they’re not protected. So that distinction feels really important.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She added, in a text message, “I wish that this administration would focus on protecting tenants from needless evictions instead of covering up all the problems with the program.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The study also finds that, in addition to the small fraction of applicants who have been paid, many more are still waiting for a decision on their application.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state maintains its goal is to process completed applications within 30 days, and Ross said he expects an additional 30,000 checks to be sent out by the end of this month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ross also noted that the state will continue to process the remaining 230,000 or so pending applications, and that eligible applicants who apply by March 31 are guaranteed to receive aid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/coronavirus-covid-19-california-eviction-bans-and-tenant-protections.html\">Local eviction protections in many counties \u003c/a>— including Alameda, Sonoma and Solano — will cover “more than half” of pending applicants, he added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But some of those local protections may also be in jeopardy. Just this week, a group of \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2022/03/03/landlords-lawsuit-eviction-moratorium-oakland-alameda-county/\">landlords in Alameda County filed a lawsuit \u003c/a>in federal court to force the city and county of Oakland to overturn their eviction bans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>Clarification:\u003c/strong> \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Five days after the original publication of this story, Geoffrey Ross, deputy director of the California Department of Housing and Community Development, said he “misspoke” in defining “payment pending” as checks that are either in the mail or have been received by people and not yet cashed. Instead, he said “payment pending” means that funds are obligated, but applicants have yet to receive them.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The agency also now says the dataset it gave the study’s authors was not its most updated version, and that many more applicants have been paid than what is reflected in those original figures. Thousands of people who were in the “pending payment” section should have been in the “paid” section, it said. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "The findings come less than a month before California's state eviction protections expire, and when lower-income residents financially affected by the pandemic will no longer be able to apply for the rent relief. ",
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"title": "Only 16% of California's COVID Rent Relief Applicants Have Received Their Checks, New Study Finds | KQED",
"description": "The findings come less than a month before California's state eviction protections expire, and when lower-income residents financially affected by the pandemic will no longer be able to apply for the rent relief. ",
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"headline": "Only 16% of California's COVID Rent Relief Applicants Have Received Their Checks, New Study Finds",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>California is far behind in its efforts to help people with COVID-19-related hardships pay their back rent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s according to a \u003ca href=\"https://nationalequityatlas.org/CARentalAssistance\">report out this week from the National Equity Atlas\u003c/a>, which found that a year into the state’s rent relief program, only 16% of applicants have received any money, largely due to bureaucratic delays.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The analysis is based on data from the state’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.hcd.ca.gov/\">Housing and Community Development Department\u003c/a> tracking all rental assistance applications submitted through Feb. 23, 2022. It shows that hundreds of thousands of applicants are still waiting for rent relief.\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The findings come less than a month before the state’s March 31 deadline, after which lower-income residents financially affected by the pandemic can no longer apply for the relief. That’s also the expiration date for the state’s limited protections that currently prevent those residents from being evicted if they can show they have applied for the aid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report found that over 488,000 California renter households had applied for COVID-related rent relief as of late February. More than 180,000 of them had been approved, but fewer than 76,000 had actually received payments, either directly or through a landlord.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report also found it took an average of about three months for tenants to be informed of the status of their applications, and an additional month after being approved to actually receive their checks.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘It really is very problematic to have people still waiting for their money when they’re about to be subject to eviction if they can’t pay.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It really is very problematic to have people still waiting for their money when they’re about to be subject to eviction if they can’t pay,” said Madeline Howard, a senior attorney at the Western Center on Law and Poverty, and one of the study’s authors. The state, she said, must speed up the payment process and extend eviction protections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It would be so profoundly unfair and wrong for tenants to be evicted because of these bureaucratic delays,” Howard said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state’s housing agency, however, disputes the report’s findings. Its \u003ca href=\"https://housing.ca.gov/covid_rr/dashboard.html\">public dashboard\u003c/a> shows that 41% of applicants — or 190,900 households — have already been “served.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That total, though, includes applicants who have been approved but have not yet received payment, and whose claims are designated as “complete: payment pending.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Geoffrey Ross, the agency’s deputy director, told KQED that the checks for those applications “are either physically in the mail or they have been received and have not been cashed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Howard said that doesn’t square with what she was told by the agency, who confirmed to her in an email that “payment pending” referred to applicants who had been approved for payment but had not yet received funds.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Howard said it’s misleading for the state to count any unpaid applicants as “served.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We felt that it was very important to distinguish between the reality of someone actually being paid versus this pending payment,” she said. “In our view, someone who hasn’t actually gotten the money, they’re not ‘served,’ they’re not protected. So that distinction feels really important.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She added, in a text message, “I wish that this administration would focus on protecting tenants from needless evictions instead of covering up all the problems with the program.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The study also finds that, in addition to the small fraction of applicants who have been paid, many more are still waiting for a decision on their application.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state maintains its goal is to process completed applications within 30 days, and Ross said he expects an additional 30,000 checks to be sent out by the end of this month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ross also noted that the state will continue to process the remaining 230,000 or so pending applications, and that eligible applicants who apply by March 31 are guaranteed to receive aid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/coronavirus-covid-19-california-eviction-bans-and-tenant-protections.html\">Local eviction protections in many counties \u003c/a>— including Alameda, Sonoma and Solano — will cover “more than half” of pending applicants, he added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But some of those local protections may also be in jeopardy. Just this week, a group of \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2022/03/03/landlords-lawsuit-eviction-moratorium-oakland-alameda-county/\">landlords in Alameda County filed a lawsuit \u003c/a>in federal court to force the city and county of Oakland to overturn their eviction bans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>Clarification:\u003c/strong> \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Five days after the original publication of this story, Geoffrey Ross, deputy director of the California Department of Housing and Community Development, said he “misspoke” in defining “payment pending” as checks that are either in the mail or have been received by people and not yet cashed. Instead, he said “payment pending” means that funds are obligated, but applicants have yet to receive them.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The agency also now says the dataset it gave the study’s authors was not its most updated version, and that many more applicants have been paid than what is reflected in those original figures. Thousands of people who were in the “pending payment” section should have been in the “paid” section, it said. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "in-san-francisco-hundreds-of-homes-for-the-homeless-sit-vacant",
"title": "In San Francisco, Hundreds of Homes for Unhoused People Sit Vacant",
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"headTitle": "In San Francisco, Hundreds of Homes for Unhoused People Sit Vacant | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was co-published by \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfpublicpress.org/\">the San Francisco Public Press\u003c/a>, a local nonprofit public-interest news organization, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.propublica.org/article/in-san-francisco-hundreds-of-homes-for-the-homeless-sit-vacant\">ProPublica\u003c/a>, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for \u003ca href=\"https://pico.link/sanfranciscopublicpress/login/enter-email?id=LoginWizard_sanfranciscopublicpress&short_code=meqdnxdz\">the Public Press’ newsletter\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.propublica.org/newsletters/dispatches\">ProPublica’s Dispatches\u003c/a> to get stories like this one as soon as they are published.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[dropcap]A[/dropcap]t a bustling makeshift flea market on a street corner in San Francisco’s Mission District, Ladybird sells her wares. One afternoon in December, wearing a black hoodie, faded black jeans embroidered with roses and carefully applied makeup, she biked three blocks from the city-sanctioned tent encampment where she lives, carrying a bag with a still-sealed Minnie Mouse stationery kit and a brand-new pair of brown high heels. Almost immediately, she was approached by a man interested in buying the stationery kit to give to his daughter for Christmas. “Eight dollars,” she said. He talked her down to five, and a deal was made.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During a pause in bartering, a text message appeared on her phone. “I’ve been assigned a case manager! It happened this morning,” she exclaimed, calling over her friend Johnny to tell him the news. “I’m going to be moving indoors in the next couple weeks.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ladybird said she hasn’t lived indoors in seven years. This winter, she said, she finally got approved for a permanent supportive housing unit — a subsidized room with health, employment and social services, paid for by the city and federal government. But despite her optimism, that didn’t mean the end of her wait. In San Francisco, the path from homelessness to housing can take as long as two years, and that’s for someone lucky enough to make it onto the waitlist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco’s struggle with housing its unhoused population is notorious across the nation. Multiple mayors have promised to get the crisis under control. The city’s dedicated homelessness department, created in 2016, has an annual budget of $598 million — a sum that has more than tripled in its short existence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nonetheless, as of early February, the city’s Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing reported 1,633 homeless people like Ladybird — approved for housing and awaiting their turn to move in. Yet records provided by the department show 888 vacancies in its permanent supportive housing stock as of Feb. 22. Filling those empty rooms would not just cut the waiting list by more than half. It would be enough to house roughly 1 in 8 eight homeless people in the city. The homelessness department said it cannot talk about individual cases, but officials acknowledged that at least 400 people have been waiting more than a year, far beyond the department’s professed goal of placing applicants into housing 30 to 45 days after they’re approved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These persistent vacancy numbers stem largely from two new bureaucratic problems. First, the homelessness department created a policy that bumped hundreds of people who had previously been approved for housing to the bottom of a new list. In December 2020, the department rolled out a plan that reserved all available permanent supportive housing units for residents of shelter-in-place hotels, which had been opened during the pandemic to keep people who had been living on the streets safe from COVID-19.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This led to a spike in vacancies as many hotel-dwellers opted to stay in place rather than accept a more permanent option. It also meant that everyone else — people on the streets, in shelters, in navigation centers and in city-sanctioned tent sites — was out of luck, simply based on where they slept at night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s into this void that Ladybird fell. A resident of a tent site, she was behind an even larger number of people on an already-massive list.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Second, even when someone is approved to move in, the city is slow to send the paperwork — what’s called a “referral” — over to the private nonprofit organizations contracted by the city to manage housing units. Over the course of the pandemic, this problem has grown steadily worse.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Doug Gary, co-founder and co-director, Delivering Innovation in Supportive Housing, or DISH\"]‘There are going to be 38 people stuck on the street tonight, and they could be in DISH housing.’[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Doug Gary recently retired from one of those organizations, Delivering Innovations in Supportive Housing, or DISH. A year ago, he reported that the organization had 38 vacant units, with no referrals. Gary remembered passing people sleeping on the sidewalk as he walked to work, knowing he had empty units languishing in his buildings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are going to be 38 people stuck on the street tonight, and they could be in DISH housing,” he recalled thinking. “And that’s been true for months.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The last count of San Francisco’s unhoused population numbered more than 8,000. There is not enough housing for all of them. To try to help, the city’s mayor, London Breed, is pursuing a new goal: She has allocated hundreds of millions of dollars to procure 1,500 new units by the end of 2022. The city is on track to hit Mayor Breed’s goal, and may even exceed it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But with so many units of housing already sitting vacant — a number that according to the department has roughly doubled during the pandemic — a critical question arises: Will the city be able to fill them?\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A deprioritized population struggles to get indoors\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Funding for permanent supportive housing constitutes the largest piece of San Francisco’s budget for the unhoused, and the supply of housing is growing rapidly. It consists mostly of older hotels converted into single-room-occupancy residences. The city contracts with a dozen nonprofit organizations to run the nearly 150 buildings and manage social services, such as moving people in and out of units, maintaining the properties and managing individual cases, including everything from connecting people to treatment for substance use disorder to helping someone apply for food stamps. Residents pay 30% of their income, including Social Security benefits, toward rent, and the city subsidizes the rest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All of the 1,633 people in line for a permanent supportive housing unit had to answer a series of questions to determine who is most vulnerable and therefore most in need of housing. Every year, more than 3,000 people take this assessment, called “coordinated entry,” which takes into consideration, among other things, how long they’ve been homeless, if they have any mental or physical disabilities and if they’re addicted to drugs. Those who score highly by the city’s complex algorithm — in theory, the most vulnerable — are marked “housing priority status,” and are then put on a waitlist for permanent supportive housing.[aside postID=news_11905645 label='More on Housing']But actually getting off the waitlist and into those units isn’t easy. The city’s software to track vacant units is error-prone, unit maintenance problems take a long time to resolve, case managers quit and it can be impossible for people who have been living on the street to meet document requirements. (The homelessness department said that the city is currently working on the software and documentation issues, and has put a raise for case managers into its budget request for next year.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On top of all that, the city’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic made getting housed harder by creating a system that gave top priority to those least likely to want to move in: those who suddenly found themselves living for free in shelter-in-place hotel rooms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In spring 2020, as the city locked down and its housed residents stayed indoors, advocates raised concern for the thousands of unhoused people living outside and in temporary shelters, many of whom had health conditions that increased their risk for severe COVID-19. Those fears were realized when 92 residents of a large one-room shelter contracted the illness just one month after the city shut down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In response, San Francisco leased hotel rooms to help people experiencing homelessness quarantine indoors. It was always meant to be a temporary measure, and as the pandemic dragged on, the homelessness department strategized on how to wind the program down. The optics of sending anyone back to the street were not great, and the city created a policy of prioritizing residents of the shelter-in-place hotels for housing.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Abigail Stewart-Kahn, former director, San Francisco Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing\"]‘It is both one of the biggest opportunities and one of the biggest challenges our city has faced in our homelessness space.’[/pullquote]“I will be candid: It is both one of the biggest opportunities and one of the biggest challenges our city has faced in our homelessness space,” said Abigail Stewart-Kahn, then director of the homelessness department, during a Nov. 10, 2020, Board of Supervisors meeting at City Hall, where she justified the new policy. She added that the department would keep an eye on the data, and would “course-correct” to ensure the process was successful. In subsequent interviews and email exchanges, the department did not respond to additional questions about why that policy was created and pursued.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The data over the past 15 months shows a gradually increasing crisis: In October 2020 there were 544 vacant units. A year later, vacancies had nearly doubled to 1,064. While units sat vacant, people living outdoors were waiting to get indoors. Any course correction has been slow to come.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From the get-go, the policy of reserving housing for people in hotels was difficult to implement. Although residents knew the hotels were temporary and could close at any time, many were reluctant to move from free, modern rooms with private bathrooms into small, older units with bathrooms down the hall, at a cost of 30% of their income. All of a sudden, one housing provider said, three applicants for housing had to be referred in order to fill one vacant room.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the first seven months after the policy was implemented, supportive housing vacancies jumped 61%, from 600 units in November 2020 to 964 in June 2021, a period when the city was also adding new units. In February 2021, the homelessness department reported that 70% of shelter-in-place hotel residents who were offered a spot in the Granada Hotel, a newly purchased permanent supportive housing building, had rejected the placement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When someone turned down an available housing unit, it sat vacant until a new referral appeared. Providers found themselves in a new position: having to offer incentives to persuade potential tenants to move in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Georgetta Lovett, a property supervisor at DISH, oversees more than 300 units of permanent supportive housing. She said the organization now provides move-in benefits: free rent for the first month, free meals for three months and a free Muni transit pass.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Resistance to moving into permanent housing is not something Lovett experienced when showing units to people who had been living outside.[aside postID=news_11904495 label=\"KQED's 'Sold Out' Podcast\"]“People coming directly off the streets would take the place immediately,” she said. “We would be able to show them a room, they’d say, ‘Oh, this is nice.’ Most of them don’t come with a lot of stuff, and they were like, ‘I can move in today, or I can move in tomorrow.’ And normally we can make that happen right away.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A Feb. 24, 2021, a budget hearing at City Hall on shelter-in-place hotels showed the homelessness department was aware early on that the policy was adding to the vacancy crisis in permanent supportive housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are noting that people who are not in shelter-in-place hotels are more eager to take permanent supportive housing placements,” Stewart-Kahn said, adding that it was “putting pressure on our system.” She said that the department was “reevaluating” the policy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Three weeks later, Stewart-Kahn resigned, moving to a new role as an adviser to the city’s Department of Children, Youth and Their Families. That same month, the city established an 18-person shelter-in-place hotel housing team. Their task: to more efficiently implement the policy and move everyone qualified for housing from shelter-in-place hotels into vacant units. As a result of the change, move-ins did increase. In the six months before the housing team was established, the city moved 325 people into permanent supportive housing. In the six months after its creation, that number grew to 488.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an email exchange with the San Francisco Public Press and ProPublica in February, Megan Owens, who oversees much of the housing process of the city’s homelessness department, acknowledged that the policy “caused a huge delay” for adults living outside the hotels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In June, the department told the news organizations that it planned to open up a portion of permanent supportive housing vacancies to unhoused people living outside shelter-in-place hotels. But the department offered no transparency about how units were being allocated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Neither effort did enough to catch up to the growing supply. By September 2021, vacancies were at their height, with 1,064 permanent supportive housing units empty.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The delay in access to housing has been rough for people living outdoors. According to the official numbers, the current median wait time for a unit is 82 days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Owens admitted that the software the city uses doesn’t accurately track the time between being approved for housing and moving indoors. The city and federal government spent $8.5 million for that system over the past five years, but information on people trying to get indoors still isn’t recorded accurately.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, if someone doesn’t contact their case manager for 90 days, their spot on the waitlist expires. In acknowledgment of the long delays, at the start of 2021 the city automatically reinstated those applications, but the software then started the timeline over from scratch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The 300 people that expired off the queue and were reinstated in December and January are now listed as having waited 20 to 45 days, depending when they were reinstated, but their experience is that they’ve been waiting for months,” Owens explained.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That lack of clear data worries Nan Roman, president and CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness. People who are unsheltered “have very high needs, and they need to get into permanent supportive housing,” she said. “If you don’t keep good administrative data, you can’t track them. You can’t support them. You can’t find them. You can’t know what their situation is. It’s very important to have good data to make these programs work properly.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of those who are waiting are living in city-sanctioned tent encampments in empty parking lots around the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s where Ladybird, ineligible for housing under the policy that prioritizes hotel dwellers, lived for 15 months. (She requested the use of her nickname for this story due to complicated family matters; her identity was confirmed by a member of the city’s health department.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After years on the streets, Ladybird committed herself to finding a home. She said she took the coordinated entry assessment for housing three times — going through a mandatory six-month wait between attempts. She was finally approved in November.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Six months is a long time,” she said about the time between applications. “You basically have to be sitting out here waiting to be raped every night.” (A University of California San Francisco study found that 32% of women living outdoors reported instances of sexual or physical assault.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Research backs up Ladybird’s experience. “The impact of waiting weeks, months or years in a shelter or outside rather than a home has devastating consequences for a person,” said Chris Herring, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles. “Homelessness for even short periods of time has negative impacts on people’s physical, behavioral and mental health, can strain familial and social relations, have lasting impacts on future employment opportunities, and can entangle people in the criminal justice system.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the city-owned parking lot where Ladybird lived during the last year, her cheap camping tent, which rested on a wooden platform in a parking lot, got moldy during a wet winter. She developed pneumonia, and said rats would run around at night, hiding under the pallet she slept on.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Ladybird, unhoused resident of San Francisco\"]‘Your body goes through a lot being homeless. I’ve had pneumonia for two months now, from black mold on my tent. My tent is literally killing me.’[/pullquote]“I can’t be there anymore,” she said when interviewed in December. “Your body goes through a lot being homeless. I’ve had pneumonia for two months now, from black mold on my tent. My tent is literally killing me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the city said it is taking steps to mitigate delays, months of living in a wet tent site took its toll on residents. In text messages sent late one night, Ladybird described the chaos that had ensued as one of her neighbors had a mental breakdown. “This situation is getting worse by the day, it’s more twisted than anything I’ve seen in my decade out here,” she said. “I would be better off on the streets.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The situation felt hopeless. “This site hasn’t placed anybody,” Ladybird said. “Anybody who’s getting out of there is doing it on their own. There’s no social worker. It’s just a dead end.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Paperwork bottlenecks stall the process of moving people indoors\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>While the policies of the last two years left people like Ladybird living outdoors, those living in shelter-in-place hotels haven’t always fared better, with some of them waiting more than a year to be connected to a home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Marquita Stroud is one of those. She said that she has been homeless for 15 years, but that about a month before the COVID-19 outbreak began in earnest, she was approved for permanent supportive housing. “God was on my side!” she said when interviewed in December.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In April 2020, she was relocated to the Hotel Whitcomb, a historic tourist hotel repurposed to allow people experiencing homelessness to quarantine safely. Stroud was one of 500 unhoused people the city moved from large, warehouse-style shelters into 25 hotels around town.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stroud is an optimist, high-energy and cheerful, who wears her hair tied up neatly in a scarf. “It’s wet!” she exclaimed on a rainy morning, as she strode confidently down Market Street with an umbrella in one hand, pushing a cart containing her small, fluffy dog, Blue, with the other. She headed straight to a corner of the public library, a place she knows well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under COVID-19-era rules, Stroud isn’t allowed visitors where she lives, so she meets people at their apartments, outside or in public places. The prohibition on guests didn’t bother Stroud too much when she first moved in. But she felt isolated and, as the months dragged on, no one contacted her about moving into her own place. Stroud watched her friends and neighbors — many of whom arrived in the hotel the same day she did — move into permanent housing. Her turn never came.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In large part, that’s because the homelessness department’s process for reviewing and selecting unhoused people for referral is slow. And in the period when Stroud was waiting, things were markedly worse. In October 2020, 32% of vacant units had no pending referrals for a resident. In January, that ratio had more than doubled, to 66% of available units, according to the city’s own data. The department did not respond to questions about why this might be.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gary ran eight buildings through DISH. In February 2021, before he stepped down, he said the problem wasn’t new, but it was getting worse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Somewhere there is a bottleneck where the city is not sending us the housing application — that is, the documented representation of that person that we can process,” he said. “We report the vacancy to the city, and those vacancies languish for weeks to months without a referral of a real live human being who can be housed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At least part of the problem is a shortage of case managers, who are the crucial link between vacant units and the hundreds of people approved for housing. There is frequent turnover in the high-stress positions, and nonprofits struggle to fill new job openings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stroud said she has been assigned six case managers in two years. To figure out who is assigned to her, she regularly checks a piece of paper taped to a wall in her hotel, which lists the name of the case manager assigned to each floor. She describes calling her case manager repeatedly to set up an appointment and not getting through.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They pretty much don’t go knocking on your door,” Stroud said. “You got to ask for them. If I see one in the hallway — like if I see a worker talking to a client in the hallway — I always ask, ‘Are you a counselor? Are you my counselor?’ Because they don’t tell you.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nearly two years after being approved for a housing unit, Stroud is still at the Hotel Whitcomb. Although she dreams of going back to school, publishing her journals and giving back to the homeless community, her reality is much different. She’s had items stolen from her room, and the building has fallen into disrepair. “When we first got to this hotel, it was so cute,” she said. “Now they got the bedbugs, the roaches, the mice. Every other day, the pipes are messing up.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recently she met a woman who had recently moved into the Whitcomb, but was already on her way out: She’d been assigned a housing unit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was asking her, what did she do to get her housing that quick? And she said her counselor just came knocking on her door like, ‘You ready to go?’” Stroud said, clearly frustrated. “I haven’t talked to anyone about housing,” she said this month, as she approaches her two-year anniversary at the hotel. “I’m still here just waiting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for Ladybird, she was approved for housing in November, but three months later, she is still without a home. In January, she left the tent encampment for a short-term residential hotel, but it comes with a time limit. “After 28 days, we get put out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Are you currently unhoused in San Francisco, and trying to get housing? Do you have experience with the city’s housing process? Email the author at nuala@sfpublicpress.org.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "As of early February, San Francisco's Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing reported 1,633 unhoused people approved for supportive housing and awaiting their turn to move in — despite 888 vacancies in its permanent supportive housing stock as of Feb. 22. Filling those empty rooms would cut the waiting list by more than half, and house roughly 1 in every 8 homeless people in the city. ",
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"title": "In San Francisco, Hundreds of Homes for Unhoused People Sit Vacant | KQED",
"description": "As of early February, San Francisco's Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing reported 1,633 unhoused people approved for supportive housing and awaiting their turn to move in — despite 888 vacancies in its permanent supportive housing stock as of Feb. 22. Filling those empty rooms would cut the waiting list by more than half, and house roughly 1 in every 8 homeless people in the city. ",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was co-published by \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfpublicpress.org/\">the San Francisco Public Press\u003c/a>, a local nonprofit public-interest news organization, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.propublica.org/article/in-san-francisco-hundreds-of-homes-for-the-homeless-sit-vacant\">ProPublica\u003c/a>, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for \u003ca href=\"https://pico.link/sanfranciscopublicpress/login/enter-email?id=LoginWizard_sanfranciscopublicpress&short_code=meqdnxdz\">the Public Press’ newsletter\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.propublica.org/newsletters/dispatches\">ProPublica’s Dispatches\u003c/a> to get stories like this one as soon as they are published.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">A\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>t a bustling makeshift flea market on a street corner in San Francisco’s Mission District, Ladybird sells her wares. One afternoon in December, wearing a black hoodie, faded black jeans embroidered with roses and carefully applied makeup, she biked three blocks from the city-sanctioned tent encampment where she lives, carrying a bag with a still-sealed Minnie Mouse stationery kit and a brand-new pair of brown high heels. Almost immediately, she was approached by a man interested in buying the stationery kit to give to his daughter for Christmas. “Eight dollars,” she said. He talked her down to five, and a deal was made.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During a pause in bartering, a text message appeared on her phone. “I’ve been assigned a case manager! It happened this morning,” she exclaimed, calling over her friend Johnny to tell him the news. “I’m going to be moving indoors in the next couple weeks.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ladybird said she hasn’t lived indoors in seven years. This winter, she said, she finally got approved for a permanent supportive housing unit — a subsidized room with health, employment and social services, paid for by the city and federal government. But despite her optimism, that didn’t mean the end of her wait. In San Francisco, the path from homelessness to housing can take as long as two years, and that’s for someone lucky enough to make it onto the waitlist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco’s struggle with housing its unhoused population is notorious across the nation. Multiple mayors have promised to get the crisis under control. The city’s dedicated homelessness department, created in 2016, has an annual budget of $598 million — a sum that has more than tripled in its short existence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nonetheless, as of early February, the city’s Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing reported 1,633 homeless people like Ladybird — approved for housing and awaiting their turn to move in. Yet records provided by the department show 888 vacancies in its permanent supportive housing stock as of Feb. 22. Filling those empty rooms would not just cut the waiting list by more than half. It would be enough to house roughly 1 in 8 eight homeless people in the city. The homelessness department said it cannot talk about individual cases, but officials acknowledged that at least 400 people have been waiting more than a year, far beyond the department’s professed goal of placing applicants into housing 30 to 45 days after they’re approved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These persistent vacancy numbers stem largely from two new bureaucratic problems. First, the homelessness department created a policy that bumped hundreds of people who had previously been approved for housing to the bottom of a new list. In December 2020, the department rolled out a plan that reserved all available permanent supportive housing units for residents of shelter-in-place hotels, which had been opened during the pandemic to keep people who had been living on the streets safe from COVID-19.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This led to a spike in vacancies as many hotel-dwellers opted to stay in place rather than accept a more permanent option. It also meant that everyone else — people on the streets, in shelters, in navigation centers and in city-sanctioned tent sites — was out of luck, simply based on where they slept at night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s into this void that Ladybird fell. A resident of a tent site, she was behind an even larger number of people on an already-massive list.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Second, even when someone is approved to move in, the city is slow to send the paperwork — what’s called a “referral” — over to the private nonprofit organizations contracted by the city to manage housing units. Over the course of the pandemic, this problem has grown steadily worse.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Doug Gary recently retired from one of those organizations, Delivering Innovations in Supportive Housing, or DISH. A year ago, he reported that the organization had 38 vacant units, with no referrals. Gary remembered passing people sleeping on the sidewalk as he walked to work, knowing he had empty units languishing in his buildings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are going to be 38 people stuck on the street tonight, and they could be in DISH housing,” he recalled thinking. “And that’s been true for months.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The last count of San Francisco’s unhoused population numbered more than 8,000. There is not enough housing for all of them. To try to help, the city’s mayor, London Breed, is pursuing a new goal: She has allocated hundreds of millions of dollars to procure 1,500 new units by the end of 2022. The city is on track to hit Mayor Breed’s goal, and may even exceed it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But with so many units of housing already sitting vacant — a number that according to the department has roughly doubled during the pandemic — a critical question arises: Will the city be able to fill them?\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A deprioritized population struggles to get indoors\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Funding for permanent supportive housing constitutes the largest piece of San Francisco’s budget for the unhoused, and the supply of housing is growing rapidly. It consists mostly of older hotels converted into single-room-occupancy residences. The city contracts with a dozen nonprofit organizations to run the nearly 150 buildings and manage social services, such as moving people in and out of units, maintaining the properties and managing individual cases, including everything from connecting people to treatment for substance use disorder to helping someone apply for food stamps. Residents pay 30% of their income, including Social Security benefits, toward rent, and the city subsidizes the rest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All of the 1,633 people in line for a permanent supportive housing unit had to answer a series of questions to determine who is most vulnerable and therefore most in need of housing. Every year, more than 3,000 people take this assessment, called “coordinated entry,” which takes into consideration, among other things, how long they’ve been homeless, if they have any mental or physical disabilities and if they’re addicted to drugs. Those who score highly by the city’s complex algorithm — in theory, the most vulnerable — are marked “housing priority status,” and are then put on a waitlist for permanent supportive housing.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>But actually getting off the waitlist and into those units isn’t easy. The city’s software to track vacant units is error-prone, unit maintenance problems take a long time to resolve, case managers quit and it can be impossible for people who have been living on the street to meet document requirements. (The homelessness department said that the city is currently working on the software and documentation issues, and has put a raise for case managers into its budget request for next year.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On top of all that, the city’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic made getting housed harder by creating a system that gave top priority to those least likely to want to move in: those who suddenly found themselves living for free in shelter-in-place hotel rooms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In spring 2020, as the city locked down and its housed residents stayed indoors, advocates raised concern for the thousands of unhoused people living outside and in temporary shelters, many of whom had health conditions that increased their risk for severe COVID-19. Those fears were realized when 92 residents of a large one-room shelter contracted the illness just one month after the city shut down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In response, San Francisco leased hotel rooms to help people experiencing homelessness quarantine indoors. It was always meant to be a temporary measure, and as the pandemic dragged on, the homelessness department strategized on how to wind the program down. The optics of sending anyone back to the street were not great, and the city created a policy of prioritizing residents of the shelter-in-place hotels for housing.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘It is both one of the biggest opportunities and one of the biggest challenges our city has faced in our homelessness space.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“I will be candid: It is both one of the biggest opportunities and one of the biggest challenges our city has faced in our homelessness space,” said Abigail Stewart-Kahn, then director of the homelessness department, during a Nov. 10, 2020, Board of Supervisors meeting at City Hall, where she justified the new policy. She added that the department would keep an eye on the data, and would “course-correct” to ensure the process was successful. In subsequent interviews and email exchanges, the department did not respond to additional questions about why that policy was created and pursued.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The data over the past 15 months shows a gradually increasing crisis: In October 2020 there were 544 vacant units. A year later, vacancies had nearly doubled to 1,064. While units sat vacant, people living outdoors were waiting to get indoors. Any course correction has been slow to come.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From the get-go, the policy of reserving housing for people in hotels was difficult to implement. Although residents knew the hotels were temporary and could close at any time, many were reluctant to move from free, modern rooms with private bathrooms into small, older units with bathrooms down the hall, at a cost of 30% of their income. All of a sudden, one housing provider said, three applicants for housing had to be referred in order to fill one vacant room.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the first seven months after the policy was implemented, supportive housing vacancies jumped 61%, from 600 units in November 2020 to 964 in June 2021, a period when the city was also adding new units. In February 2021, the homelessness department reported that 70% of shelter-in-place hotel residents who were offered a spot in the Granada Hotel, a newly purchased permanent supportive housing building, had rejected the placement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When someone turned down an available housing unit, it sat vacant until a new referral appeared. Providers found themselves in a new position: having to offer incentives to persuade potential tenants to move in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Georgetta Lovett, a property supervisor at DISH, oversees more than 300 units of permanent supportive housing. She said the organization now provides move-in benefits: free rent for the first month, free meals for three months and a free Muni transit pass.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Resistance to moving into permanent housing is not something Lovett experienced when showing units to people who had been living outside.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“People coming directly off the streets would take the place immediately,” she said. “We would be able to show them a room, they’d say, ‘Oh, this is nice.’ Most of them don’t come with a lot of stuff, and they were like, ‘I can move in today, or I can move in tomorrow.’ And normally we can make that happen right away.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A Feb. 24, 2021, a budget hearing at City Hall on shelter-in-place hotels showed the homelessness department was aware early on that the policy was adding to the vacancy crisis in permanent supportive housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are noting that people who are not in shelter-in-place hotels are more eager to take permanent supportive housing placements,” Stewart-Kahn said, adding that it was “putting pressure on our system.” She said that the department was “reevaluating” the policy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Three weeks later, Stewart-Kahn resigned, moving to a new role as an adviser to the city’s Department of Children, Youth and Their Families. That same month, the city established an 18-person shelter-in-place hotel housing team. Their task: to more efficiently implement the policy and move everyone qualified for housing from shelter-in-place hotels into vacant units. As a result of the change, move-ins did increase. In the six months before the housing team was established, the city moved 325 people into permanent supportive housing. In the six months after its creation, that number grew to 488.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an email exchange with the San Francisco Public Press and ProPublica in February, Megan Owens, who oversees much of the housing process of the city’s homelessness department, acknowledged that the policy “caused a huge delay” for adults living outside the hotels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In June, the department told the news organizations that it planned to open up a portion of permanent supportive housing vacancies to unhoused people living outside shelter-in-place hotels. But the department offered no transparency about how units were being allocated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Neither effort did enough to catch up to the growing supply. By September 2021, vacancies were at their height, with 1,064 permanent supportive housing units empty.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The delay in access to housing has been rough for people living outdoors. According to the official numbers, the current median wait time for a unit is 82 days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Owens admitted that the software the city uses doesn’t accurately track the time between being approved for housing and moving indoors. The city and federal government spent $8.5 million for that system over the past five years, but information on people trying to get indoors still isn’t recorded accurately.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, if someone doesn’t contact their case manager for 90 days, their spot on the waitlist expires. In acknowledgment of the long delays, at the start of 2021 the city automatically reinstated those applications, but the software then started the timeline over from scratch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The 300 people that expired off the queue and were reinstated in December and January are now listed as having waited 20 to 45 days, depending when they were reinstated, but their experience is that they’ve been waiting for months,” Owens explained.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That lack of clear data worries Nan Roman, president and CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness. People who are unsheltered “have very high needs, and they need to get into permanent supportive housing,” she said. “If you don’t keep good administrative data, you can’t track them. You can’t support them. You can’t find them. You can’t know what their situation is. It’s very important to have good data to make these programs work properly.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of those who are waiting are living in city-sanctioned tent encampments in empty parking lots around the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s where Ladybird, ineligible for housing under the policy that prioritizes hotel dwellers, lived for 15 months. (She requested the use of her nickname for this story due to complicated family matters; her identity was confirmed by a member of the city’s health department.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After years on the streets, Ladybird committed herself to finding a home. She said she took the coordinated entry assessment for housing three times — going through a mandatory six-month wait between attempts. She was finally approved in November.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Six months is a long time,” she said about the time between applications. “You basically have to be sitting out here waiting to be raped every night.” (A University of California San Francisco study found that 32% of women living outdoors reported instances of sexual or physical assault.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Research backs up Ladybird’s experience. “The impact of waiting weeks, months or years in a shelter or outside rather than a home has devastating consequences for a person,” said Chris Herring, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles. “Homelessness for even short periods of time has negative impacts on people’s physical, behavioral and mental health, can strain familial and social relations, have lasting impacts on future employment opportunities, and can entangle people in the criminal justice system.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the city-owned parking lot where Ladybird lived during the last year, her cheap camping tent, which rested on a wooden platform in a parking lot, got moldy during a wet winter. She developed pneumonia, and said rats would run around at night, hiding under the pallet she slept on.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“I can’t be there anymore,” she said when interviewed in December. “Your body goes through a lot being homeless. I’ve had pneumonia for two months now, from black mold on my tent. My tent is literally killing me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the city said it is taking steps to mitigate delays, months of living in a wet tent site took its toll on residents. In text messages sent late one night, Ladybird described the chaos that had ensued as one of her neighbors had a mental breakdown. “This situation is getting worse by the day, it’s more twisted than anything I’ve seen in my decade out here,” she said. “I would be better off on the streets.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The situation felt hopeless. “This site hasn’t placed anybody,” Ladybird said. “Anybody who’s getting out of there is doing it on their own. There’s no social worker. It’s just a dead end.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Paperwork bottlenecks stall the process of moving people indoors\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>While the policies of the last two years left people like Ladybird living outdoors, those living in shelter-in-place hotels haven’t always fared better, with some of them waiting more than a year to be connected to a home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Marquita Stroud is one of those. She said that she has been homeless for 15 years, but that about a month before the COVID-19 outbreak began in earnest, she was approved for permanent supportive housing. “God was on my side!” she said when interviewed in December.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In April 2020, she was relocated to the Hotel Whitcomb, a historic tourist hotel repurposed to allow people experiencing homelessness to quarantine safely. Stroud was one of 500 unhoused people the city moved from large, warehouse-style shelters into 25 hotels around town.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stroud is an optimist, high-energy and cheerful, who wears her hair tied up neatly in a scarf. “It’s wet!” she exclaimed on a rainy morning, as she strode confidently down Market Street with an umbrella in one hand, pushing a cart containing her small, fluffy dog, Blue, with the other. She headed straight to a corner of the public library, a place she knows well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under COVID-19-era rules, Stroud isn’t allowed visitors where she lives, so she meets people at their apartments, outside or in public places. The prohibition on guests didn’t bother Stroud too much when she first moved in. But she felt isolated and, as the months dragged on, no one contacted her about moving into her own place. Stroud watched her friends and neighbors — many of whom arrived in the hotel the same day she did — move into permanent housing. Her turn never came.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In large part, that’s because the homelessness department’s process for reviewing and selecting unhoused people for referral is slow. And in the period when Stroud was waiting, things were markedly worse. In October 2020, 32% of vacant units had no pending referrals for a resident. In January, that ratio had more than doubled, to 66% of available units, according to the city’s own data. The department did not respond to questions about why this might be.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gary ran eight buildings through DISH. In February 2021, before he stepped down, he said the problem wasn’t new, but it was getting worse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Somewhere there is a bottleneck where the city is not sending us the housing application — that is, the documented representation of that person that we can process,” he said. “We report the vacancy to the city, and those vacancies languish for weeks to months without a referral of a real live human being who can be housed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At least part of the problem is a shortage of case managers, who are the crucial link between vacant units and the hundreds of people approved for housing. There is frequent turnover in the high-stress positions, and nonprofits struggle to fill new job openings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stroud said she has been assigned six case managers in two years. To figure out who is assigned to her, she regularly checks a piece of paper taped to a wall in her hotel, which lists the name of the case manager assigned to each floor. She describes calling her case manager repeatedly to set up an appointment and not getting through.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They pretty much don’t go knocking on your door,” Stroud said. “You got to ask for them. If I see one in the hallway — like if I see a worker talking to a client in the hallway — I always ask, ‘Are you a counselor? Are you my counselor?’ Because they don’t tell you.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nearly two years after being approved for a housing unit, Stroud is still at the Hotel Whitcomb. Although she dreams of going back to school, publishing her journals and giving back to the homeless community, her reality is much different. She’s had items stolen from her room, and the building has fallen into disrepair. “When we first got to this hotel, it was so cute,” she said. “Now they got the bedbugs, the roaches, the mice. Every other day, the pipes are messing up.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recently she met a woman who had recently moved into the Whitcomb, but was already on her way out: She’d been assigned a housing unit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was asking her, what did she do to get her housing that quick? And she said her counselor just came knocking on her door like, ‘You ready to go?’” Stroud said, clearly frustrated. “I haven’t talked to anyone about housing,” she said this month, as she approaches her two-year anniversary at the hotel. “I’m still here just waiting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for Ladybird, she was approved for housing in November, but three months later, she is still without a home. In January, she left the tent encampment for a short-term residential hotel, but it comes with a time limit. “After 28 days, we get put out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Are you currently unhoused in San Francisco, and trying to get housing? Do you have experience with the city’s housing process? Email the author at nuala@sfpublicpress.org.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "The Landlord's Game: Who Has the Power to Evict?",
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"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=\"auto, (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=\"auto, (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",
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"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",
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"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>",
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"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=\"auto, (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=\"auto, (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>",
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"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>",
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"slug": "why-black-women-are-more-likely-to-face-eviction",
"title": "Why Black Women Are More Likely to Face Eviction",
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"headTitle": "Why Black Women Are More Likely to Face Eviction | KQED",
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"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=\"auto, (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=\"auto, (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=\"auto, (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=\"auto, (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=\"auto, (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=\"auto, (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=\"auto, (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",
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"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.",
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"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>",
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"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=\"auto, (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=\"auto, (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=\"auto, (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=\"auto, (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=\"auto, (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=\"auto, (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=\"auto, (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>",
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"title": "'Imperfect Paradise': When Neighbors Shout Down an Apartment Complex for Unhoused People",
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"headTitle": "‘Imperfect Paradise’: When Neighbors Shout Down an Apartment Complex for Unhoused People | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>This week’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/tcrmag/\">California Report Magazine\u003c/a> features a conversation with KPCC reporter Jill Replogle, whose three-part series “Home Is Life” is the opening season of the new LAist podcast \u003ca href=\"https://laist.com/podcasts/imperfectparadise\">Imperfect Paradise\u003c/a>. We hear excerpts from Episode 2, which explores the \u003ca href=\"https://laist.com/news/housing-homelessness/fullerton-homelessness-nimby-supportive-housing-imperfect-paradise\">battle in Fullerton over an effort to build a new apartment complex\u003c/a> to get unhoused people off the street.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How to get unhoused people into stable housing is a question cities across California are grappling with. But the problem isn’t always finding land or money to build permanent supportive housing — often, it’s the neighbors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>David Gillanders runs an organization called \u003ca href=\"https://www.pohoc.org/staff/\">Pathways of Hope\u003c/a>, which works to end homelessness and hunger in Orange County. He was frustrated with the limits of services for unhoused people, which tend to go not much beyond things like church soup kitchens and clothing drives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11905657\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11905657\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS53771_David-Gillanders-qut-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS53771_David-Gillanders-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS53771_David-Gillanders-qut-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS53771_David-Gillanders-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS53771_David-Gillanders-qut-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS53771_David-Gillanders-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">David Gillanders, executive director of Pathways of Hope, at the proposed site of an apartment complex for chronically unhoused people in Fullerton. \u003ccite>(Jill Replogle / KPCC)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Yes, handing out toys to families matters. Yes, everyone’s got to eat,” Gillanders said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“But it’s literally homelessness. It’s not souplessness, you know what I mean? It’s not clotheslessness. It’s not showerlessness. It’s homelessness. Demonstrate for me how homelessness is ended with anything other than a set of keys, a lease and a place to call home.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11905658\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11905658\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS53772_Curtis-Gamble-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS53772_Curtis-Gamble-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS53772_Curtis-Gamble-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS53772_Curtis-Gamble-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS53772_Curtis-Gamble-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS53772_Curtis-Gamble-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Curtis Gamble in his studio apartment in downtown Fullerton. Gamble was homeless in Fullerton for eight years. He was able to rent the apartment with the money he got from a settlement with the city of Fullerton over the city’s failure to zone for homeless shelters. \u003ccite>(Kyle Grillot/KPCC)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Gillanders led an initiative to build an apartment building in Fullerton to house 60 to 80 people who are chronically unhoused and have a disability, which could include mental illness or a substance abuse disorder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In order to get it approved, the Fullerton City Council told Gillanders he’d have to convince the neighbors. But that proved harder than he thought.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We spent a lot of money to buy homes and to get our kids to school and, you know, just to live the American dream,” said neighbor Stephanie Bromley. “We feel like our safety and our well-being is being compromised and no one’s thinking about us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bromley ran a Facebook group that became a forum for complaints about people experiencing homelessness in the neighborhood. Bromley said she felt compassion for unhoused people, handing out McDonald’s gift cards to people she encounters around town asking for money. But she didn’t support the idea of formerly unhoused people living in an apartment building in her neighborhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m concerned that we’re going to attract people from other cities and then they’re going to become our responsibility,” Bromley said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some Fullerton residents express more vicious takes on their unhoused neighbors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Catherine Reese generated a local following in Fullerton by \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIAEfZIjiPmYnq9ZFHdtqzA\">posting videos of her “interviewing” people\u003c/a> she presumes to be unhoused. Some videos feature her asking her subjects if they want help and then berating them if they refuse or waver. Others feature her disparaging commentaries, as she films unhoused people from a distance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Imperfect Paradise podcast follows Reese and a group of neighbors as they tour other permanent supportive housing for chronically unhoused people in Orange County. Fullerton City Council members and proponents of the Pathways project suggested it might be illuminating for residents to see some existing developments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label='Related Coverage' tag='homelessness']But the tour seemed to backfire. Fullerton neighbors got particularly upset when the tour stopped at an apartment complex in the city of Irvine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We know permanent supportive housing is what experts say is the best way to keep people off the street,” said Bromley. “But it bothers me that our taxpayer dollars are paying for these people to live with amenities like a pool, stainless steel appliances, granite countertops, walk-in closets, movie night, etcetera. And they never have to work. You know, it makes me wonder why I work so hard, you know, and tell my kids they need to go to school and do well for themselves and everybody getting all these things for free. It’s frustrating.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Actually, tenants do pay rent: 30% of their income, which could come from employment or disability insurance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that information didn’t convince the Fullerton neighbors skeptical of the Pathways project. When the tour stopped at another permanent supportive housing project, the Rockwood apartments in Anaheim, Reese jumped in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Can I get this kind of assistance and not have to work?” she asked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you’re homeless, if you go live on the street for a year, stop working, then you would qualify,” responded Danielle Ball, whose job is to help tenants at Rockwood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you went out and if you decided you don’t want your house, you don’t want your car. You don’t want any single asset that you own and sell everything and go out on the street and lose it all … [and] after being on the street, most likely you will get a mental health diagnosis because it’s pretty bad out there … then you could qualify, 100%.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003ca href=\"https://laist.com/podcasts/imperfectparadise\">Listen to the Imperfect Paradise podcast\u003c/a> from LAist studios to learn more about the battle over permanent supportive housing in Fullerton, and \u003ca href=\"https://laist.com/news/housing-homelessness/fullerton-homelessness-nimby-supportive-housing-imperfect-paradise\">read LAist’s full story\u003c/a>, going back to 2018.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"headline": "'Imperfect Paradise': When Neighbors Shout Down an Apartment Complex for Unhoused People",
"datePublished": "2022-02-18T16:17:32-08:00",
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"source": "The California Report Magazine",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>This week’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/tcrmag/\">California Report Magazine\u003c/a> features a conversation with KPCC reporter Jill Replogle, whose three-part series “Home Is Life” is the opening season of the new LAist podcast \u003ca href=\"https://laist.com/podcasts/imperfectparadise\">Imperfect Paradise\u003c/a>. We hear excerpts from Episode 2, which explores the \u003ca href=\"https://laist.com/news/housing-homelessness/fullerton-homelessness-nimby-supportive-housing-imperfect-paradise\">battle in Fullerton over an effort to build a new apartment complex\u003c/a> to get unhoused people off the street.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How to get unhoused people into stable housing is a question cities across California are grappling with. But the problem isn’t always finding land or money to build permanent supportive housing — often, it’s the neighbors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>David Gillanders runs an organization called \u003ca href=\"https://www.pohoc.org/staff/\">Pathways of Hope\u003c/a>, which works to end homelessness and hunger in Orange County. He was frustrated with the limits of services for unhoused people, which tend to go not much beyond things like church soup kitchens and clothing drives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11905657\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11905657\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS53771_David-Gillanders-qut-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS53771_David-Gillanders-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS53771_David-Gillanders-qut-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS53771_David-Gillanders-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS53771_David-Gillanders-qut-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS53771_David-Gillanders-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">David Gillanders, executive director of Pathways of Hope, at the proposed site of an apartment complex for chronically unhoused people in Fullerton. \u003ccite>(Jill Replogle / KPCC)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Yes, handing out toys to families matters. Yes, everyone’s got to eat,” Gillanders said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“But it’s literally homelessness. It’s not souplessness, you know what I mean? It’s not clotheslessness. It’s not showerlessness. It’s homelessness. Demonstrate for me how homelessness is ended with anything other than a set of keys, a lease and a place to call home.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11905658\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11905658\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS53772_Curtis-Gamble-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS53772_Curtis-Gamble-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS53772_Curtis-Gamble-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS53772_Curtis-Gamble-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS53772_Curtis-Gamble-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS53772_Curtis-Gamble-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Curtis Gamble in his studio apartment in downtown Fullerton. Gamble was homeless in Fullerton for eight years. He was able to rent the apartment with the money he got from a settlement with the city of Fullerton over the city’s failure to zone for homeless shelters. \u003ccite>(Kyle Grillot/KPCC)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Gillanders led an initiative to build an apartment building in Fullerton to house 60 to 80 people who are chronically unhoused and have a disability, which could include mental illness or a substance abuse disorder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In order to get it approved, the Fullerton City Council told Gillanders he’d have to convince the neighbors. But that proved harder than he thought.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We spent a lot of money to buy homes and to get our kids to school and, you know, just to live the American dream,” said neighbor Stephanie Bromley. “We feel like our safety and our well-being is being compromised and no one’s thinking about us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bromley ran a Facebook group that became a forum for complaints about people experiencing homelessness in the neighborhood. Bromley said she felt compassion for unhoused people, handing out McDonald’s gift cards to people she encounters around town asking for money. But she didn’t support the idea of formerly unhoused people living in an apartment building in her neighborhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m concerned that we’re going to attract people from other cities and then they’re going to become our responsibility,” Bromley said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some Fullerton residents express more vicious takes on their unhoused neighbors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Catherine Reese generated a local following in Fullerton by \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIAEfZIjiPmYnq9ZFHdtqzA\">posting videos of her “interviewing” people\u003c/a> she presumes to be unhoused. Some videos feature her asking her subjects if they want help and then berating them if they refuse or waver. Others feature her disparaging commentaries, as she films unhoused people from a distance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Imperfect Paradise podcast follows Reese and a group of neighbors as they tour other permanent supportive housing for chronically unhoused people in Orange County. Fullerton City Council members and proponents of the Pathways project suggested it might be illuminating for residents to see some existing developments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>But the tour seemed to backfire. Fullerton neighbors got particularly upset when the tour stopped at an apartment complex in the city of Irvine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We know permanent supportive housing is what experts say is the best way to keep people off the street,” said Bromley. “But it bothers me that our taxpayer dollars are paying for these people to live with amenities like a pool, stainless steel appliances, granite countertops, walk-in closets, movie night, etcetera. And they never have to work. You know, it makes me wonder why I work so hard, you know, and tell my kids they need to go to school and do well for themselves and everybody getting all these things for free. It’s frustrating.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Actually, tenants do pay rent: 30% of their income, which could come from employment or disability insurance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that information didn’t convince the Fullerton neighbors skeptical of the Pathways project. When the tour stopped at another permanent supportive housing project, the Rockwood apartments in Anaheim, Reese jumped in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Can I get this kind of assistance and not have to work?” she asked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you’re homeless, if you go live on the street for a year, stop working, then you would qualify,” responded Danielle Ball, whose job is to help tenants at Rockwood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you went out and if you decided you don’t want your house, you don’t want your car. You don’t want any single asset that you own and sell everything and go out on the street and lose it all … [and] after being on the street, most likely you will get a mental health diagnosis because it’s pretty bad out there … then you could qualify, 100%.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003ca href=\"https://laist.com/podcasts/imperfectparadise\">Listen to the Imperfect Paradise podcast\u003c/a> from LAist studios to learn more about the battle over permanent supportive housing in Fullerton, and \u003ca href=\"https://laist.com/news/housing-homelessness/fullerton-homelessness-nimby-supportive-housing-imperfect-paradise\">read LAist’s full story\u003c/a>, going back to 2018.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "california-reformed-medi-cal-to-include-whole-person-care-is-it-working",
"title": "California Reformed Medi-Cal to Include 'Whole Person Care' — Is It Working?",
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"content": "\u003cp>At 66, Edward El has a new lease on life — literally. In two weeks, he’ll move into his own apartment in Berkeley after spending the better part of the past 16 years unhoused.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Years ago, a back injury and pinched nerves in his legs made standing and walking painful, and he was laid off from his construction job. He ended up in “shelter after shelter after shelter.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But nine months ago, El moved into one of 12 Project Roomkey shelters in Alameda County designed to reduce COVID-19 among the unhoused population. He was connected with a housing navigator, a counselor and medical staff. They helped El apply for affordable housing and rental assistance vouchers, and coordinated with landlords who would give unhoused renters a chance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11905186\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1536px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11905186\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/020922-CALAIM-MHN-14-CM.jpg\" alt=\"A man, wearing a hoodie, beanie and a face mask, sits on a chair in an indoor space. He looks to the side, a bit away from the camera.\" width=\"1536\" height=\"1025\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/020922-CALAIM-MHN-14-CM.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/020922-CALAIM-MHN-14-CM-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/020922-CALAIM-MHN-14-CM-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/020922-CALAIM-MHN-14-CM-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1536px) 100vw, 1536px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">As Edward El prepares to move to a permanent home, he has enrolled in Medi-Cal. He said he couldn’t have navigated the array of complex systems if it weren’t for his new case management team. ‘I’m happy. They knew about programs that I didn’t know about that allowed me to get a place,’ he said. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Now El will pay a fraction of the cost to live in an area where one-bedroom apartments often exceed $3,000 per month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The team also made sure that El was enrolled in Medi-Cal and had transportation to his doctor’s appointments. He said he couldn’t have navigated the array of complex systems if it weren’t for his new case management team. “I’m happy. They knew about programs that I didn’t know about that allowed me to get a place,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Intensive case management like this is an example of the ambitious, sweeping changes California made to Medi-Cal beginning in January under an initiative it’s calling CalAIM, or California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Medi-Cal \u003ca href=\"https://www.chcf.org/publication/2021-edition-medi-cal-facts-figures/\">offers medical insurance to lower-income Californians\u003c/a>, serving as a lifeline for nearly half the state’s children, 1 in 5 adults and 2 million seniors and people with disabilities. But the program is inefficient: More than half of Medi-Cal’s \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/coronavirus/2021/07/medi-cal-covid-vaccinations/\">roughly $133 billion annual budget is spent on just 5% of the program’s highest-needs individuals\u003c/a> — people with multiple complex health problems compounded by homelessness, poverty, substance abuse, mental illness or incarceration, \u003ca href=\"https://www.dhcs.ca.gov/CalAIM/Documents/CalAIM-ECM-a11y.pdf\">according the Department of Health Care Services\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Edward El, CalAIM beneficiary\"]‘I’m happy. They knew about programs that I didn’t know about that allowed me to get a place.’[/pullquote]Over the next five years, CalAIM will seek to address the upstream drivers of deteriorating health — things like food insecurity and housing instability — in an effort to reduce costly emergency department visits, hospitalizations and nursing home stays. The program redesign is based on “whole person care” principles, which help people avoid situations that worsen their physical and mental health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This was designed at the county level to identify very high-risk populations — oftentimes people who were coming to the emergency room five to 10 times a month.” said Erica Murray, president and CEO of the California Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In his January budget, \u003ca href=\"https://www.ebudget.ca.gov/2022-23/pdf/GovernorsBudget/4000.pdf\">Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed $8 billion over five years to implement the program\u003c/a>, about 6% of Medi-Cal’s total budget. Included are temporary payments to managed care plans to offer enhanced case management and other services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These so-called social determinants of health have not been historically covered by health insurance like Medi-Cal. Yet they have an outsized impact on people who often struggle with economic instability, poor nutrition, discrimination, violence and disproportionate exposure to polluted air and water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One of my patients calls it social deterrents to health,” said Alameda County Medical Director Dr. Kathleen Clanon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No other state has mounted such a comprehensive program that wraps in so many elements. The scale is unprecedented, too: Medi-Cal provides health insurance for more than 13 million people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=\"news_11887815\" hero=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/GettyImages-1233456190-1020x680.jpg\"]“This is a big deal. Not only is California taking the lead but also setting a precedent for potentially other states to follow it,” said Anthony Wright, executive director of Health Access California, a consumer advocate group.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pilot programs in 25 counties helped get CalAIM off the ground. Roughly \u003ca href=\"https://healthpolicy.ucla.edu/publications/Documents/PDF/2020/wholepersoncare-report-jan2020.pdf\">108,000 Medi-Cal patients were enrolled in county pilots\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://healthpolicy.ucla.edu/publications/Documents/PDF/2020/First-Interim-Evaluation-CA-HHP-Report-sep2020.pdf\">15,000 in managed care pilots during a two-year period\u003c/a>, according to an early analysis by UCLA researchers. As a result of the success, federal officials granted a waiver allowing CalAIM to move forward for the next five years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Placer County, David Norris, 67, was one of the patients who benefited from the experimental programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Norris ended up in a homeless shelter after his mother, for whom he was a long-term caregiver, died. He earns $900 a month in Social Security and retirement, but it’s not enough for rent and living expenses. In April, an infected foot wound spread to the bone and cost Norris his left leg. Another infection resulted in more trips to the ER and subsequent surgeries. Several months later, a fight at the shelter ended in a shove, a fall and a broken right leg.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His caseworker, Todd Perbetsky, helped him enroll in Medi-Cal, find a nursing home where he could recuperate and apply for a housing voucher. He’s now helping Norris find permanent housing after leaving the nursing home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These are definitely people that are falling through the cracks,” Perbetsky said. “They may not meet the criteria of some programs. They may need linkage to services. They can have tons of barriers to even getting their CalFresh turned on or other benefits they qualify for.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Norris called Perbetsky a “hell of a godsend. If you don’t know the ins and outs, you just get spit out. You get absolutely no help at all. That’s where Todd … helps me and people like me navigate the waters and get all squared away.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Creating a one-stop shop\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Wraparound services aren’t new, but they haven’t always been easy to access, nor have they been directly connected to medical care. Walk through the wrong door and you might not get any help at all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An unhoused patient who suffers from addiction and mental health issues and has diabetes would have to approach three different county departments and a doctor to get all their needs addressed, and even then they’re likely to get lost in the system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a little bit like if you needed to get ingredients for a meal and instead of just going to the supermarket, you had to go to different stores to get your proteins and your fruits and your grains and your vegetables. And at those stores, you had to pay with different cards and navigate different rules about what you could buy,” said Melora Simon, a senior strategist at the California Health Care Foundation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=\"news_11894981\" hero=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/11/NPR-fentanyl-1-1020x766.jpg\"]This fragmentation frequently causes barriers to health care and is one of the primary reasons the Department of Health Care Services is focused on reforming Medi-Cal under CalAIM.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One such barrier is making sure patients don’t get lost between systems that don’t traditionally talk to one another.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Clanon, who also works as a physician in Alameda County, said a few years ago a pregnant, HIV-positive patient needed to begin HIV treatment but had left the usual encampment she stayed in and couldn’t be found. A nurse spent more than an hour calling local emergency departments, homeless shelters and case managers to see whether anyone had seen the patient, with no luck.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Had the system been integrated, Clanon’s patient would have been flagged as needing critical medical care any time she entered a homeless shelter, emergency department, substance abuse center or mental health facility.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“CalAIM is trying to fix the problem of disparate systems of care both among and between different counties and among and between different parts of the health care system,” said Diana Douglas, a health policy expert with Health Access California.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Accountability and missing pieces\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Since 2016, California has dedicated more than $3 billion in state and federal funds to experiment with doing just that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Four years after launch, the pilots demonstrated “substantial evidence” of improved follow-up after hospitalization for mental illness, increased participation in substance abuse treatment and decreased use of emergency services, among other metrics, \u003ca href=\"https://healthpolicy.ucla.edu/publications/Documents/PDF/2020/First-Interim-Evaluation-CA-HHP-Report-sep2020.pdf\">according to the UCLA analysis\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Contra Costa County, more than 12,000 patients were enrolled in the pilot annually, and the county health department hired more than 100 public health nurses, mental health specialists, community health workers, homeless service specialists, substance abuse specialists and social workers to provide coordinated case management.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Most of them were types of positions that existed in the county before, but they were very siloed,” said Emily Parmenter, the pilot’s program manager at Contra Costa County Health Services. “So we brought them all together in these multidisciplinary teams where they had a wealth of experience … and were able to provide case consultations across divisions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Medi-Cal patients who enrolled in the Contra Costa pilot experienced medical emergencies less frequently than nonenrolled patients.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We found that after being involved in the program for a year, our hospital admission rates decreased by 25% … and our [emergency department] rates were 14% lower compared to the control group,” Parmenter said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Emily Parmenter, Contra Costa Health Services\"]‘We found that after being involved in the program for a year, our hospital admission rates decreased by 25%.’[/pullquote]UCLA researcher Nadereh Pourat, who conducted the pilot evaluation, said her team has just begun to analyze the impact on specific health conditions, such as blood pressure and congestive heart failure, as well as cost-effectiveness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite their promise — or perhaps because of it — advocates say the transition from pilot programs to CalAIM will need to be watched carefully.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Responsibility has now shifted from county health departments to health care plans, which don’t always meet quality benchmarks. And health care plans in the 33 counties that did not have pilots are starting from scratch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are serious concerns about Medi-Cal [health care] plans on the ground being able to implement some of the work necessary for CalAIM to really be effective and live up to its potential,” health policy expert Douglas said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In some cases, plans struggle to deliver quality care across what we think of as very basic measures: childhood immunizations, are people getting mammograms on time, just very basic preventive care and chronic disease management,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11905185\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11905185\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/020922-CALAIM-MHN-10-CM_11.jpg\" alt=\"Two people sit at a table, handling paperwork. One person has their backed to the camera, the other one sits across from them.\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/020922-CALAIM-MHN-10-CM_11.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/020922-CALAIM-MHN-10-CM_11-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/020922-CALAIM-MHN-10-CM_11-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/020922-CALAIM-MHN-10-CM_11-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alameda County intake specialist Annie Wyley meets with a Medi-Cal patient in the repurposed dining room at the Radisson Hotel in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Accountability is especially important for improving equity among communities of color, advocates say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Communities of color are disproportionately impacted by these same factors: lack of housing, lack of income, lack of food security,” said Cary Sanders, senior policy director for the California Pan-Ethnic Health Network.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Health plans need to provide services that are “linguistically and culturally appropriate,” Sanders said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One critical piece of the pilot programs that was left out of CalAIM is legal aid. In counties that funded legal aid during the pilot programs, lawyers and paralegals were stationed in medical clinics to assist patients who needed help with benefit denials, eviction notices, immigration issues or domestic abuse cases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Frequently patients and even their doctors don’t realize that their issue could use the help of a lawyer, said Daniel Nesbit, managing attorney for medical legal partnerships with California Rural Legal Assistance. Nesbit said that during the pilot program in Monterey County his team helped 700 clients with more than 1,000 cases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A really good example is someone struggling with some sort of medical condition, and it’s making it hard for them to go to work every day and do their job to the full extent,” Nesbit said. “They might not know, for example, that they have a possible right to a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alameda and Contra Costa counties, which contracted with Bay Area Legal Aid to participate in the pilot, hired five additional attorneys dedicated to assisting Medi-Cal patients. The partnership helped reach people who ordinarily wouldn’t be able to access legal aid because their disability prevented them from attending an appointment or they didn’t have a phone number or an address. Case managers were able to link people to the attorneys, accounting for 300 referrals a year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But when the pilot ended in December and state funding dried up, attorneys were reassigned and are no longer able to focus on Medi-Cal patients.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Diana Douglas, Health Access California\"]‘There are serious concerns about Medi-Cal [health care] … being able to implement some of the work necessary for CalAIM to really be effective.’[/pullquote]“I’m still getting emails and phone calls from the case managers I worked with who I think are now kind of scrambling to figure out how to help,” said Abby Khodayari, an attorney who worked in Contra Costa County’s program. “Case managers are hoping to get help analyzing eviction notices and figuring out the validity of them. It’s hard not having dedicated time to be able to spend working on those issues.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While legal services aren’t explicitly named as one of 14 preapproved services under CalAIM, the Department of Health Care Services said health care plans could integrate them as part of supportive housing services, which are covered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But attorneys say it’s unlikely to happen unless plans get specific guarantees that CalAIM will cover the cost. They hope that subsequent phases of CalAIM will include legal aid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There hasn’t been a health plan here in LA who’s come forward and said we want to offer these legal services,” said Gerson Sorto, a managing attorney with Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Los Angeles County has continued funding their partnership through the summer, but there’s no permanent money in sight. “As of today, there is no funding secured or confirmed beyond June 30,” Sorto said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Life under ‘whole person care’\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Back at the Radisson Hotel in Oakland, the shelter where El is waiting patiently to move into his new apartment, he watches a home renovation show on the television. He likes to see how the hosts redesign the interior and gets ideas for his own future home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before losing his job, El lived in an apartment near Lake Merritt but hasn’t had a place to call his own in years. After he enrolled in Alameda County’s pilot program, things started turning around for him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These people really respect you and help if you ask for it,” El said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Part of the program is connecting Medi-Cal patients to peers with similar backgrounds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label='More Housing Coverage' tag='housing']“You can’t tell them ‘do this and do that.’ You walk alongside someone and support whatever they’ve got going on,” said Michael Webb, a CalAIM peer support navigator who experienced addiction and homelessness. “Most importantly,” he said, “[is] someone to listen. I might not have any answer at all but there’s power in listening.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Down the hall from El’s room, shelter monitors are delivering lunch to residents who can’t make it to the dining room. Lunch is a chicken sandwich, banana, salad and a soda, but those with dietary restrictions or certain medical conditions like diabetes get tailored meals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As part of the CalAIM program, caretakers perform wellness checks on shelter residents with disabilities, helping them clean, bathe and use the restroom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the lobby, an intake worker asks a new guest about his seizure disorder and works to link him to his CalAIM team of health care providers, case workers and housing navigators. As the program grows, millions more Californians may benefit. On this day alone, the Oakland team expects to sign up eight new people.\u003cbr>\n[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "California's first-of-its-kind Medi-Cal reform aims to help lower-income patients navigate problems like homelessness, poverty and substance abuse that can harm health.",
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"title": "California Reformed Medi-Cal to Include 'Whole Person Care' — Is It Working? | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>At 66, Edward El has a new lease on life — literally. In two weeks, he’ll move into his own apartment in Berkeley after spending the better part of the past 16 years unhoused.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Years ago, a back injury and pinched nerves in his legs made standing and walking painful, and he was laid off from his construction job. He ended up in “shelter after shelter after shelter.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But nine months ago, El moved into one of 12 Project Roomkey shelters in Alameda County designed to reduce COVID-19 among the unhoused population. He was connected with a housing navigator, a counselor and medical staff. They helped El apply for affordable housing and rental assistance vouchers, and coordinated with landlords who would give unhoused renters a chance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11905186\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1536px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11905186\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/020922-CALAIM-MHN-14-CM.jpg\" alt=\"A man, wearing a hoodie, beanie and a face mask, sits on a chair in an indoor space. He looks to the side, a bit away from the camera.\" width=\"1536\" height=\"1025\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/020922-CALAIM-MHN-14-CM.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/020922-CALAIM-MHN-14-CM-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/020922-CALAIM-MHN-14-CM-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/020922-CALAIM-MHN-14-CM-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1536px) 100vw, 1536px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">As Edward El prepares to move to a permanent home, he has enrolled in Medi-Cal. He said he couldn’t have navigated the array of complex systems if it weren’t for his new case management team. ‘I’m happy. They knew about programs that I didn’t know about that allowed me to get a place,’ he said. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Now El will pay a fraction of the cost to live in an area where one-bedroom apartments often exceed $3,000 per month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The team also made sure that El was enrolled in Medi-Cal and had transportation to his doctor’s appointments. He said he couldn’t have navigated the array of complex systems if it weren’t for his new case management team. “I’m happy. They knew about programs that I didn’t know about that allowed me to get a place,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Intensive case management like this is an example of the ambitious, sweeping changes California made to Medi-Cal beginning in January under an initiative it’s calling CalAIM, or California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Medi-Cal \u003ca href=\"https://www.chcf.org/publication/2021-edition-medi-cal-facts-figures/\">offers medical insurance to lower-income Californians\u003c/a>, serving as a lifeline for nearly half the state’s children, 1 in 5 adults and 2 million seniors and people with disabilities. But the program is inefficient: More than half of Medi-Cal’s \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/coronavirus/2021/07/medi-cal-covid-vaccinations/\">roughly $133 billion annual budget is spent on just 5% of the program’s highest-needs individuals\u003c/a> — people with multiple complex health problems compounded by homelessness, poverty, substance abuse, mental illness or incarceration, \u003ca href=\"https://www.dhcs.ca.gov/CalAIM/Documents/CalAIM-ECM-a11y.pdf\">according the Department of Health Care Services\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Over the next five years, CalAIM will seek to address the upstream drivers of deteriorating health — things like food insecurity and housing instability — in an effort to reduce costly emergency department visits, hospitalizations and nursing home stays. The program redesign is based on “whole person care” principles, which help people avoid situations that worsen their physical and mental health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This was designed at the county level to identify very high-risk populations — oftentimes people who were coming to the emergency room five to 10 times a month.” said Erica Murray, president and CEO of the California Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In his January budget, \u003ca href=\"https://www.ebudget.ca.gov/2022-23/pdf/GovernorsBudget/4000.pdf\">Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed $8 billion over five years to implement the program\u003c/a>, about 6% of Medi-Cal’s total budget. Included are temporary payments to managed care plans to offer enhanced case management and other services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These so-called social determinants of health have not been historically covered by health insurance like Medi-Cal. Yet they have an outsized impact on people who often struggle with economic instability, poor nutrition, discrimination, violence and disproportionate exposure to polluted air and water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One of my patients calls it social deterrents to health,” said Alameda County Medical Director Dr. Kathleen Clanon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No other state has mounted such a comprehensive program that wraps in so many elements. The scale is unprecedented, too: Medi-Cal provides health insurance for more than 13 million people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“This is a big deal. Not only is California taking the lead but also setting a precedent for potentially other states to follow it,” said Anthony Wright, executive director of Health Access California, a consumer advocate group.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pilot programs in 25 counties helped get CalAIM off the ground. Roughly \u003ca href=\"https://healthpolicy.ucla.edu/publications/Documents/PDF/2020/wholepersoncare-report-jan2020.pdf\">108,000 Medi-Cal patients were enrolled in county pilots\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://healthpolicy.ucla.edu/publications/Documents/PDF/2020/First-Interim-Evaluation-CA-HHP-Report-sep2020.pdf\">15,000 in managed care pilots during a two-year period\u003c/a>, according to an early analysis by UCLA researchers. As a result of the success, federal officials granted a waiver allowing CalAIM to move forward for the next five years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Placer County, David Norris, 67, was one of the patients who benefited from the experimental programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Norris ended up in a homeless shelter after his mother, for whom he was a long-term caregiver, died. He earns $900 a month in Social Security and retirement, but it’s not enough for rent and living expenses. In April, an infected foot wound spread to the bone and cost Norris his left leg. Another infection resulted in more trips to the ER and subsequent surgeries. Several months later, a fight at the shelter ended in a shove, a fall and a broken right leg.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His caseworker, Todd Perbetsky, helped him enroll in Medi-Cal, find a nursing home where he could recuperate and apply for a housing voucher. He’s now helping Norris find permanent housing after leaving the nursing home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These are definitely people that are falling through the cracks,” Perbetsky said. “They may not meet the criteria of some programs. They may need linkage to services. They can have tons of barriers to even getting their CalFresh turned on or other benefits they qualify for.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Norris called Perbetsky a “hell of a godsend. If you don’t know the ins and outs, you just get spit out. You get absolutely no help at all. That’s where Todd … helps me and people like me navigate the waters and get all squared away.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Creating a one-stop shop\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Wraparound services aren’t new, but they haven’t always been easy to access, nor have they been directly connected to medical care. Walk through the wrong door and you might not get any help at all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An unhoused patient who suffers from addiction and mental health issues and has diabetes would have to approach three different county departments and a doctor to get all their needs addressed, and even then they’re likely to get lost in the system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a little bit like if you needed to get ingredients for a meal and instead of just going to the supermarket, you had to go to different stores to get your proteins and your fruits and your grains and your vegetables. And at those stores, you had to pay with different cards and navigate different rules about what you could buy,” said Melora Simon, a senior strategist at the California Health Care Foundation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>This fragmentation frequently causes barriers to health care and is one of the primary reasons the Department of Health Care Services is focused on reforming Medi-Cal under CalAIM.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One such barrier is making sure patients don’t get lost between systems that don’t traditionally talk to one another.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Clanon, who also works as a physician in Alameda County, said a few years ago a pregnant, HIV-positive patient needed to begin HIV treatment but had left the usual encampment she stayed in and couldn’t be found. A nurse spent more than an hour calling local emergency departments, homeless shelters and case managers to see whether anyone had seen the patient, with no luck.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Had the system been integrated, Clanon’s patient would have been flagged as needing critical medical care any time she entered a homeless shelter, emergency department, substance abuse center or mental health facility.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“CalAIM is trying to fix the problem of disparate systems of care both among and between different counties and among and between different parts of the health care system,” said Diana Douglas, a health policy expert with Health Access California.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Accountability and missing pieces\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Since 2016, California has dedicated more than $3 billion in state and federal funds to experiment with doing just that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Four years after launch, the pilots demonstrated “substantial evidence” of improved follow-up after hospitalization for mental illness, increased participation in substance abuse treatment and decreased use of emergency services, among other metrics, \u003ca href=\"https://healthpolicy.ucla.edu/publications/Documents/PDF/2020/First-Interim-Evaluation-CA-HHP-Report-sep2020.pdf\">according to the UCLA analysis\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Contra Costa County, more than 12,000 patients were enrolled in the pilot annually, and the county health department hired more than 100 public health nurses, mental health specialists, community health workers, homeless service specialists, substance abuse specialists and social workers to provide coordinated case management.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Most of them were types of positions that existed in the county before, but they were very siloed,” said Emily Parmenter, the pilot’s program manager at Contra Costa County Health Services. “So we brought them all together in these multidisciplinary teams where they had a wealth of experience … and were able to provide case consultations across divisions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Medi-Cal patients who enrolled in the Contra Costa pilot experienced medical emergencies less frequently than nonenrolled patients.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We found that after being involved in the program for a year, our hospital admission rates decreased by 25% … and our [emergency department] rates were 14% lower compared to the control group,” Parmenter said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘We found that after being involved in the program for a year, our hospital admission rates decreased by 25%.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>UCLA researcher Nadereh Pourat, who conducted the pilot evaluation, said her team has just begun to analyze the impact on specific health conditions, such as blood pressure and congestive heart failure, as well as cost-effectiveness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite their promise — or perhaps because of it — advocates say the transition from pilot programs to CalAIM will need to be watched carefully.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Responsibility has now shifted from county health departments to health care plans, which don’t always meet quality benchmarks. And health care plans in the 33 counties that did not have pilots are starting from scratch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are serious concerns about Medi-Cal [health care] plans on the ground being able to implement some of the work necessary for CalAIM to really be effective and live up to its potential,” health policy expert Douglas said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In some cases, plans struggle to deliver quality care across what we think of as very basic measures: childhood immunizations, are people getting mammograms on time, just very basic preventive care and chronic disease management,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11905185\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11905185\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/020922-CALAIM-MHN-10-CM_11.jpg\" alt=\"Two people sit at a table, handling paperwork. One person has their backed to the camera, the other one sits across from them.\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/020922-CALAIM-MHN-10-CM_11.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/020922-CALAIM-MHN-10-CM_11-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/020922-CALAIM-MHN-10-CM_11-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/020922-CALAIM-MHN-10-CM_11-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alameda County intake specialist Annie Wyley meets with a Medi-Cal patient in the repurposed dining room at the Radisson Hotel in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Accountability is especially important for improving equity among communities of color, advocates say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Communities of color are disproportionately impacted by these same factors: lack of housing, lack of income, lack of food security,” said Cary Sanders, senior policy director for the California Pan-Ethnic Health Network.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Health plans need to provide services that are “linguistically and culturally appropriate,” Sanders said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One critical piece of the pilot programs that was left out of CalAIM is legal aid. In counties that funded legal aid during the pilot programs, lawyers and paralegals were stationed in medical clinics to assist patients who needed help with benefit denials, eviction notices, immigration issues or domestic abuse cases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Frequently patients and even their doctors don’t realize that their issue could use the help of a lawyer, said Daniel Nesbit, managing attorney for medical legal partnerships with California Rural Legal Assistance. Nesbit said that during the pilot program in Monterey County his team helped 700 clients with more than 1,000 cases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A really good example is someone struggling with some sort of medical condition, and it’s making it hard for them to go to work every day and do their job to the full extent,” Nesbit said. “They might not know, for example, that they have a possible right to a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alameda and Contra Costa counties, which contracted with Bay Area Legal Aid to participate in the pilot, hired five additional attorneys dedicated to assisting Medi-Cal patients. The partnership helped reach people who ordinarily wouldn’t be able to access legal aid because their disability prevented them from attending an appointment or they didn’t have a phone number or an address. Case managers were able to link people to the attorneys, accounting for 300 referrals a year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But when the pilot ended in December and state funding dried up, attorneys were reassigned and are no longer able to focus on Medi-Cal patients.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“I’m still getting emails and phone calls from the case managers I worked with who I think are now kind of scrambling to figure out how to help,” said Abby Khodayari, an attorney who worked in Contra Costa County’s program. “Case managers are hoping to get help analyzing eviction notices and figuring out the validity of them. It’s hard not having dedicated time to be able to spend working on those issues.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While legal services aren’t explicitly named as one of 14 preapproved services under CalAIM, the Department of Health Care Services said health care plans could integrate them as part of supportive housing services, which are covered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But attorneys say it’s unlikely to happen unless plans get specific guarantees that CalAIM will cover the cost. They hope that subsequent phases of CalAIM will include legal aid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There hasn’t been a health plan here in LA who’s come forward and said we want to offer these legal services,” said Gerson Sorto, a managing attorney with Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Los Angeles County has continued funding their partnership through the summer, but there’s no permanent money in sight. “As of today, there is no funding secured or confirmed beyond June 30,” Sorto said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Life under ‘whole person care’\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Back at the Radisson Hotel in Oakland, the shelter where El is waiting patiently to move into his new apartment, he watches a home renovation show on the television. He likes to see how the hosts redesign the interior and gets ideas for his own future home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before losing his job, El lived in an apartment near Lake Merritt but hasn’t had a place to call his own in years. After he enrolled in Alameda County’s pilot program, things started turning around for him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These people really respect you and help if you ask for it,” El said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Part of the program is connecting Medi-Cal patients to peers with similar backgrounds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“You can’t tell them ‘do this and do that.’ You walk alongside someone and support whatever they’ve got going on,” said Michael Webb, a CalAIM peer support navigator who experienced addiction and homelessness. “Most importantly,” he said, “[is] someone to listen. I might not have any answer at all but there’s power in listening.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Down the hall from El’s room, shelter monitors are delivering lunch to residents who can’t make it to the dining room. Lunch is a chicken sandwich, banana, salad and a soda, but those with dietary restrictions or certain medical conditions like diabetes get tailored meals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As part of the CalAIM program, caretakers perform wellness checks on shelter residents with disabilities, helping them clean, bathe and use the restroom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the lobby, an intake worker asks a new guest about his seizure disorder and works to link him to his CalAIM team of health care providers, case workers and housing navigators. As the program grows, millions more Californians may benefit. On this day alone, the Oakland team expects to sign up eight new people.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>The place with the highest rate of evictions in the Bay Area during the pandemic wasn’t a big city like Oakland or San Francisco — instead it was a suburb that has been radically transformed by housing crisis after housing crisis. Antioch, a working-class town on the outskirts of the Bay, has seen an influx of Black and Brown folks pushed from more expensive cities in search of a place they can afford.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In our first episode of Season 2 of Sold Out, we visit a neighborhood in Antioch with a high concentration of evictions. We’ll hear from renters, activists and politicians to find out how a lack of affordable housing is remaking the suburbs, not just in the Bay Area but across the country.\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=KQINC4565731200&light=true\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/h5>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Evicted: A Suburban Story [TRANSCRIPT] \u003c/strong>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hey, I’m \u003cb>Erin Baldassari (host)\u003c/b>.\u003cb>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And I’m \u003c/span>\u003cb>Molly Solomon (host)\u003c/b>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We want to take you back in time — two years ago — to the beginning of the pandemic. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">: We were all told to shelter in place. And as housing reporters, our first thought — how will people pay rent? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">: We heard from a lot of people who lost jobs, or had hours cut.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>LAURA YOPIHUA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I don’t know what to do after that without job, without income.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">People were forced to make really difficult decisions. Like choosing between buying groceries or paying rent.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>LAURA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I don’t have any money to pay the bills. I just have saving the money for the food. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And we heard from people afraid they’d end up on the streets.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JACKIE LOWERY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s just really scary right now. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Entire families were at risk. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JACKIE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I have to have a roof over my head. You know, I just have to, and of course, my grandbabies and the whole family does.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">: Millions across the country were on the edge of eviction. The stakes could not have been higher. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>SAN FRANCISCO CITY ATTORNEY DAVID CHIU\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If tens of thousands of folks are forced from their homes, COVID will be much more likely to spread and have devastating consequences.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">: States, local governments, even the CDC knew they had to act — so they put in moratoriums to block evictions. And Congress handed out nearly $50 billion to help people catch up on missed rent.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If we don’t act now, there could be a wave of evictions and foreclosures in the coming months.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">: But people were\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">still being evicted.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JANEE BRICE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The sheriff came out, and I ended up having to move with my daughter. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">:\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And now, as those pandemic protections expire — it’s getting worse.\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>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> In this season of Sold Out, we’re looking at the patterns of evictions. The ones in the headlines, and the ones that have quietly devastated lives for decades.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The more we looked at who is getting evicted and where, it became clear that evictions are a symptom of a larger problem. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Over the next few weeks, we’ll show you how this problem sits at the crossroads of inequality, racism, power and privilege.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And we’ll introduce you to the people fighting for change.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">From KQED, this is \u003c/span>Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Stay tuned.\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=\"auto, (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>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Sounds: Birds, sprinklers on lawns, light happy music)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When most people think about the suburbs, they think about good schools and safe neighborhoods, single-family houses with manicured lawns, and white picket fences.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Tamisha Torres-Walker wanted that for her family. She’d rented her whole life, and was ready to buy a place where she could raise her two sons. When she looked around, she found that most parts of the San Francisco Bay Area were too expensive. But not Antioch.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>TAMISHA TORRES-WALKER\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Antioch just showed up as like this place that was still affordable for people who wanted to become first-time homebuyers. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Even though the place she found wasn’t her dream house, it checked a lot of boxes.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>TAMISHA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The house picked me. It was like it had everything a single mom with two sons could need. We needed three bedrooms: It had it. I wanted a fireplace: It had it. My sons wanted dogs: It had a huge backyard.\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 2015, Tamisha bought her first home. But living in Antioch, she noticed a lot of other newcomers weren’t buying homes — they were renting. They’d been priced out of bigger cities, like San Francisco and Oakland.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>TAMISHA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The rental crisis, the unaffordability of, like, rents skyrocketing in the Bay Area is what started to push everybody else out this way.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Tamisha isn’t just a homeowner. She’s a city council member, has been for the last year. So we asked her to show us around.\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\">Antioch is home to more than 115,000 people. It’s a commuter town on the outer fringes of the Bay Area, about an hour’s drive from San Francisco. Highway 4 divides it in two.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>TAMISHA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We’re like right up against Highway 4 right now.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> On one side of the highway, there are rows and rows of single-family homes, peppered with strip malls, big box stores and a golf course. On the other side, there’s Tamisha’s district.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It’s a huge district — stretching about 15 miles along the San Joaquin River Delta. There’s a quaint, historic downtown, and a lot of industry. \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\">As we drive along the waterfront, she points out paper mills, chemical plants and oil refineries. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>TAMISHA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A lot of people call it “Refinery Row.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Her district is also where a lot the apartment buildings and townhomes are. Especially in this one neighborhood — the Sycamore Corridor. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>TAMISHA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is us, Sycamore Square, and a lot more apartments.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> On the neighborhood’s busiest street, there’s a small shopping center, with a liquor store, a smoke shop, and a fried fish and chicken joint.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>TAMISHA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So this, all of this, is high-density housing. Like, everything on this side of the street is all high-density housing.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We came here because we’d been gathering data on pandemic evictions in the Bay Area. And when we crunched the numbers, Antioch stood out.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It was the city with the highest eviction rate\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> —\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> 22 times higher than in Oakland. Almost a year and a half into the pandemic, there had been 91 evictions in Antioch. In Oakland, a city four times bigger, there had been just 33. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://evictions.study/\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-11904602 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/Screen-Shot-2022-02-09-at-9.53.34-AM-800x394.png\" alt=\"A map showing the number of evictions in East Bay Area cities, California, shaded in different colors to show lower and higher numbers.\" width=\"800\" height=\"394\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/Screen-Shot-2022-02-09-at-9.53.34-AM-800x394.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/Screen-Shot-2022-02-09-at-9.53.34-AM-1020x503.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/Screen-Shot-2022-02-09-at-9.53.34-AM-160x79.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/Screen-Shot-2022-02-09-at-9.53.34-AM.png 1448w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> But it’s important to note that our data only captures evictions enforced by the sheriff. And many people leave before that point, so we know even more people were evicted during that time.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>TAMISHA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I thought that we were not supposed to be evicting people during a global pandemic.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The highest concentration of evictions in Antioch was right here in the Sycamore Corridor, and we saw clear signs of that as we drove around. As we turned one corner, we saw two houses with big piles of stuff on the front lawn. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>TAMISHA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s probably somebody being put out. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> All of that stuff outside?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>TAMISHA\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> That’s probably somebody being put out. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There was furniture, kids’ toys, cardboard boxes with papers and letters spilling out of them — all of it wet. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Today’s the sixth. So that means that if you got a three-day ‘pay or quit’ on the first?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> You might be out now. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You might be out now, yeah. People might be starting to leave right now, yeah. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A couple doors down, there was another empty house. The neighbors said the family had left months ago. An eviction notice was still taped to the front door.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Talking to people in Tamisha’s district, it seemed like everyone had an eviction story. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATE HAYES\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They gave us a notice, and we didn’t really know what to do, so we just moved. I’ve been staying with my friends mostly. Just staying with my friends, and trying to get by.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>DEVIN URBACH\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> You know, it’s been so hard to get help. You have to really, like, know somebody that knows somebody. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MARY ROBERTSON\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It’s not easy after you have an eviction. It’s not easy finding another place. It’s not easy.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is not the vision of the suburbs we thought we knew. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CHRIS SCHILDT\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We’ve had this story that’s been told to us, that the suburbs is the place of white picket fences. And that has been true, but it’s never been the entire story.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/schildtchris\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Chris Schildt\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. She’s the director of the Regional Suburban Organizing Project. And she says, this idea that suburbs represent white middle-class success, that’s not really the case anymore. Across the country, suburbs are home to the largest and fastest-growing population of people living in poverty. \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.brookings.edu/book/confronting-suburban-poverty-in-america/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s according to research from the Brookings Institution.\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CHRIS\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We can’t deny there are more people of color living in the suburbs. There are more low-income people living in suburbs. There are more renters living in suburbs than ever before.\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So we need to look at and understand what’s happening in suburban places like Antioch in order to understand what’s happening in this country.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The evictions we’re seeing in Antioch are tied to the nation’s housing crisis, and the seeds of those evictions were planted 30 years ago.\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\"> In the early ’90s, Antioch was a destination. There was a building boom going on, and a lot of middle-class people of color were moving in.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CHRIS\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A lot of Latinx and African American folks who had moved out to buy a home, maybe to buy their first home, or to move into a bigger or better home from where they were living before. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Michael Carter grew up in East Oakland, a historically Black neighborhood. He’s an investment banker, and in the early ’90s, he wanted a safer place to raise his two sons. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MICHAEL CARTER\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Seeing how Oakland was beginning to change and the amount of crime that I was beginning to notice, I didn’t want my boys growing up in that area.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">He saw opportunity in Antioch. He found a really nice four-bedroom home for less than $150,000. It was in one of the fancier parts of town, out by a golf course.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MICHAEL\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That wasn’t going to happen in Oakland, no way.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Michael and his family were part of this wave of Black families moving to Antioch. It was a big shift for the city. In 1980, Antioch was almost \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://www.bayareacensus.ca.gov/cities/Antioch70.htm\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">90% white\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, and it had a history as a sundown town. There had actually been laws in place to prohibit people of color from walking the streets after dark. Even after those laws were repealed, some people of color told us they still didn’t feel safe.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But between 1990 and 2000, the city’s Black population \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://www.bayareacensus.ca.gov/cities/Antioch70.htm\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">more than quadrupled\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, rising to almost 10% of the population. The Latino population doubled.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MICHAEL\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We were actually seeing a diverse demographic moving to Antioch.\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\">Then the foreclosure crisis hit, and it hit families like Michael’s especially hard. He ended up losing his home and becoming a renter.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MICHAEL\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">2008 hit and everything just got slammed.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Foreclosures tore through low-income suburbs across the country. Again, here’s Chris Schildt: \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CHRIS\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It was specifically low-income suburban cities with large African American, Latinx homeowners of color nationally that had the highest foreclosure rates.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In Antioch, a quarter of all homeowners with mortgages lost their homes.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CHRIS\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That area was one of the hardest hit in the country for foreclosures. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Chris says that a lot of those homes weren’t bought by new homeowners — they were bought by investors.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CHRIS\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And you saw this dramatic shift.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Over the past 20 years, the population in Antioch has continued to grow. But the number of homeowners has stayed relatively flat, even dropping slightly, while the number of renters grew by 60%.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CHRIS\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It was a complete flip. It went from being a home-owning community to a renter community in terms of who is moving in.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A big part of that was surging rents in cities like San Francisco and Oakland, pushing renters further and further away in search of any place they could afford. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CHRIS\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I don’t think Antioch’s story is unique.\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\">You can see the effects of gentrification in suburbs around Chicago, Atlanta, Boston. Places that were once affordable have gotten more and more expensive. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CHRIS\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That is part of a regional trend and part of a national trend of what’s happening in the suburbs.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11616048\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11616048\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/09/Antioch_California-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The suburb of Antioch.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As more low-income renters move out to the suburbs, evictions there are going up.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We talked to someone who studies this. \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.urbandisplacement.org/team/tim-thomas-ph-d/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Tim Thomas\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> is the research director at the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.urbandisplacement.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Urban Displacement Project at the University of California in Berkeley\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. And he says he noticed the same trend around Seattle: High prices there pushed people south of the city.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>TIM\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There were a lot of Black households, in particular, moving to South King County because that was the last affordable space to be. But now we see that’s the space where most evictions are happening. Over half of the evictions in the whole county are happening in very few neighborhoods where that displacement has happened.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s not a coincidence that evictions are hitting Black neighborhoods the hardest, because evictions and race are deeply connected. When Tim looked at our data on evictions in the Bay Area, he saw that Black households were evicted at a higher rate than white households. It’s the same pattern he saw in Seattle.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>TIM\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In just one year of data, I found that Black women were getting evicted seven times more than white women, and Black households in general are getting evicted four times more than white households, which was a huge disparity.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In a lot of ways, the suburbs haven’t caught up to this new reality. They don’t typically have the money or staffing for social services that big cities have. Again, here’s Chris Schildt: \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CHRIS\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We really stopped investing in our suburbs in the ’80s and ’90s. In community infrastructure, in nonprofits and social services, in our schools. We’ve moved away from investing in our communities in general in the past 30, 40 years.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And, suburbs don’t have the kinds of renter protections that big cities have to help people stay in their homes. It leaves renters with few options when things do\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">go wrong. When that eviction notice gets taped to the front door.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s coming up, after this break.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Advertisement]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Sounds: People walking, greeting one another)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Hi, how are you? I’m Erin. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CARMEN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Hi. Carmen.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hola,\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">cómo estás?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CARMEN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Bien, gracias.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We met Carmen Ponce at her apartment in Antioch. It’s a small place on the ground floor of a two-story building. And immediately, when you walk in, you see these boxes: big plastic bins stacked on top of each other, ready in case she needs to leave.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CARMEN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Si miras alrededor de mi apartamento, casi todo ya esta en caja, todo vacío.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Carmen lives here with her teenage daughter and 1-year-old granddaughter. She also has two adult sons who sometimes stay with her. Ever since they got an eviction notice, they’ve been living in this sort of limbo.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The problems with her landlord started when the pandemic shut down businesses like hers. Carmen cuts hair at a barbershop in a town nearby. And because of COVID, she was out of work for almost a year. She fell behind on the $1,300 she pays in rent every month. It was a difficult time.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CARMEN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Pues,\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">fue una temporada bien difícil, de verdad.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> So many people we talked to while reporting on evictions told us they were already struggling to pay rent. And then something else would happen, something that made catching up nearly impossible. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In Carmen’s case, she was shot just outside her home, in an incident that had nothing to do with her.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CARMEN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Tengo mi hija que apenas tiene diecisiete años, y que tenía su bebe de un año, que yo me hago responsable de ella. Eso es que hace manternerme fuerte.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Carmen spent a month in the hospital and another four months recovering at home. She started working again last July, but it wasn’t full time. Then, things got a lot worse. Her property manager dropped off a notice at her door. It said, pay the back rent or get out. She owed at least $15,000.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CARMEN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A donde me voy con mi hija y con mi nieta? O sea, la única opción era sacar mis cosas en la calle y dormir en mi carro afuera.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Where would she go with her daughter and granddaughter? She thought their only option would be to stay in her car because she didn’t have enough money to move somewhere else.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">At this point in the pandemic, Carmen was still covered by California’s eviction moratorium. So, rather than leaving right away, she waited. Legally, the landlord would need to file a formal eviction in court to actually force her out. But that lawsuit never came.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CARMEN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">No para el acosto constante del manager. Porque también me hable por telefono, que cuando me voy a ir?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Instead, Carmen says the property manager keeps harassing her, calling her again and again, asking her when she’s going to leave. They even gave her a second eviction notice in January this year, but they still haven’t filed a lawsuit.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>BOB GUNSON\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There was no harassment, it was just getting her attention.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Bob Gunson is Carmen’s property manager, and he says his office only called to get her signed up for the rent relief program.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>BOB\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s the only reason. And we’ve got quite a few tenants. We’ve got some signed into that program, and they weren’t aware of it, and it’s helped them out a lot.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Carmen did sign up for rent relief. She got a partial payout, but not for everything she owes, and doesn’t know when the rest of the money will come. Work has been slow, and she still isn’t making the same amount she was before the pandemic. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CARMEN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yo estoy, pues, que no se que va pasar el dia de mañana.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> She says she doesn’t know what’s going to happen from one day to the next. It’s depressing, and Carmen knows there’s lots of people in Antioch going through the same thing.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CARMEN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Da tristeza, da tristeza en la situación en la que, en lo personal en la que yo me encuentro y en la que mucha gente en Antioch estamos viviendo porque yo se que todavía hay mucha gente que está pasando lo mismo que yo.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11904499\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11904499\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/IMG_8546-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"A woman in an apartment room stands to the left of boxes and plastic bins filled with her family's belongings.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/IMG_8546-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/IMG_8546-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/IMG_8546-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/IMG_8546-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/IMG_8546-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/IMG_8546-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Carmen Ponce inside her apartment in Antioch. After the business where she worked closed due to COVID’s effects on the economy, she has most of her belongings in boxes should she ever need to pick up and leave. \u003ccite>(Erin Baldassari, KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> That’s because Antioch is becoming less affordable. During the pandemic, rents here shot up \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.zumper.com/rent-research/antioch-ca\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">26%\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://bayareaequityatlas.org/indicators/housing-burden#/?breakdown=2&geo=07000000000602252\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Nearly two-thirds of all Antioch renters\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> are cost burdened, meaning they pay more than a third of their income on housing. As housing gets more expensive, it’s harder to hold on to, especially for people living paycheck to paycheck. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That leads to more turnover. People leave, they’re priced out, or they’re evicted. City Councilmember Tamisha Torres-Walker says that churn hurts the whole community.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>TAMISHA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It creates anxiety, instability, it creates uncertainty, and that’s unfortunate because neighborhoods can’t thrive like that.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s one reason why Tamisha is helping to lead a growing movement of Antioch renters pushing for change — a movement that started in the Sycamore Corridor. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s coming up after this break.\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\">For a long time after Tamisha Torres-Walker moved to Antioch, it didn’t really feel like home. She was actually thinking about leaving. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>TAMISHA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And then I started to care about the conditions in the community and actually like being here, and made a bigger commitment to change where I lived. So in a sense, I made a commitment to stay.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And she realized there wasn’t anyone on Antioch’s City Council who she felt really represented her district. So, she decided to run. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>TAMISHA\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I heard not one elected official talk about the conditions in the community, the real issues and conditions in the community, here in this district.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Tamisha spent countless hours knocking on doors — a lot of it in the Sycamore Corridor. She talked to people, asking them what kinds of issues they were dealing with.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>TAMISHA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You know, poverty, harm, violence, police misconduct and brutality, dilapidated conditions, just the quality of life, the way people were living.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And a lot of people were getting evicted. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>TAMISHA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We were talking to people and they were telling us, ‘Oh, this person, that person next door don’t live here no more. They moved out last week.’ Like literally, like they got kicked out.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">One man who would become instrumental in Tamisha’s campaign was Francisco Torres. He’s a tenant organizer for the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.acceaction.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Most people just call it ACCE.\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\">As more low-income renters moved to suburbs like Antioch, Francisco’s seen the fight for renters’ rights follow close behind. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>FRANCISCO\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Because it’s much more expensive now, it’s much more expensive, and there’s less and less places to move into.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When Francisco heard Tamisha was running for city council, he and other ACCE members jumped in to support her campaign.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>FRANCISCO\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And the reason I got involved is because I knew that if Tamisha won, we could change the city council.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Maybe they would actually have a chance of passing policies to help renters. She did win, and that’s when their work really began.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Antioch doesn’t have the history of tenant activism that you see in big cities like San Francisco or Los Angeles. And they knew Tamisha wouldn’t be able to get any new policies passed unless renters spoke up. So ACCE began recruiting.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Sounds: A man knocking on a door)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JAIME CALDER\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hello? How are you? My name is Jaime, I’m with ACCE institute.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They got people to write letters to their representatives, hold signs outside of City Hall, and show up on Zoom meetings.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JACKIE LOWERY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hi, can everyone hear me? OK. Good evening, Mayor, city council members, staff and residents of Antioch. My name is Jackie Lowery and I’m a resident of Antioch, a renter, and a member of ACCE.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The Antioch City Council is now actively debating tenant protections, and renters are\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">showing up.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JACKIE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">My family and I moved to Antioch for a better life. But from what I’ve been seeing in our city with our tax-paying and rent-paying citizens is shameful. You have a rental community in Antioch that needs your help right now.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CITY COUNCIL SPEAKER\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Families are struggling to pay their rent, and live with the daily worry if the next rent increase will be what puts them out.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CITY COUNCIL SPEAKER\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Rents are constantly increasing. Many of us are just going back to work because of the pandemic. We simply can’t afford the high rents and don’t see a way forward.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They’re demanding three big things: a cap on yearly rent increases, a new law to make it illegal for landlords to harass their tenants, and another that makes it harder for landlords to evict. It’s the first time renters are pushing for these kinds of protections in Antioch. And it’s by no means a sure thing.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Lots of people don’t want these policies to pass — landlords and other property owners don’t want more government regulation. Not to mention a couple city council members who are pushing back. There’s more meetings on the books before the council will cast their final votes. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But no matter what happens with these proposals, Tamisha is hopeful.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music in)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>TAMISHA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">People are organizing. There are people who are organizing themselves as they’re starting to see that they need to create a voice from the ground. And I think that’s the greatest change any community could see is people building community.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Renters are taking a stand, and fighting to stay in Antioch. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>TAMISHA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I don’t think that’s happened here in Antioch, especially for people who have transitioned here. And I see it happening now and I’m excited about it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>FRANCISCO\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Some people don’t even realize that you could actually fight in a big group, and win.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For Francisco and members of ACCE, there’s no fight more important than the fight to stay housed.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>FRANCISCO\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And it’s important to protect that, because what else do you have if you don’t have a home?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s the question that really got us thinking about evictions in the first place. Because home is the center of our lives, where we can be ourselves. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It shapes our identities and keeps our families safe. And if we suddenly had to leave, we’d feel lost, disconnected. But that’s what happens when you’re evicted — you lose your home, and so much more. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Coming up on \u003c/span>Sold Out:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> We’ll look at who’s more likely to be on the receiving end of evictions, and how the consequences can follow you for years.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JEAN KENDRICK\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s hard. Not even my worst enemy, I wouldn’t wish this on. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>U.S. REPRESENTATIVE CORI BUSH\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Who speaks for us, and who speaks for single parents? Who speaks for Black women? Who speaks for us?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JACOB FABER\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>ERIN\u003c/b>: Sold Out \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">is a production of KQED. This episode was written and reported by us, Erin Baldassari and Molly Solomon.\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>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Thanks for listening. We’ll see you next week!\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>For more in-depth reporting on the housing crisis, check out our podcast, Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America. Subscribe on \u003ca href=\"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sold-out-rethinking-housing-in-america/id1531354937?itsct=podcast_box&itscg=30200\">Apple Podcasts\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://open.spotify.com/show/38dTBSk2ISFoPiyYNoKn1X\">Spotify\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/911586047/s-o-l-d-o-u-t-rethinking-housing-in-america#:~:text=SOLD%20OUT%3A%20Rethinking%20Housing%20in%20America%20%3A%20NPR&text=SOLD%20OUT%3A%20Rethinking%20Housing%20in%20America%20A%20podcast%20that%20examines,solutions%20to%20high%20housing%20costs.\">NPR One\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"http://tun.in/pj2qf\">TuneIn\u003c/a> or on your favorite podcast listening app.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "The highest rate of evictions in the Bay Area is not in San Francisco or Oakland, but the working-class suburb of Antioch, where the number of Black and Brown residents has spiked in recent years.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The place with the highest rate of evictions in the Bay Area during the pandemic wasn’t a big city like Oakland or San Francisco — instead it was a suburb that has been radically transformed by housing crisis after housing crisis. Antioch, a working-class town on the outskirts of the Bay, has seen an influx of Black and Brown folks pushed from more expensive cities in search of a place they can afford.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In our first episode of Season 2 of Sold Out, we visit a neighborhood in Antioch with a high concentration of evictions. We’ll hear from renters, activists and politicians to find out how a lack of affordable housing is remaking the suburbs, not just in the Bay Area but across the country.\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=KQINC4565731200&light=true\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/h5>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Evicted: A Suburban Story [TRANSCRIPT] \u003c/strong>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hey, I’m \u003cb>Erin Baldassari (host)\u003c/b>.\u003cb>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And I’m \u003c/span>\u003cb>Molly Solomon (host)\u003c/b>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We want to take you back in time — two years ago — to the beginning of the pandemic. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">: We were all told to shelter in place. And as housing reporters, our first thought — how will people pay rent? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">: We heard from a lot of people who lost jobs, or had hours cut.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>LAURA YOPIHUA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I don’t know what to do after that without job, without income.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">People were forced to make really difficult decisions. Like choosing between buying groceries or paying rent.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>LAURA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I don’t have any money to pay the bills. I just have saving the money for the food. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And we heard from people afraid they’d end up on the streets.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JACKIE LOWERY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s just really scary right now. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Entire families were at risk. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JACKIE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I have to have a roof over my head. You know, I just have to, and of course, my grandbabies and the whole family does.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">: Millions across the country were on the edge of eviction. The stakes could not have been higher. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>SAN FRANCISCO CITY ATTORNEY DAVID CHIU\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If tens of thousands of folks are forced from their homes, COVID will be much more likely to spread and have devastating consequences.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">: States, local governments, even the CDC knew they had to act — so they put in moratoriums to block evictions. And Congress handed out nearly $50 billion to help people catch up on missed rent.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If we don’t act now, there could be a wave of evictions and foreclosures in the coming months.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">: But people were\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">still being evicted.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JANEE BRICE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The sheriff came out, and I ended up having to move with my daughter. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">:\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And now, as those pandemic protections expire — it’s getting worse.\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>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> In this season of Sold Out, we’re looking at the patterns of evictions. The ones in the headlines, and the ones that have quietly devastated lives for decades.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The more we looked at who is getting evicted and where, it became clear that evictions are a symptom of a larger problem. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Over the next few weeks, we’ll show you how this problem sits at the crossroads of inequality, racism, power and privilege.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And we’ll introduce you to the people fighting for change.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">From KQED, this is \u003c/span>Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Stay tuned.\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=\"auto, (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>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Sounds: Birds, sprinklers on lawns, light happy music)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When most people think about the suburbs, they think about good schools and safe neighborhoods, single-family houses with manicured lawns, and white picket fences.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Tamisha Torres-Walker wanted that for her family. She’d rented her whole life, and was ready to buy a place where she could raise her two sons. When she looked around, she found that most parts of the San Francisco Bay Area were too expensive. But not Antioch.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>TAMISHA TORRES-WALKER\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Antioch just showed up as like this place that was still affordable for people who wanted to become first-time homebuyers. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Even though the place she found wasn’t her dream house, it checked a lot of boxes.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>TAMISHA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The house picked me. It was like it had everything a single mom with two sons could need. We needed three bedrooms: It had it. I wanted a fireplace: It had it. My sons wanted dogs: It had a huge backyard.\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 2015, Tamisha bought her first home. But living in Antioch, she noticed a lot of other newcomers weren’t buying homes — they were renting. They’d been priced out of bigger cities, like San Francisco and Oakland.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>TAMISHA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The rental crisis, the unaffordability of, like, rents skyrocketing in the Bay Area is what started to push everybody else out this way.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Tamisha isn’t just a homeowner. She’s a city council member, has been for the last year. So we asked her to show us around.\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\">Antioch is home to more than 115,000 people. It’s a commuter town on the outer fringes of the Bay Area, about an hour’s drive from San Francisco. Highway 4 divides it in two.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>TAMISHA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We’re like right up against Highway 4 right now.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> On one side of the highway, there are rows and rows of single-family homes, peppered with strip malls, big box stores and a golf course. On the other side, there’s Tamisha’s district.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It’s a huge district — stretching about 15 miles along the San Joaquin River Delta. There’s a quaint, historic downtown, and a lot of industry. \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\">As we drive along the waterfront, she points out paper mills, chemical plants and oil refineries. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>TAMISHA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A lot of people call it “Refinery Row.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Her district is also where a lot the apartment buildings and townhomes are. Especially in this one neighborhood — the Sycamore Corridor. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>TAMISHA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is us, Sycamore Square, and a lot more apartments.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> On the neighborhood’s busiest street, there’s a small shopping center, with a liquor store, a smoke shop, and a fried fish and chicken joint.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>TAMISHA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So this, all of this, is high-density housing. Like, everything on this side of the street is all high-density housing.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We came here because we’d been gathering data on pandemic evictions in the Bay Area. And when we crunched the numbers, Antioch stood out.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It was the city with the highest eviction rate\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> —\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> 22 times higher than in Oakland. Almost a year and a half into the pandemic, there had been 91 evictions in Antioch. In Oakland, a city four times bigger, there had been just 33. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://evictions.study/\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-11904602 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/Screen-Shot-2022-02-09-at-9.53.34-AM-800x394.png\" alt=\"A map showing the number of evictions in East Bay Area cities, California, shaded in different colors to show lower and higher numbers.\" width=\"800\" height=\"394\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/Screen-Shot-2022-02-09-at-9.53.34-AM-800x394.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/Screen-Shot-2022-02-09-at-9.53.34-AM-1020x503.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/Screen-Shot-2022-02-09-at-9.53.34-AM-160x79.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/Screen-Shot-2022-02-09-at-9.53.34-AM.png 1448w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> But it’s important to note that our data only captures evictions enforced by the sheriff. And many people leave before that point, so we know even more people were evicted during that time.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>TAMISHA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I thought that we were not supposed to be evicting people during a global pandemic.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The highest concentration of evictions in Antioch was right here in the Sycamore Corridor, and we saw clear signs of that as we drove around. As we turned one corner, we saw two houses with big piles of stuff on the front lawn. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>TAMISHA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s probably somebody being put out. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> All of that stuff outside?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>TAMISHA\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> That’s probably somebody being put out. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There was furniture, kids’ toys, cardboard boxes with papers and letters spilling out of them — all of it wet. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Today’s the sixth. So that means that if you got a three-day ‘pay or quit’ on the first?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> You might be out now. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You might be out now, yeah. People might be starting to leave right now, yeah. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A couple doors down, there was another empty house. The neighbors said the family had left months ago. An eviction notice was still taped to the front door.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Talking to people in Tamisha’s district, it seemed like everyone had an eviction story. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>NATE HAYES\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They gave us a notice, and we didn’t really know what to do, so we just moved. I’ve been staying with my friends mostly. Just staying with my friends, and trying to get by.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>DEVIN URBACH\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> You know, it’s been so hard to get help. You have to really, like, know somebody that knows somebody. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MARY ROBERTSON\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It’s not easy after you have an eviction. It’s not easy finding another place. It’s not easy.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is not the vision of the suburbs we thought we knew. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CHRIS SCHILDT\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We’ve had this story that’s been told to us, that the suburbs is the place of white picket fences. And that has been true, but it’s never been the entire story.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/schildtchris\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Chris Schildt\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. She’s the director of the Regional Suburban Organizing Project. And she says, this idea that suburbs represent white middle-class success, that’s not really the case anymore. Across the country, suburbs are home to the largest and fastest-growing population of people living in poverty. \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.brookings.edu/book/confronting-suburban-poverty-in-america/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s according to research from the Brookings Institution.\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CHRIS\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We can’t deny there are more people of color living in the suburbs. There are more low-income people living in suburbs. There are more renters living in suburbs than ever before.\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So we need to look at and understand what’s happening in suburban places like Antioch in order to understand what’s happening in this country.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The evictions we’re seeing in Antioch are tied to the nation’s housing crisis, and the seeds of those evictions were planted 30 years ago.\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\"> In the early ’90s, Antioch was a destination. There was a building boom going on, and a lot of middle-class people of color were moving in.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CHRIS\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A lot of Latinx and African American folks who had moved out to buy a home, maybe to buy their first home, or to move into a bigger or better home from where they were living before. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Michael Carter grew up in East Oakland, a historically Black neighborhood. He’s an investment banker, and in the early ’90s, he wanted a safer place to raise his two sons. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MICHAEL CARTER\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Seeing how Oakland was beginning to change and the amount of crime that I was beginning to notice, I didn’t want my boys growing up in that area.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">He saw opportunity in Antioch. He found a really nice four-bedroom home for less than $150,000. It was in one of the fancier parts of town, out by a golf course.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MICHAEL\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That wasn’t going to happen in Oakland, no way.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Michael and his family were part of this wave of Black families moving to Antioch. It was a big shift for the city. In 1980, Antioch was almost \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://www.bayareacensus.ca.gov/cities/Antioch70.htm\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">90% white\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, and it had a history as a sundown town. There had actually been laws in place to prohibit people of color from walking the streets after dark. Even after those laws were repealed, some people of color told us they still didn’t feel safe.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But between 1990 and 2000, the city’s Black population \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://www.bayareacensus.ca.gov/cities/Antioch70.htm\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">more than quadrupled\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, rising to almost 10% of the population. The Latino population doubled.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MICHAEL\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We were actually seeing a diverse demographic moving to Antioch.\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\">Then the foreclosure crisis hit, and it hit families like Michael’s especially hard. He ended up losing his home and becoming a renter.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MICHAEL\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">2008 hit and everything just got slammed.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Foreclosures tore through low-income suburbs across the country. Again, here’s Chris Schildt: \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CHRIS\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It was specifically low-income suburban cities with large African American, Latinx homeowners of color nationally that had the highest foreclosure rates.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In Antioch, a quarter of all homeowners with mortgages lost their homes.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CHRIS\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That area was one of the hardest hit in the country for foreclosures. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Chris says that a lot of those homes weren’t bought by new homeowners — they were bought by investors.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CHRIS\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And you saw this dramatic shift.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Over the past 20 years, the population in Antioch has continued to grow. But the number of homeowners has stayed relatively flat, even dropping slightly, while the number of renters grew by 60%.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CHRIS\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It was a complete flip. It went from being a home-owning community to a renter community in terms of who is moving in.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A big part of that was surging rents in cities like San Francisco and Oakland, pushing renters further and further away in search of any place they could afford. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CHRIS\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I don’t think Antioch’s story is unique.\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\">You can see the effects of gentrification in suburbs around Chicago, Atlanta, Boston. Places that were once affordable have gotten more and more expensive. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CHRIS\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That is part of a regional trend and part of a national trend of what’s happening in the suburbs.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11616048\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11616048\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/09/Antioch_California-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The suburb of Antioch.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As more low-income renters move out to the suburbs, evictions there are going up.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We talked to someone who studies this. \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.urbandisplacement.org/team/tim-thomas-ph-d/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Tim Thomas\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> is the research director at the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.urbandisplacement.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Urban Displacement Project at the University of California in Berkeley\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. And he says he noticed the same trend around Seattle: High prices there pushed people south of the city.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>TIM\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There were a lot of Black households, in particular, moving to South King County because that was the last affordable space to be. But now we see that’s the space where most evictions are happening. Over half of the evictions in the whole county are happening in very few neighborhoods where that displacement has happened.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s not a coincidence that evictions are hitting Black neighborhoods the hardest, because evictions and race are deeply connected. When Tim looked at our data on evictions in the Bay Area, he saw that Black households were evicted at a higher rate than white households. It’s the same pattern he saw in Seattle.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>TIM\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In just one year of data, I found that Black women were getting evicted seven times more than white women, and Black households in general are getting evicted four times more than white households, which was a huge disparity.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In a lot of ways, the suburbs haven’t caught up to this new reality. They don’t typically have the money or staffing for social services that big cities have. Again, here’s Chris Schildt: \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CHRIS\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We really stopped investing in our suburbs in the ’80s and ’90s. In community infrastructure, in nonprofits and social services, in our schools. We’ve moved away from investing in our communities in general in the past 30, 40 years.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And, suburbs don’t have the kinds of renter protections that big cities have to help people stay in their homes. It leaves renters with few options when things do\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">go wrong. When that eviction notice gets taped to the front door.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s coming up, after this break.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Advertisement]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Sounds: People walking, greeting one another)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Hi, how are you? I’m Erin. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CARMEN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Hi. Carmen.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hola,\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">cómo estás?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CARMEN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Bien, gracias.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We met Carmen Ponce at her apartment in Antioch. It’s a small place on the ground floor of a two-story building. And immediately, when you walk in, you see these boxes: big plastic bins stacked on top of each other, ready in case she needs to leave.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CARMEN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Si miras alrededor de mi apartamento, casi todo ya esta en caja, todo vacío.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Carmen lives here with her teenage daughter and 1-year-old granddaughter. She also has two adult sons who sometimes stay with her. Ever since they got an eviction notice, they’ve been living in this sort of limbo.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The problems with her landlord started when the pandemic shut down businesses like hers. Carmen cuts hair at a barbershop in a town nearby. And because of COVID, she was out of work for almost a year. She fell behind on the $1,300 she pays in rent every month. It was a difficult time.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CARMEN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Pues,\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">fue una temporada bien difícil, de verdad.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> So many people we talked to while reporting on evictions told us they were already struggling to pay rent. And then something else would happen, something that made catching up nearly impossible. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In Carmen’s case, she was shot just outside her home, in an incident that had nothing to do with her.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CARMEN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Tengo mi hija que apenas tiene diecisiete años, y que tenía su bebe de un año, que yo me hago responsable de ella. Eso es que hace manternerme fuerte.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Carmen spent a month in the hospital and another four months recovering at home. She started working again last July, but it wasn’t full time. Then, things got a lot worse. Her property manager dropped off a notice at her door. It said, pay the back rent or get out. She owed at least $15,000.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CARMEN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A donde me voy con mi hija y con mi nieta? O sea, la única opción era sacar mis cosas en la calle y dormir en mi carro afuera.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Where would she go with her daughter and granddaughter? She thought their only option would be to stay in her car because she didn’t have enough money to move somewhere else.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">At this point in the pandemic, Carmen was still covered by California’s eviction moratorium. So, rather than leaving right away, she waited. Legally, the landlord would need to file a formal eviction in court to actually force her out. But that lawsuit never came.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CARMEN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">No para el acosto constante del manager. Porque también me hable por telefono, que cuando me voy a ir?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Instead, Carmen says the property manager keeps harassing her, calling her again and again, asking her when she’s going to leave. They even gave her a second eviction notice in January this year, but they still haven’t filed a lawsuit.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>BOB GUNSON\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There was no harassment, it was just getting her attention.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Bob Gunson is Carmen’s property manager, and he says his office only called to get her signed up for the rent relief program.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>BOB\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s the only reason. And we’ve got quite a few tenants. We’ve got some signed into that program, and they weren’t aware of it, and it’s helped them out a lot.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Carmen did sign up for rent relief. She got a partial payout, but not for everything she owes, and doesn’t know when the rest of the money will come. Work has been slow, and she still isn’t making the same amount she was before the pandemic. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CARMEN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yo estoy, pues, que no se que va pasar el dia de mañana.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> She says she doesn’t know what’s going to happen from one day to the next. It’s depressing, and Carmen knows there’s lots of people in Antioch going through the same thing.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CARMEN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Da tristeza, da tristeza en la situación en la que, en lo personal en la que yo me encuentro y en la que mucha gente en Antioch estamos viviendo porque yo se que todavía hay mucha gente que está pasando lo mismo que yo.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11904499\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11904499\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/IMG_8546-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"A woman in an apartment room stands to the left of boxes and plastic bins filled with her family's belongings.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/IMG_8546-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/IMG_8546-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/IMG_8546-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/IMG_8546-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/IMG_8546-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/IMG_8546-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Carmen Ponce inside her apartment in Antioch. After the business where she worked closed due to COVID’s effects on the economy, she has most of her belongings in boxes should she ever need to pick up and leave. \u003ccite>(Erin Baldassari, KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> That’s because Antioch is becoming less affordable. During the pandemic, rents here shot up \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.zumper.com/rent-research/antioch-ca\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">26%\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://bayareaequityatlas.org/indicators/housing-burden#/?breakdown=2&geo=07000000000602252\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Nearly two-thirds of all Antioch renters\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> are cost burdened, meaning they pay more than a third of their income on housing. As housing gets more expensive, it’s harder to hold on to, especially for people living paycheck to paycheck. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That leads to more turnover. People leave, they’re priced out, or they’re evicted. City Councilmember Tamisha Torres-Walker says that churn hurts the whole community.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>TAMISHA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It creates anxiety, instability, it creates uncertainty, and that’s unfortunate because neighborhoods can’t thrive like that.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s one reason why Tamisha is helping to lead a growing movement of Antioch renters pushing for change — a movement that started in the Sycamore Corridor. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s coming up after this break.\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\">For a long time after Tamisha Torres-Walker moved to Antioch, it didn’t really feel like home. She was actually thinking about leaving. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>TAMISHA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And then I started to care about the conditions in the community and actually like being here, and made a bigger commitment to change where I lived. So in a sense, I made a commitment to stay.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And she realized there wasn’t anyone on Antioch’s City Council who she felt really represented her district. So, she decided to run. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>TAMISHA\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I heard not one elected official talk about the conditions in the community, the real issues and conditions in the community, here in this district.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Tamisha spent countless hours knocking on doors — a lot of it in the Sycamore Corridor. She talked to people, asking them what kinds of issues they were dealing with.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>TAMISHA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You know, poverty, harm, violence, police misconduct and brutality, dilapidated conditions, just the quality of life, the way people were living.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And a lot of people were getting evicted. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>TAMISHA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We were talking to people and they were telling us, ‘Oh, this person, that person next door don’t live here no more. They moved out last week.’ Like literally, like they got kicked out.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">One man who would become instrumental in Tamisha’s campaign was Francisco Torres. He’s a tenant organizer for the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.acceaction.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Most people just call it ACCE.\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\">As more low-income renters moved to suburbs like Antioch, Francisco’s seen the fight for renters’ rights follow close behind. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>FRANCISCO\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Because it’s much more expensive now, it’s much more expensive, and there’s less and less places to move into.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When Francisco heard Tamisha was running for city council, he and other ACCE members jumped in to support her campaign.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>FRANCISCO\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And the reason I got involved is because I knew that if Tamisha won, we could change the city council.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Maybe they would actually have a chance of passing policies to help renters. She did win, and that’s when their work really began.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Antioch doesn’t have the history of tenant activism that you see in big cities like San Francisco or Los Angeles. And they knew Tamisha wouldn’t be able to get any new policies passed unless renters spoke up. So ACCE began recruiting.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Sounds: A man knocking on a door)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JAIME CALDER\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hello? How are you? My name is Jaime, I’m with ACCE institute.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They got people to write letters to their representatives, hold signs outside of City Hall, and show up on Zoom meetings.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JACKIE LOWERY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hi, can everyone hear me? OK. Good evening, Mayor, city council members, staff and residents of Antioch. My name is Jackie Lowery and I’m a resident of Antioch, a renter, and a member of ACCE.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The Antioch City Council is now actively debating tenant protections, and renters are\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">showing up.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JACKIE\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">My family and I moved to Antioch for a better life. But from what I’ve been seeing in our city with our tax-paying and rent-paying citizens is shameful. You have a rental community in Antioch that needs your help right now.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CITY COUNCIL SPEAKER\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Families are struggling to pay their rent, and live with the daily worry if the next rent increase will be what puts them out.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CITY COUNCIL SPEAKER\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Rents are constantly increasing. Many of us are just going back to work because of the pandemic. We simply can’t afford the high rents and don’t see a way forward.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They’re demanding three big things: a cap on yearly rent increases, a new law to make it illegal for landlords to harass their tenants, and another that makes it harder for landlords to evict. It’s the first time renters are pushing for these kinds of protections in Antioch. And it’s by no means a sure thing.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Lots of people don’t want these policies to pass — landlords and other property owners don’t want more government regulation. Not to mention a couple city council members who are pushing back. There’s more meetings on the books before the council will cast their final votes. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But no matter what happens with these proposals, Tamisha is hopeful.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Music in)\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>TAMISHA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">People are organizing. There are people who are organizing themselves as they’re starting to see that they need to create a voice from the ground. And I think that’s the greatest change any community could see is people building community.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Renters are taking a stand, and fighting to stay in Antioch. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>TAMISHA\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I don’t think that’s happened here in Antioch, especially for people who have transitioned here. And I see it happening now and I’m excited about it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>FRANCISCO\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Some people don’t even realize that you could actually fight in a big group, and win.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For Francisco and members of ACCE, there’s no fight more important than the fight to stay housed.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>FRANCISCO\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And it’s important to protect that, because what else do you have if you don’t have a home?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s the question that really got us thinking about evictions in the first place. Because home is the center of our lives, where we can be ourselves. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ERIN\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It shapes our identities and keeps our families safe. And if we suddenly had to leave, we’d feel lost, disconnected. But that’s what happens when you’re evicted — you lose your home, and so much more. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>MOLLY\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Coming up on \u003c/span>Sold Out:\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> We’ll look at who’s more likely to be on the receiving end of evictions, and how the consequences can follow you for years.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JEAN KENDRICK\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s hard. Not even my worst enemy, I wouldn’t wish this on. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>U.S. REPRESENTATIVE CORI BUSH\u003c/b>: \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Who speaks for us, and who speaks for single parents? Who speaks for Black women? Who speaks for us?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>JACOB FABER\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>ERIN\u003c/b>: Sold Out \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">is a production of KQED. This episode was written and reported by us, Erin Baldassari and Molly Solomon.\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>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Thanks for listening. We’ll see you next week!\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>For more in-depth reporting on the housing crisis, check out our podcast, Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America. Subscribe on \u003ca href=\"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sold-out-rethinking-housing-in-america/id1531354937?itsct=podcast_box&itscg=30200\">Apple Podcasts\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://open.spotify.com/show/38dTBSk2ISFoPiyYNoKn1X\">Spotify\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/911586047/s-o-l-d-o-u-t-rethinking-housing-in-america#:~:text=SOLD%20OUT%3A%20Rethinking%20Housing%20in%20America%20%3A%20NPR&text=SOLD%20OUT%3A%20Rethinking%20Housing%20in%20America%20A%20podcast%20that%20examines,solutions%20to%20high%20housing%20costs.\">NPR One\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"http://tun.in/pj2qf\">TuneIn\u003c/a> or on your favorite podcast listening app.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "california-legislature-fails-to-pass-bill-that-would-preserve-stock-of-affordable-apartments",
"title": "California Legislature Fails to Pass Bill That Would Preserve Stock of Affordable Apartments",
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"headTitle": "California Legislature Fails to Pass Bill That Would Preserve Stock of Affordable Apartments | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>Tenant advocates, racial equity groups, \u003ca href=\"https://cayimby.org/\">YIMBYs\u003c/a> and even some of their \u003ca href=\"https://www.livablecalifornia.org/support-ab-854-california-cant-evict-another-40000-working-people-and-elderly-onto-the-streets/\">usual opponents\u003c/a> wanted to see the bill pass.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The cities of San Francisco and Los Angeles — which rarely see eye to eye on housing issues — as well as every Democrat on the Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billVotesClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB854\">had signed on\u003c/a>.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Sarah Abdeshahian, advocate, Tenderloin Housing Clinic\"]‘It’s insane to see so many groups working really hard on this and then still for it to not be enough because the opposition’s influence on our legislature is so immense.’[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So why did \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB854\">Assembly Bill 854\u003c/a>, which would have curbed an owner’s ability to evict their tenants using the Ellis Act in rent-controlled jurisdictions, die without even a floor vote in the Democratic-supermajority Assembly?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Proponents of the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/commentary/my-turn/2021/01/legislator-needed-to-introduce-ellis-act-reform-bill-to-protect-the-states-most-vulnerable-tenants/\">longtime progressive priority\u003c/a> — which promised to preserve the stock of affordable apartments amid a historic shortage — point to an aggressive campaign mounted by the deep-pocketed real estate industry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s insane to see so many groups working really hard on this and then still for it to not be enough because the opposition’s influence on our legislature is so immense,” said Sarah Abdeshahian, an advocate at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.thclinic.org/\">Tenderloin Housing Clinic\u003c/a>, which co-sponsored the bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But just as a \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/uhshanti/status/1488319241711325185?s=20&t=wJKHYzLGJNpzo36yfYWaRA\">diverse group of advocates coalesced\u003c/a> to support the bill, \u003ca href=\"https://caanet.org/caa-and-its-members-defeat-ab-854-the-stay-in-business-forever-act/\">thousands of property owners\u003c/a> — even those outside unincorporated Los Angeles County and 20 rent-stabilized cities directly affected — opposed it, united by a sense that the state is chipping away at their rights, just as COVID-19 has decimated their business.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“‘It may not be in my area, but it could be, next time,’” Sanjay Wagle, senior vice president of governmental affairs at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.car.org/\">California Association of Realtors\u003c/a>, said his members told him. “I think there’s a growing sense of sort of commonality of interest, which may not have existed before, between the Fresno property owner and the San Francisco property owner.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Assemblymember Alex Lee, the Democrat from San Jose who authored the bill, says the legislation would have passed out of the Assembly and over to the state Senate but for the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2022/01/california-legislature-great-resignation/\">recent departures\u003c/a> of four Democrats: Lorena Gonzalez from San Diego, Ed Chau from Monterey Park, David Chiu from San Francisco and Jim Frazier from Fairfield.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Learn more about legislators mentioned in this story\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Lee is still weighing whether to reintroduce “substantially the same bill” next year or this legislative cycle — an option left on the table by having avoided a losing floor vote. Similar bills have been introduced, unsuccessfully, at least \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/Ellis-Act-evictions-targeted-in-California-16065169.php\">three times before\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All those things are on the table, luckily, and that’s something we’re still working out with our coalition, given the volatility of resignations,” Lee said. “That’s always our wild card.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This issue has been around for years and I understand the vote got very close, with significant new support for many corners,” said Chiu, former chair of the Assembly Housing and Community Development Community, who co-authored the bill last year and is now San Francisco city attorney. “And so I’m hopeful that there will be a real conversation about this in the coming months.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Protecting small landlords — or big business?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The bill took aim at the Ellis Act, a 1985 state law that allows owners of rent-controlled properties to evict their tenants if they take all the units of a building off the rental market — a path that could otherwise be blocked by local governments guarding the precious stock of affordable units. Once off the market, those apartments can be sold as condos or demolished to make way for new homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than \u003ca href=\"https://www.google.com/url?q=https://housing.lacity.org/ellis&sa=D&source=docs&ust=1644367877323232&usg=AOvVaw3rszE3ws7CfB4zC0CbJeVh\">27,000 rent-controlled units\u003c/a> have been removed in Los Angeles since 2001 using the Ellis Act, while San Francisco has lost \u003ca href=\"https://sfrb.org/annual-eviction-reports\">about 5,000 units\u003c/a> since then. And they’re sorely needed: The California Housing Partnership estimates \u003ca href=\"https://chpc.net/housingneeds/\">1.2 million lower-income renter households\u003c/a> don’t have access to an affordable home, and building a new government-subsidized unit costs an average of \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/homeless-housing/story/2020-04-09/california-low-income-housing-expensive-apartment-coronavirus\">$500,000\u003c/a>.[aside postID=\"news_11900724,news_11898493\" label=\"Related Posts\"]\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Related:\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Lee’s bill mandated a five-year holding period before evicting tenants — an attempt to allow struggling property owners to go out of business, as had been the law’s original intent, while preventing speculators from buying up cheap properties and flipping them overnight. The bill also restricted the use of such evictions to one building per owner per decade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That would significantly curb Ellis Act evictions, as three-quarters of evictions in Los Angeles between 2016 and 2019 occurred within five years of purchase, according to a \u003ca href=\"https://docs.google.com/document/d/1exiSML_XhE9h3I_cMx2AcNiQEKD35NfX/edit?rtpof=true\">recent analysis\u003c/a> by Alexander Ferrer, policy and research analyst at \u003ca href=\"https://www.saje.net/\">SAJE in Los Angeles\u003c/a>. But because of a glaring lack of transparency around who owns buildings in California, the effect on mom-and-pop landlords — a group the Legislature holds dearly — is difficult to determine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an opposition letter to lawmakers, the California Association of Realtors asserted that the bill would devastate “Struggling Small Property Owners Who Are Seniors or Individuals of Color.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think it’s concern-mongering for a problem that we don’t know exists,” Ferrer said, citing the lack of demographic data on property owners. Wagle cited anecdotal evidence from their members.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ferrer’s analysis found that owners who had a property registered under their own name evicted tenants, on average, eight years after purchase — while limited liability companies, responsible for more than half of those evictions, did so in an average of just three years. But in California, it’s not uncommon for individual property owners to put even a single rental into an LLC.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That means a bid to win more votes — an amendment that carved out an exemption for “natural persons” who own no more than four residential units — is “not logical,” according to Debra Carlton, executive vice president and chief lobbyist for the California Apartment Association.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ferrer found 45% of Ellis Act evictions during that time period in Los Angeles were filed by owners who held five properties or less — LA’s definition of a \u003ca href=\"https://housing.lacity.org/rental-property-owners/relocation-assistance-information\">mom-and-pop landlord\u003c/a> — a percentage Wagle, from the California Association of Realtors, says is not insignificant. Besides, he argued, the impact of the pandemic on small property owners should not be understated. Some landlords, he said, have gone nearly two years without rent payments, thanks to eviction bans, while still having to upkeep their properties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Among small rental property owners, there’s this sense of, ‘Wait a minute. We’re enduring all these problems right now and again, more burdens are being placed,’” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tenant attorney Sean Chandra, from Public Counsel in Los Angeles, said the threat of an Ellis Act eviction remains a crucial tool for landlords, even if the court process isn’t completed. Instead of going through the Ellis Act, which mandates \u003ca href=\"https://housing.lacity.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Relocation-Assistance.pdf\">relocation costs between $8,650 and $22,350\u003c/a> depending on a renter’s age, income and tenure in the building, some owners pay tenants to leave by their own choice in “cash for keys” arrangements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chandra’s client, who declined to be interviewed, is facing an Ellis Act eviction at 416 South Catalina Street in Koreatown. The elderly woman and her adult son are paying $975 a month for their two-bedroom in the six-unit building, where they moved in 1996. The stucco-clad, L-shaped two-story, originally commissioned by an LA Times advertising executive in 1940, was deemed historic by the city, which means it can’t be demolished. The owner is hoping to mount it on a truck and move it elsewhere — and renting isn’t in the picture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The owner plans to erect a luxury tower in its place — following in the footsteps of a 61-unit tower next door, where a 576-foot studio \u003ca href=\"https://400catalina.com/floor-plans\">rents for $2,654\u003c/a> a month and where, according to the building’s website, “living your best life has never been easier.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You tear down an old building, you want to build something that’s going to maximize your income,” said John Greenwood, the developer’s attorney. “So it’s hard to incentivize building low-income property. And these Ellis Act evictions do displace poorer people, that’s understood. But, you know, that’s also the definition of progress — making things better.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Greenwood, the tenant will be able to rent an affordable unit in the new building, provided she qualifies. Ellis Act restrictions in LA stipulate that if a developer builds market-rate units, a portion of them must be affordable, or all the units must be rent-controlled after the initial rent is set. But in contrast to rent-controlled units, affordable housing usually comes with income and immigration status restrictions and, sometimes, a long waitlist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Demolishing rent-stabilized housing to make way for exponentially more housing is taking place across Los Angeles, according to Moira O’Neill, senior research fellow at the Center for Law, Energy and the Environment at UC Berkeley, who recently co-authored a \u003ca href=\"https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3956250\">report for the California Air Resources Board\u003c/a> about social equity in housing development patterns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>O’Neill and her colleagues found that the demolition of at least 2,400 housing units in LA between 2014 and 2017 gave way to at least 12,000 new units. But the demolition of 1,600 units that were rent-stabilized gave way to only about 1,300 affordable units on those same sites. Their geographic distribution was particularly troubling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While every neighborhood type saw a loss of rent-stabilized units, most were lost in more affluent areas of LA like Westwood and Brentwood. Only 241 affordable units replaced the 1,092 rent-stabilized units lost in those same neighborhoods. About half of the rent-stabilized units demolished in moderate-income areas, like parts of Koreatown, were replaced with affordable housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It makes sense that people are trying to prevent that,” O’Neill said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Policy and politics at the Capitol\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>California YIMBY, which often supports housing production efforts, backed the bill because production alone isn’t enough, said legislative director Louis Mirante.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think California YIMBY is a great example of an organization that endeavors to find the three P solutions: the production solutions, the tenant-protection solutions and the affordable housing preservation solutions,” he said. “We’re not eager to pit those solutions against each other.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California Apartment Association, however, \u003ca href=\"https://caanet.org/caa-and-its-members-defeat-ab-854-the-stay-in-business-forever-act/\">dubbed\u003c/a> the bill the “Stay in Business Forever Act,” arguing that it restricted landlords’ freedoms. Carlton said while a property owner could still sell their building, without the option of turning below-market apartments into more profitable condos or market-rate units, the universe of buyers shrinks considerably. The powerful California Chamber of Commerce \u003ca href=\"https://advocacy.calchamber.com/2022/02/01/strong-opposition-stops-single-payer-health-care-bill-2-other-job-killers/\">opposed the measure\u003c/a> for the same reason, as did the \u003ca href=\"https://cbia.org/\">California Building Industry Association\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Carlton also argued the bill would block “\u003ca href=\"https://la.curbed.com/2019/8/8/20751845/tenancy-in-common-los-angeles-rental-girl\">tenancies in common\u003c/a>,” in which several families buy a duplex or fourplex together — the only way for some families to enter homeownership as median \u003ca href=\"https://www.dof.ca.gov/Forecasting/Economics/Economic_and_Revenue_Updates/documents/2021/DEC_2021_FB.pdf\">home prices top $700,000 in California\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I support homeownership, but the question is: ‘How are you getting there?’” said Joan Ling, an urban planning professor at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. “Are you going to get there by dislocating renter families that most likely are going to have to move out of the area where they are living? There’s a big public policy question here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Abdeshahian, from the Tenderloin Housing Clinic, said that during the two weeks leading up to the vote, the legislators who had originally demonstrated their support for the bill began parroting the talking points they read in opposition letters by the realtors and the apartment associations, which spent \u003ca href=\"https://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/Lobbying/Employers/Detail.aspx?id=1146782&session=2021&view=activity\">$1.6 million\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/Lobbying/Employers/Detail.aspx?id=1146903&session=2021&view=activity\">$1.3 million\u003c/a>, respectively, in total lobbying efforts in 2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s what killed this bill,” she said. “It became just like an annoying screaming match where the Apartment Association will be saying one thing, we’d be saying another, and why would they listen to us when we don’t give them any money for their reelection, but the Apartment Association is the reason that they’re in office?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I just don’t buy that,” Carlton responded, describing a clear division between the organization’s lobbying and campaign efforts. “This has just been a consistent policy that legislators haven’t agreed with.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "A broad coalition is backing a tenant-protection bill in the California Legislature, but business and real estate interests are winning so far. The proposal would require landlords to keep units for at least five years before using a state law to evict renters.",
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"title": "California Legislature Fails to Pass Bill That Would Preserve Stock of Affordable Apartments | KQED",
"description": "A broad coalition is backing a tenant-protection bill in the California Legislature, but business and real estate interests are winning so far. The proposal would require landlords to keep units for at least five years before using a state law to evict renters.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Tenant advocates, racial equity groups, \u003ca href=\"https://cayimby.org/\">YIMBYs\u003c/a> and even some of their \u003ca href=\"https://www.livablecalifornia.org/support-ab-854-california-cant-evict-another-40000-working-people-and-elderly-onto-the-streets/\">usual opponents\u003c/a> wanted to see the bill pass.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The cities of San Francisco and Los Angeles — which rarely see eye to eye on housing issues — as well as every Democrat on the Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billVotesClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB854\">had signed on\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘It’s insane to see so many groups working really hard on this and then still for it to not be enough because the opposition’s influence on our legislature is so immense.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So why did \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB854\">Assembly Bill 854\u003c/a>, which would have curbed an owner’s ability to evict their tenants using the Ellis Act in rent-controlled jurisdictions, die without even a floor vote in the Democratic-supermajority Assembly?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Proponents of the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/commentary/my-turn/2021/01/legislator-needed-to-introduce-ellis-act-reform-bill-to-protect-the-states-most-vulnerable-tenants/\">longtime progressive priority\u003c/a> — which promised to preserve the stock of affordable apartments amid a historic shortage — point to an aggressive campaign mounted by the deep-pocketed real estate industry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s insane to see so many groups working really hard on this and then still for it to not be enough because the opposition’s influence on our legislature is so immense,” said Sarah Abdeshahian, an advocate at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.thclinic.org/\">Tenderloin Housing Clinic\u003c/a>, which co-sponsored the bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But just as a \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/uhshanti/status/1488319241711325185?s=20&t=wJKHYzLGJNpzo36yfYWaRA\">diverse group of advocates coalesced\u003c/a> to support the bill, \u003ca href=\"https://caanet.org/caa-and-its-members-defeat-ab-854-the-stay-in-business-forever-act/\">thousands of property owners\u003c/a> — even those outside unincorporated Los Angeles County and 20 rent-stabilized cities directly affected — opposed it, united by a sense that the state is chipping away at their rights, just as COVID-19 has decimated their business.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“‘It may not be in my area, but it could be, next time,’” Sanjay Wagle, senior vice president of governmental affairs at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.car.org/\">California Association of Realtors\u003c/a>, said his members told him. “I think there’s a growing sense of sort of commonality of interest, which may not have existed before, between the Fresno property owner and the San Francisco property owner.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Assemblymember Alex Lee, the Democrat from San Jose who authored the bill, says the legislation would have passed out of the Assembly and over to the state Senate but for the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2022/01/california-legislature-great-resignation/\">recent departures\u003c/a> of four Democrats: Lorena Gonzalez from San Diego, Ed Chau from Monterey Park, David Chiu from San Francisco and Jim Frazier from Fairfield.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Learn more about legislators mentioned in this story\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Lee is still weighing whether to reintroduce “substantially the same bill” next year or this legislative cycle — an option left on the table by having avoided a losing floor vote. Similar bills have been introduced, unsuccessfully, at least \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/Ellis-Act-evictions-targeted-in-California-16065169.php\">three times before\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All those things are on the table, luckily, and that’s something we’re still working out with our coalition, given the volatility of resignations,” Lee said. “That’s always our wild card.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This issue has been around for years and I understand the vote got very close, with significant new support for many corners,” said Chiu, former chair of the Assembly Housing and Community Development Community, who co-authored the bill last year and is now San Francisco city attorney. “And so I’m hopeful that there will be a real conversation about this in the coming months.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Protecting small landlords — or big business?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The bill took aim at the Ellis Act, a 1985 state law that allows owners of rent-controlled properties to evict their tenants if they take all the units of a building off the rental market — a path that could otherwise be blocked by local governments guarding the precious stock of affordable units. Once off the market, those apartments can be sold as condos or demolished to make way for new homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than \u003ca href=\"https://www.google.com/url?q=https://housing.lacity.org/ellis&sa=D&source=docs&ust=1644367877323232&usg=AOvVaw3rszE3ws7CfB4zC0CbJeVh\">27,000 rent-controlled units\u003c/a> have been removed in Los Angeles since 2001 using the Ellis Act, while San Francisco has lost \u003ca href=\"https://sfrb.org/annual-eviction-reports\">about 5,000 units\u003c/a> since then. And they’re sorely needed: The California Housing Partnership estimates \u003ca href=\"https://chpc.net/housingneeds/\">1.2 million lower-income renter households\u003c/a> don’t have access to an affordable home, and building a new government-subsidized unit costs an average of \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/homeless-housing/story/2020-04-09/california-low-income-housing-expensive-apartment-coronavirus\">$500,000\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Related:\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Lee’s bill mandated a five-year holding period before evicting tenants — an attempt to allow struggling property owners to go out of business, as had been the law’s original intent, while preventing speculators from buying up cheap properties and flipping them overnight. The bill also restricted the use of such evictions to one building per owner per decade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That would significantly curb Ellis Act evictions, as three-quarters of evictions in Los Angeles between 2016 and 2019 occurred within five years of purchase, according to a \u003ca href=\"https://docs.google.com/document/d/1exiSML_XhE9h3I_cMx2AcNiQEKD35NfX/edit?rtpof=true\">recent analysis\u003c/a> by Alexander Ferrer, policy and research analyst at \u003ca href=\"https://www.saje.net/\">SAJE in Los Angeles\u003c/a>. But because of a glaring lack of transparency around who owns buildings in California, the effect on mom-and-pop landlords — a group the Legislature holds dearly — is difficult to determine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an opposition letter to lawmakers, the California Association of Realtors asserted that the bill would devastate “Struggling Small Property Owners Who Are Seniors or Individuals of Color.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think it’s concern-mongering for a problem that we don’t know exists,” Ferrer said, citing the lack of demographic data on property owners. Wagle cited anecdotal evidence from their members.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ferrer’s analysis found that owners who had a property registered under their own name evicted tenants, on average, eight years after purchase — while limited liability companies, responsible for more than half of those evictions, did so in an average of just three years. But in California, it’s not uncommon for individual property owners to put even a single rental into an LLC.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That means a bid to win more votes — an amendment that carved out an exemption for “natural persons” who own no more than four residential units — is “not logical,” according to Debra Carlton, executive vice president and chief lobbyist for the California Apartment Association.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ferrer found 45% of Ellis Act evictions during that time period in Los Angeles were filed by owners who held five properties or less — LA’s definition of a \u003ca href=\"https://housing.lacity.org/rental-property-owners/relocation-assistance-information\">mom-and-pop landlord\u003c/a> — a percentage Wagle, from the California Association of Realtors, says is not insignificant. Besides, he argued, the impact of the pandemic on small property owners should not be understated. Some landlords, he said, have gone nearly two years without rent payments, thanks to eviction bans, while still having to upkeep their properties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Among small rental property owners, there’s this sense of, ‘Wait a minute. We’re enduring all these problems right now and again, more burdens are being placed,’” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tenant attorney Sean Chandra, from Public Counsel in Los Angeles, said the threat of an Ellis Act eviction remains a crucial tool for landlords, even if the court process isn’t completed. Instead of going through the Ellis Act, which mandates \u003ca href=\"https://housing.lacity.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Relocation-Assistance.pdf\">relocation costs between $8,650 and $22,350\u003c/a> depending on a renter’s age, income and tenure in the building, some owners pay tenants to leave by their own choice in “cash for keys” arrangements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chandra’s client, who declined to be interviewed, is facing an Ellis Act eviction at 416 South Catalina Street in Koreatown. The elderly woman and her adult son are paying $975 a month for their two-bedroom in the six-unit building, where they moved in 1996. The stucco-clad, L-shaped two-story, originally commissioned by an LA Times advertising executive in 1940, was deemed historic by the city, which means it can’t be demolished. The owner is hoping to mount it on a truck and move it elsewhere — and renting isn’t in the picture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The owner plans to erect a luxury tower in its place — following in the footsteps of a 61-unit tower next door, where a 576-foot studio \u003ca href=\"https://400catalina.com/floor-plans\">rents for $2,654\u003c/a> a month and where, according to the building’s website, “living your best life has never been easier.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You tear down an old building, you want to build something that’s going to maximize your income,” said John Greenwood, the developer’s attorney. “So it’s hard to incentivize building low-income property. And these Ellis Act evictions do displace poorer people, that’s understood. But, you know, that’s also the definition of progress — making things better.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Greenwood, the tenant will be able to rent an affordable unit in the new building, provided she qualifies. Ellis Act restrictions in LA stipulate that if a developer builds market-rate units, a portion of them must be affordable, or all the units must be rent-controlled after the initial rent is set. But in contrast to rent-controlled units, affordable housing usually comes with income and immigration status restrictions and, sometimes, a long waitlist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Demolishing rent-stabilized housing to make way for exponentially more housing is taking place across Los Angeles, according to Moira O’Neill, senior research fellow at the Center for Law, Energy and the Environment at UC Berkeley, who recently co-authored a \u003ca href=\"https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3956250\">report for the California Air Resources Board\u003c/a> about social equity in housing development patterns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>O’Neill and her colleagues found that the demolition of at least 2,400 housing units in LA between 2014 and 2017 gave way to at least 12,000 new units. But the demolition of 1,600 units that were rent-stabilized gave way to only about 1,300 affordable units on those same sites. Their geographic distribution was particularly troubling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While every neighborhood type saw a loss of rent-stabilized units, most were lost in more affluent areas of LA like Westwood and Brentwood. Only 241 affordable units replaced the 1,092 rent-stabilized units lost in those same neighborhoods. About half of the rent-stabilized units demolished in moderate-income areas, like parts of Koreatown, were replaced with affordable housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It makes sense that people are trying to prevent that,” O’Neill said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Policy and politics at the Capitol\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>California YIMBY, which often supports housing production efforts, backed the bill because production alone isn’t enough, said legislative director Louis Mirante.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think California YIMBY is a great example of an organization that endeavors to find the three P solutions: the production solutions, the tenant-protection solutions and the affordable housing preservation solutions,” he said. “We’re not eager to pit those solutions against each other.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California Apartment Association, however, \u003ca href=\"https://caanet.org/caa-and-its-members-defeat-ab-854-the-stay-in-business-forever-act/\">dubbed\u003c/a> the bill the “Stay in Business Forever Act,” arguing that it restricted landlords’ freedoms. Carlton said while a property owner could still sell their building, without the option of turning below-market apartments into more profitable condos or market-rate units, the universe of buyers shrinks considerably. The powerful California Chamber of Commerce \u003ca href=\"https://advocacy.calchamber.com/2022/02/01/strong-opposition-stops-single-payer-health-care-bill-2-other-job-killers/\">opposed the measure\u003c/a> for the same reason, as did the \u003ca href=\"https://cbia.org/\">California Building Industry Association\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Carlton also argued the bill would block “\u003ca href=\"https://la.curbed.com/2019/8/8/20751845/tenancy-in-common-los-angeles-rental-girl\">tenancies in common\u003c/a>,” in which several families buy a duplex or fourplex together — the only way for some families to enter homeownership as median \u003ca href=\"https://www.dof.ca.gov/Forecasting/Economics/Economic_and_Revenue_Updates/documents/2021/DEC_2021_FB.pdf\">home prices top $700,000 in California\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I support homeownership, but the question is: ‘How are you getting there?’” said Joan Ling, an urban planning professor at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. “Are you going to get there by dislocating renter families that most likely are going to have to move out of the area where they are living? There’s a big public policy question here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Abdeshahian, from the Tenderloin Housing Clinic, said that during the two weeks leading up to the vote, the legislators who had originally demonstrated their support for the bill began parroting the talking points they read in opposition letters by the realtors and the apartment associations, which spent \u003ca href=\"https://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/Lobbying/Employers/Detail.aspx?id=1146782&session=2021&view=activity\">$1.6 million\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/Lobbying/Employers/Detail.aspx?id=1146903&session=2021&view=activity\">$1.3 million\u003c/a>, respectively, in total lobbying efforts in 2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s what killed this bill,” she said. “It became just like an annoying screaming match where the Apartment Association will be saying one thing, we’d be saying another, and why would they listen to us when we don’t give them any money for their reelection, but the Apartment Association is the reason that they’re in office?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I just don’t buy that,” Carlton responded, describing a clear division between the organization’s lobbying and campaign efforts. “This has just been a consistent policy that legislators haven’t agreed with.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/steak_020322_final.png\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-11903971\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/steak_020322_final.png\" alt='Cartoon: a large mansion, with one guy saying to another, \"see to it that Fang is given an extra steak if he keeps the riffraff out,\" as a mountain lion looks on in the foreground.' width=\"1920\" height=\"1377\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/steak_020322_final.png 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/steak_020322_final-800x574.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/steak_020322_final-1020x732.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/steak_020322_final-160x115.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/steak_020322_final-1536x1102.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mountain lions are why the planning department of Woodside — a town of multimillion-dollar homes set among redwood trees — \u003ca href=\"https://www.almanacnews.com/news/2022/02/02/woodside-freezes-sb-9-projects-with-town-citing-excemption-for-mountain-lion-habitats\">said it cannot comply with a state law designed to increase housing stock\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Well, it’s worth a try.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The recently enacted \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB9\">SB 9\u003c/a>, which \u003ca href=\"http://kqed.org/news/11889113/in-one-week-newsom-signed-three-major-housing-bills-heres-what-they-mean\">allows multiple dwellings on lots that were previously zoned for single-family homes\u003c/a>, isn’t going over so well in certain neighborhoods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Woodside’s planning department argues that since the entire town is in mountain lion habitat — and since the big cats may be listed as endangered in this part of California — the wealthy enclave just can’t help with the state’s housing crunch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Look, I love mountain lions as much as the next person. The idea that we live in an area where we are not always at the top of the food chain is thrilling to me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Woodside’s newfound love of mountain lions is really all about throwing a wrench into statewide attempts to increase the housing supply amid a crisis that has squeezed thousands of people out of California … and thousands more onto our streets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Look on the bright side, Woodside. Most of us won’t even be able to afford an in-law unit in your town anyway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/steak_020322_final.png\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-11903971\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/steak_020322_final.png\" alt='Cartoon: a large mansion, with one guy saying to another, \"see to it that Fang is given an extra steak if he keeps the riffraff out,\" as a mountain lion looks on in the foreground.' width=\"1920\" height=\"1377\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/steak_020322_final.png 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/steak_020322_final-800x574.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/steak_020322_final-1020x732.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/steak_020322_final-160x115.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/steak_020322_final-1536x1102.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mountain lions are why the planning department of Woodside — a town of multimillion-dollar homes set among redwood trees — \u003ca href=\"https://www.almanacnews.com/news/2022/02/02/woodside-freezes-sb-9-projects-with-town-citing-excemption-for-mountain-lion-habitats\">said it cannot comply with a state law designed to increase housing stock\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Well, it’s worth a try.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The recently enacted \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB9\">SB 9\u003c/a>, which \u003ca href=\"http://kqed.org/news/11889113/in-one-week-newsom-signed-three-major-housing-bills-heres-what-they-mean\">allows multiple dwellings on lots that were previously zoned for single-family homes\u003c/a>, isn’t going over so well in certain neighborhoods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Woodside’s planning department argues that since the entire town is in mountain lion habitat — and since the big cats may be listed as endangered in this part of California — the wealthy enclave just can’t help with the state’s housing crunch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Look, I love mountain lions as much as the next person. The idea that we live in an area where we are not always at the top of the food chain is thrilling to me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Woodside’s newfound love of mountain lions is really all about throwing a wrench into statewide attempts to increase the housing supply amid a crisis that has squeezed thousands of people out of California … and thousands more onto our streets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Look on the bright side, Woodside. Most of us won’t even be able to afford an in-law unit in your town anyway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"disqusTitle": "'Nothing Compassionate About Someone Dying in the Streets': Newsom Proposes $2 Billion to Address Homelessness",
"title": "'Nothing Compassionate About Someone Dying in the Streets': Newsom Proposes $2 Billion to Address Homelessness",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>Lea este artículo en \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/calmatters-en-espanol/2022/01/newsom-sobre-la-falta-de-vivienda-tenemos-que-limpiar-esos-campamentos/\">\u003cem>español\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In his January budget proposal to the state Legislature, Gov. Gavin Newsom delivered a clear message: California needs to move people off the streets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t want to see any more people die in the streets and call that compassion,” Newsom said Monday, detailing \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Governors-California-Blueprint-Fact-Sheet.pdf\">his $286.4 billion blueprint\u003c/a>. “There is nothing compassionate about someone dying in the streets or stepping over someone on the streets or sidewalks.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Confronting-Homelessness-Fact-Sheet.pdf\">proposed $2 billion to address California's homelessness crisis\u003c/a> — including $1.5 billion to buy and set up “tiny homes” and other temporary shelter options, which \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homeless/2021/11/california-homeless-camps-clearing-plan/\">often fall far short of need\u003c/a> and which he conceded would only be a “bridge” to permanent housing with services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While substantial, the governor’s request pales in comparison to the funding he and the Legislature approved last year — \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/explainers/californias-homelessness-crisis-explained/\">$12 billion\u003c/a> to create supportive housing facilities and help fund green-lit affordable housing projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we’re offering this year is additional money to find a bridge to the permanent supportive housing, and that’s tiny homes, that’s procuring treatment, that’s house slots and shelter slots in the interim,” Newsom said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The governor projected that the funding would yield another 11,000 beds for \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/explainers/californias-homelessness-crisis-explained/\">unhoused people\u003c/a>, in addition to the estimated 44,000 that will be created with money earmarked from last year’s budget.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The remaining $500 million would go toward grants, to be distributed next summer, to local governments to help relocate \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homeless/2021/11/california-homeless-camps-clearing-plan/\">people living in encampments\u003c/a> — a 10-fold increase from the grant funding available in 2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Demand for such grants has, to date, far outpaced supply, according to the agency in charge of reviewing grant applications: The state’s Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency (BCSH) reported it had \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/CAbcsh/status/1479149572798574593\">received an \"overwhelming\" number of grant applications on Dec. 31 \u003c/a>— from 26 cities and 10 counties — requesting a total of $120 million, which was $72 million more than it had to give.[aside label=\"related coverage\" tag=\"housing\"]But despite the proposed increase in grant funding, Christopher Martin, policy director for \u003ca href=\"https://www.housingca.org/\">Housing California\u003c/a>, lamented the lack of funds to quickly move unhoused people into existing housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s not a dime in here that is going towards rental assistance or permanent housing,” he said. “Building shelter and treatment beds, that takes time. That’s going to take years. These people are dealing with the elements today.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rental assistance for people with housing but who are at risk of being evicted also is running out. The state has so far \u003ca href=\"https://housing.ca.gov/covid_rr/dashboard.html\">received relief application requests totaling more than $6.8 billion, according to BCSH's dashboard\u003c/a>. That's well over the $5.2 billion it has gotten from the federal government, about half of which is administered by local jurisdictions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The agency previously expressed confidence that the need would be filled by another round of federal funding, but in response to California’s recent $1.9 billion request to the U.S. Treasury Department, the state only received $62 million on Friday, Newsom said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And so for the purposes of this budget, we are looking to continue to engage directly with Treasury, the Biden administration, as we have been, and directly with legislative leaders,” he added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom’s blueprint to tackle \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/explainers/housing-costs-high-california/\">California’s housing crisis\u003c/a> totals another $2 billion and prioritizes the state’s climate goals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I just want to reinforce, to some extent … moving away from investments in housing that don’t focus on climate, health, integrating downtown schools, jobs, parks and restaurants,” Newsom said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That includes about $800 million in grants to develop housing units and the infrastructure around them in mostly downtown areas, “in that space away from the sprawl,” he said. The idea is to avoid building in areas prone to wildfires, and to prevent the greenhouse gas emissions that result from long commutes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of that money, Newsom wants to set aside $100 million to help offset the high costs that can make it prohibitively expensive to \u003ca href=\"https://ternercenter.berkeley.edu/research-and-policy/commercial-residential-conversions/\">convert old offices and other buildings into apartments\u003c/a> — a practice that UC Berkeley’s Terner Center for Housing Innovation found is most common in Los Angeles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Besides prioritizing housing in downtown areas, the grant also would help meet the state’s climate goals by \u003ca href=\"https://laist.com/news/housing-homelessness/los-angeles-conversions-housing-vacant-offices-remote-work-adaptive-reuse-element-omgivning-downtown?mc_cid=607e273f5a&mc_eid=cef0c46a71\">slashing the main culprit of construction waste: demolition\u003c/a>. The remaining $100 million would go toward affordable housing on vacant state-owned land.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The other $1 billion in Newsom’s housing budget is focused largely on creating more affordable housing for the state's lowest earners, with $500 million going toward the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, the largest funding source for building subsidized housing. The other $500 million would be used to preserve deteriorating affordable housing in downtown areas and rehabilitate mobile home parks, among other initiatives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Matt Schwartz, president and CEO of the nonprofit California Housing Partnership, said while he applauds the new “short-term investments,” the money won’t come close to building the 1.2 million homes his group estimates the state needs by 2030.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s time for the governor and state leaders to go beyond proposing another year of short-term assistance and instead commit to a long-term plan with sustained investments at the scale needed to solve the homeless and housing affordability crises and address climate change,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The League of California Cities, however, responded more positively to Newsom’s blueprint.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The proposal makes good on last year’s promises by the state to continue investing in housing production, as well as housing coupled with mental health services for those experiencing homelessness,” Carolyn Coleman, the league’s CEO, said in a statement. “These proposed investments are a critical down payment by the state on the long-term funding needed to solve a decades-in-the-making crisis.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "In his state budget proposal announced this week, Gov. Gavin Newsom said he supported local efforts to remove street encampments, while stressing the need for permanent housing.",
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"description": "In his state budget proposal announced this week, Gov. Gavin Newsom said he supported local efforts to remove street encampments, while stressing the need for permanent housing.",
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"nprByline": "\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/author/manuela-tobias/\">Manuela Tobias\u003c/a>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>Lea este artículo en \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/calmatters-en-espanol/2022/01/newsom-sobre-la-falta-de-vivienda-tenemos-que-limpiar-esos-campamentos/\">\u003cem>español\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In his January budget proposal to the state Legislature, Gov. Gavin Newsom delivered a clear message: California needs to move people off the streets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t want to see any more people die in the streets and call that compassion,” Newsom said Monday, detailing \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Governors-California-Blueprint-Fact-Sheet.pdf\">his $286.4 billion blueprint\u003c/a>. “There is nothing compassionate about someone dying in the streets or stepping over someone on the streets or sidewalks.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Confronting-Homelessness-Fact-Sheet.pdf\">proposed $2 billion to address California's homelessness crisis\u003c/a> — including $1.5 billion to buy and set up “tiny homes” and other temporary shelter options, which \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homeless/2021/11/california-homeless-camps-clearing-plan/\">often fall far short of need\u003c/a> and which he conceded would only be a “bridge” to permanent housing with services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While substantial, the governor’s request pales in comparison to the funding he and the Legislature approved last year — \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/explainers/californias-homelessness-crisis-explained/\">$12 billion\u003c/a> to create supportive housing facilities and help fund green-lit affordable housing projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we’re offering this year is additional money to find a bridge to the permanent supportive housing, and that’s tiny homes, that’s procuring treatment, that’s house slots and shelter slots in the interim,” Newsom said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The governor projected that the funding would yield another 11,000 beds for \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/explainers/californias-homelessness-crisis-explained/\">unhoused people\u003c/a>, in addition to the estimated 44,000 that will be created with money earmarked from last year’s budget.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The remaining $500 million would go toward grants, to be distributed next summer, to local governments to help relocate \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homeless/2021/11/california-homeless-camps-clearing-plan/\">people living in encampments\u003c/a> — a 10-fold increase from the grant funding available in 2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Demand for such grants has, to date, far outpaced supply, according to the agency in charge of reviewing grant applications: The state’s Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency (BCSH) reported it had \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/CAbcsh/status/1479149572798574593\">received an \"overwhelming\" number of grant applications on Dec. 31 \u003c/a>— from 26 cities and 10 counties — requesting a total of $120 million, which was $72 million more than it had to give.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>But despite the proposed increase in grant funding, Christopher Martin, policy director for \u003ca href=\"https://www.housingca.org/\">Housing California\u003c/a>, lamented the lack of funds to quickly move unhoused people into existing housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s not a dime in here that is going towards rental assistance or permanent housing,” he said. “Building shelter and treatment beds, that takes time. That’s going to take years. These people are dealing with the elements today.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rental assistance for people with housing but who are at risk of being evicted also is running out. The state has so far \u003ca href=\"https://housing.ca.gov/covid_rr/dashboard.html\">received relief application requests totaling more than $6.8 billion, according to BCSH's dashboard\u003c/a>. That's well over the $5.2 billion it has gotten from the federal government, about half of which is administered by local jurisdictions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The agency previously expressed confidence that the need would be filled by another round of federal funding, but in response to California’s recent $1.9 billion request to the U.S. Treasury Department, the state only received $62 million on Friday, Newsom said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And so for the purposes of this budget, we are looking to continue to engage directly with Treasury, the Biden administration, as we have been, and directly with legislative leaders,” he added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom’s blueprint to tackle \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/explainers/housing-costs-high-california/\">California’s housing crisis\u003c/a> totals another $2 billion and prioritizes the state’s climate goals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I just want to reinforce, to some extent … moving away from investments in housing that don’t focus on climate, health, integrating downtown schools, jobs, parks and restaurants,” Newsom said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That includes about $800 million in grants to develop housing units and the infrastructure around them in mostly downtown areas, “in that space away from the sprawl,” he said. The idea is to avoid building in areas prone to wildfires, and to prevent the greenhouse gas emissions that result from long commutes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of that money, Newsom wants to set aside $100 million to help offset the high costs that can make it prohibitively expensive to \u003ca href=\"https://ternercenter.berkeley.edu/research-and-policy/commercial-residential-conversions/\">convert old offices and other buildings into apartments\u003c/a> — a practice that UC Berkeley’s Terner Center for Housing Innovation found is most common in Los Angeles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Besides prioritizing housing in downtown areas, the grant also would help meet the state’s climate goals by \u003ca href=\"https://laist.com/news/housing-homelessness/los-angeles-conversions-housing-vacant-offices-remote-work-adaptive-reuse-element-omgivning-downtown?mc_cid=607e273f5a&mc_eid=cef0c46a71\">slashing the main culprit of construction waste: demolition\u003c/a>. The remaining $100 million would go toward affordable housing on vacant state-owned land.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The other $1 billion in Newsom’s housing budget is focused largely on creating more affordable housing for the state's lowest earners, with $500 million going toward the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, the largest funding source for building subsidized housing. The other $500 million would be used to preserve deteriorating affordable housing in downtown areas and rehabilitate mobile home parks, among other initiatives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Matt Schwartz, president and CEO of the nonprofit California Housing Partnership, said while he applauds the new “short-term investments,” the money won’t come close to building the 1.2 million homes his group estimates the state needs by 2030.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s time for the governor and state leaders to go beyond proposing another year of short-term assistance and instead commit to a long-term plan with sustained investments at the scale needed to solve the homeless and housing affordability crises and address climate change,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The League of California Cities, however, responded more positively to Newsom’s blueprint.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The proposal makes good on last year’s promises by the state to continue investing in housing production, as well as housing coupled with mental health services for those experiencing homelessness,” Carolyn Coleman, the league’s CEO, said in a statement. “These proposed investments are a critical down payment by the state on the long-term funding needed to solve a decades-in-the-making crisis.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "sf-supervisors-to-vote-on-mayor-breeds-state-of-emergency-declaration-in-the-tenderloin",
"title": "SF Supervisors Approve Mayor Breed's State of Emergency Declaration for the Tenderloin",
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"headTitle": "SF Supervisors Approve Mayor Breed’s State of Emergency Declaration for the Tenderloin | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood is officially in a state of emergency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted Thursday night to approve \u003ca href=\"https://sfmayor.org/sites/default/files/Emergency%20Declaration%20-%20Tenderloin.pdf\">Mayor London Breed’s order to declare a state of emergency\u003c/a> in the long-beleaguered city neighborhood, where the needs of people suffering and dying from poverty and substance use disorders have clashed with the needs of nearby families, who are demanding relief from the psychological toll of continuous open-air drug markets and unregulated use.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of the supervisors who voted to approve the declaration still expressed their concerns that the ordinance may condone the criminalization of those experiencing substance use disorders in the Tenderloin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=\"news_11899726\" hero=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2019/11/IMG_20191127_153031-e1574905962967-1020x802.jpg\"]“I will note, the mayor can crack down on the Tenderloin today no matter what we do,” said Supervisor Hillary Ronen, who represents the Mission and other neighborhoods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, during the meeting, the mayor’s staff promised not to use the emergency powers to boost police funding, but instead to enable more services to help people with substance use disorders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Between now and January, if they use a cent to increase [the San Francisco Police Department budget], we can cancel this order on the spot,” Ronen said. “I’m going to vote to approve this order today, but I’m going to watch this thing like a hawk.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The supervisors had seven days to approve Breed’s emergency declaration for the Tenderloin, which will last 90 days. Eight supervisors voted to approve the order, with Supervisors Dean Preston and Shamann Walton voting no, and Supervisor Aaron Peskin absent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Supervisor Hillary Ronen, District 9\"]‘Between now and January, if they use a cent to increase [the SFPD budget], we can cancel this order on the spot.’[/pullquote]In their vote to approve the measure, some members of the board cited a longstanding informal policy of voting alongside a supervisor on issues that affect the neighborhood that supervisor represents. Since Supervisor Matt Haney, who is running for State Assembly and represents the Tenderloin, backed the emergency order, other supervisors were swayed to join him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, they did so amid publicly aired concerns. Breed spurred fears she would criminalize drug use when she announced earlier this month \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11899060/vowing-to-end-reign-of-criminals-destroying-our-city-sf-mayor-breed-announces-latest-tenderloin-crackdown\">a new public safety strategy in the Tenderloin\u003c/a>, calling for a “tough love” approach that would have more cops on the ground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In her remarks, she said San Franciscans should be “less tolerant of all the bull— that has destroyed our city,” and suggested that people who did not accept services would be jailed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those words, \u003ca href=\"https://missionlocal.org/2021/12/san-francisco-tenderloin-matrix-declaration-of-emergency-london-breed/\">and others from Breed\u003c/a>, hung over the more than 10-hour-long meeting, as some of the supervisors argued people using drugs need care, not jail, to find healthier lives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ultimately, city staff delivered a softened version of Breed’s message to the supervisors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=\"news_11899060\" hero=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/12/20211214_115252-1020x771.jpg\"]“I can say unequivocally our office will not use authority in the emergency order to provide appropriations [of funding] to the police department,” Mayor’s Office Deputy Chief of Staff Andres Power told the board Thursday night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, Power and other staff said, the state of emergency would cut red tape and enable San Francisco agencies to lease a location near the Tenderloin to establish a “linkage site” to help connect people who use drugs to health services and resources, staffed by social workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Without the emergency order, it would take months, perhaps a year, to create such a site in the Tenderloin, city staff said at the meeting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The order also would allow the city to more quickly hire 250 behavioral health staffers to help people with substance use disorders heal from their illnesses by blazing through “byzantine” civil-service rules, city staff said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Those are things that can absolutely save lives,” Haney said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite those assurances, other supervisors said they were disappointed Breed didn’t attend the meeting herself to tell them how much, or how little, the police would be involved in her plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Supervisor Dean Preston, who represents Haight-Ashbury, the Fillmore and Japantown, among other neighborhoods, was openly critical of the emergency order, calling it a “publicity stunt.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Supervisor Connie Chan, who represents the Richmond neighborhood, also questioned the political nature of the declaration and asked why the mayor hadn’t taken similar action earlier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If this declaration was truly about tackling the fentanyl crisis, where was this declaration when we voted to urge the mayor to do so in September of this year?” Chan said, referencing a resolution introduced by Haney.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some supervisors worried approving the emergency order would tacitly endorse Breed’s law-and-order messaging.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At a community market opening in the Tenderloin in mid-December,\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/FitzTheReporter/status/1474166266797518888\"> Breed was recorded on video saying\u003c/a>, “We are going to make people who are dealing drugs, who are using drugs out in the open with no regard for the community, people who are assaulting and spitting on and stabbing and shooting and destroying this community, we are going to make life hell for them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Preston called out those words in the meeting — making “life hell” for those who use drugs — when \u003ca href=\"https://health.ucdavis.edu/newsroom/news/headlines/its-time-to-treat-substance-abuse-like-a-chronic-disease/2021/12\">public health experts consider substance use disorder to be a disease that can be treated\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the meeting, SFPD Chief Bill Scott expressed frustration at the position his officers are placed in when addressing the sale and consumption of drugs in the Tenderloin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re in this ‘no-person’s-land’ where they’re being asked not to arrest, and they’re seeing people smoking fentanyl out on the streets,” Scott said. “What tools do they have to address this, if they’re not going to be arresting?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/FitzTheReporter/status/1474177258323546120\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In other critiques, Supervisor Shamann Walton questioned why there wasn’t an emergency order when homicides rose in the southeast of the city, which he represents, and Chan questioned why the mayor didn’t have similar urgency around attacks against the Asian American and Pacific Islander community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hundreds of people called in to comment on the vote during the public meeting. Those supporting Breed’s emergency order ran the gamut: Some lauded Breed’s plan as compassionate for boosting access to services, while others embraced more police action, even going so far as to suggest jailing drug dealers on Alcatraz, or encouraging the police to commit violence against drug users and dealers alike. Callers often called the Tenderloin a “dystopia,” and called for “order.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other callers lived with their families in the Tenderloin, and were calling for help.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Don’t forget that children and young people are affected in their mental health directly. It’s a day-to-day situation where they’re offered drugs and are afraid of being shot,” said Norma Carrera, a 26-year Tenderloin resident who spoke in Spanish with the aid of an interpreter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thomas Wolf, who previously struggled with substance abuse \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/26/us/san-francisco-drug-crisis.html\">and became notable in San Francisco for going sober after his arrest by city police\u003c/a>, told the board, “I’m alive today, and in recovery, because I was held accountable when I broke the law to support my addiction. Accountability is the cornerstone of recovery.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People speaking publicly against Breed’s emergency order sometimes characterized it as police overreach, even though the mayor’s office pledged in the meeting not to add funding to policing by using the order.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Callers repeatedly described fear of the police, citing the police killings of \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/series/1000988747/george-floyds-murder-one-year-later\">George Floyd\u003c/a> and\u003ca href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/mar/21/death-by-gentrification-the-killing-that-shamed-san-francisco\"> Alex Nieto\u003c/a>. They also often suggested officials boost funding for the Community Alternative Response Team (CART), a citywide program designed to connect unhoused people with community workers, as opposed to police.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jessica Hernandez, an 18-year-old who said they were unhoused, said “instead of a police crackdown,” Breed should increase funding for housing initiatives to aid those living on the streets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t want to live in fear,” they said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Peter Murphy, a Tenderloin resident who works at the Mental Health Association of San Francisco, said his agency opposes the emergency order and any measure that would criminalize substance use disorders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I identify as an addict and an alcoholic. The only thing that’s worked for me is voluntary treatment,” he said, and suggested the city fund CART. “This is not the time to repeat the mistakes of the past, with over-policing the Tenderloin.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Deaths attributable to drug overdoses have increased more than 200% in San Francisco since 2018, and last year, more than 700 people died from drug overdoses in the city, more than the number who died from COVID-19, according to \u003ca href=\"https://sfmayor.org/sites/default/files/Emergency%20Declaration%20-%20Tenderloin.pdf\">Breed’s proclamation of a local emergency\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=\"news_11894981\" hero=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/11/NPR-fentanyl-1-1020x766.jpg\"]Nearly 600 people have died of drug overdoses through November of this year, with nearly half the deaths occurring in the Tenderloin and the neighboring South of Market neighborhood, the proclamation said. These areas make up 7% of San Francisco’s population.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin joined the city’s public defender Mano Raju at a news conference on Monday to denounce the mayor’s plan, saying that jailing people experiencing substance use disorders, mental health issues and homelessness would not work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If arrests and prosecutions alone could solve the drug crisis in this country or in this city, it would have been solved long ago,” Boudin said. “We’ve invested over a trillion dollars in fighting the so-called war on drugs, and where has it gotten us?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/LondonBreed/status/1473064841568940034\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Boudin said the “raw human suffering” he sees in the neighborhood outrages him. But using outdated methods won’t make people any safer, and the city has other options, said Boudin, who worked in the public defender’s office before becoming DA.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among local community activists, reaction to Breed’s declaration has been mixed, at best.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jennifer Friedenbach, executive director of the Coalition on Homelessness, last week slammed the mayor’s strategy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s really clear that Mayor Breed is vilifying and degrading people who are living in poverty,” she said, calling it a shortsighted political response to the “misleading flood of media hysteria around crime.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pointing to Proposition C, the 2018 voter-approved measure that directs hundreds of millions of dollars a year to pay for services for unhoused people in the city, Friedenbach said Breed was already “sitting on very carefully crafted solutions to these issues that the community has been calling for, with feedback and expertise from unhoused community members themselves.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chan, the supervisor representing the Richmond, said at the meeting that San Francisco has seen police-focused plans to address drug use and homelessness in the past, and they haven’t succeeded — because the problem still lingers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve been in city government for almost two decades, serving under four different mayors. We’ve seen this all before. It’s why we know it’s not going to work. From \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-gavin-newsom-homelessness-san-francisco-20181023-story.html\">Care Not Cash\u003c/a>, to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/The-Scanner-SF-police-have-backed-off-13322561.php\">sit-lie ordinance\u003c/a>, to the \u003ca href=\"https://sf.curbed.com/2016/11/10/13576508/san-francisco-homeless-tents-election\">[Proposition] Q tent prohibition\u003c/a>. Different slogans, but the same tactics of criminalizing the poor and the unhoused. Different players, same game, and we know they don’t work, because we’re suffering from these measures’ cumulative impact on our streets right now,” Chan said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She added, “We know the solution, colleagues, and that work is hard, to implement policy solutions that may not garner news attention. Work that includes meaningful investment in the health care system, public education, workforce development and housing security not just for the homeless, but working families to stop them from becoming homeless in the first place.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This post includes reporting from The Associated Press and KQED’s Kate Wolffe, Carlos Cabrera-Lomelí, Matthew Green and David Marks.\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Supervisors voted to authorize the mayor's state of emergency declaration for the Tenderloin, allowing the city to 'waive certain laws' to move people off the streets and into treatment programs.",
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"title": "SF Supervisors Approve Mayor Breed's State of Emergency Declaration for the Tenderloin | KQED",
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"headline": "SF Supervisors Approve Mayor Breed's State of Emergency Declaration for the Tenderloin",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood is officially in a state of emergency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted Thursday night to approve \u003ca href=\"https://sfmayor.org/sites/default/files/Emergency%20Declaration%20-%20Tenderloin.pdf\">Mayor London Breed’s order to declare a state of emergency\u003c/a> in the long-beleaguered city neighborhood, where the needs of people suffering and dying from poverty and substance use disorders have clashed with the needs of nearby families, who are demanding relief from the psychological toll of continuous open-air drug markets and unregulated use.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of the supervisors who voted to approve the declaration still expressed their concerns that the ordinance may condone the criminalization of those experiencing substance use disorders in the Tenderloin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“I will note, the mayor can crack down on the Tenderloin today no matter what we do,” said Supervisor Hillary Ronen, who represents the Mission and other neighborhoods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, during the meeting, the mayor’s staff promised not to use the emergency powers to boost police funding, but instead to enable more services to help people with substance use disorders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Between now and January, if they use a cent to increase [the San Francisco Police Department budget], we can cancel this order on the spot,” Ronen said. “I’m going to vote to approve this order today, but I’m going to watch this thing like a hawk.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The supervisors had seven days to approve Breed’s emergency declaration for the Tenderloin, which will last 90 days. Eight supervisors voted to approve the order, with Supervisors Dean Preston and Shamann Walton voting no, and Supervisor Aaron Peskin absent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘Between now and January, if they use a cent to increase [the SFPD budget], we can cancel this order on the spot.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>In their vote to approve the measure, some members of the board cited a longstanding informal policy of voting alongside a supervisor on issues that affect the neighborhood that supervisor represents. Since Supervisor Matt Haney, who is running for State Assembly and represents the Tenderloin, backed the emergency order, other supervisors were swayed to join him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, they did so amid publicly aired concerns. Breed spurred fears she would criminalize drug use when she announced earlier this month \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11899060/vowing-to-end-reign-of-criminals-destroying-our-city-sf-mayor-breed-announces-latest-tenderloin-crackdown\">a new public safety strategy in the Tenderloin\u003c/a>, calling for a “tough love” approach that would have more cops on the ground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In her remarks, she said San Franciscans should be “less tolerant of all the bull— that has destroyed our city,” and suggested that people who did not accept services would be jailed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those words, \u003ca href=\"https://missionlocal.org/2021/12/san-francisco-tenderloin-matrix-declaration-of-emergency-london-breed/\">and others from Breed\u003c/a>, hung over the more than 10-hour-long meeting, as some of the supervisors argued people using drugs need care, not jail, to find healthier lives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ultimately, city staff delivered a softened version of Breed’s message to the supervisors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“I can say unequivocally our office will not use authority in the emergency order to provide appropriations [of funding] to the police department,” Mayor’s Office Deputy Chief of Staff Andres Power told the board Thursday night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, Power and other staff said, the state of emergency would cut red tape and enable San Francisco agencies to lease a location near the Tenderloin to establish a “linkage site” to help connect people who use drugs to health services and resources, staffed by social workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Without the emergency order, it would take months, perhaps a year, to create such a site in the Tenderloin, city staff said at the meeting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The order also would allow the city to more quickly hire 250 behavioral health staffers to help people with substance use disorders heal from their illnesses by blazing through “byzantine” civil-service rules, city staff said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Those are things that can absolutely save lives,” Haney said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite those assurances, other supervisors said they were disappointed Breed didn’t attend the meeting herself to tell them how much, or how little, the police would be involved in her plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Supervisor Dean Preston, who represents Haight-Ashbury, the Fillmore and Japantown, among other neighborhoods, was openly critical of the emergency order, calling it a “publicity stunt.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Supervisor Connie Chan, who represents the Richmond neighborhood, also questioned the political nature of the declaration and asked why the mayor hadn’t taken similar action earlier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If this declaration was truly about tackling the fentanyl crisis, where was this declaration when we voted to urge the mayor to do so in September of this year?” Chan said, referencing a resolution introduced by Haney.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some supervisors worried approving the emergency order would tacitly endorse Breed’s law-and-order messaging.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At a community market opening in the Tenderloin in mid-December,\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/FitzTheReporter/status/1474166266797518888\"> Breed was recorded on video saying\u003c/a>, “We are going to make people who are dealing drugs, who are using drugs out in the open with no regard for the community, people who are assaulting and spitting on and stabbing and shooting and destroying this community, we are going to make life hell for them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Preston called out those words in the meeting — making “life hell” for those who use drugs — when \u003ca href=\"https://health.ucdavis.edu/newsroom/news/headlines/its-time-to-treat-substance-abuse-like-a-chronic-disease/2021/12\">public health experts consider substance use disorder to be a disease that can be treated\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the meeting, SFPD Chief Bill Scott expressed frustration at the position his officers are placed in when addressing the sale and consumption of drugs in the Tenderloin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re in this ‘no-person’s-land’ where they’re being asked not to arrest, and they’re seeing people smoking fentanyl out on the streets,” Scott said. “What tools do they have to address this, if they’re not going to be arresting?”\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>In other critiques, Supervisor Shamann Walton questioned why there wasn’t an emergency order when homicides rose in the southeast of the city, which he represents, and Chan questioned why the mayor didn’t have similar urgency around attacks against the Asian American and Pacific Islander community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hundreds of people called in to comment on the vote during the public meeting. Those supporting Breed’s emergency order ran the gamut: Some lauded Breed’s plan as compassionate for boosting access to services, while others embraced more police action, even going so far as to suggest jailing drug dealers on Alcatraz, or encouraging the police to commit violence against drug users and dealers alike. Callers often called the Tenderloin a “dystopia,” and called for “order.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other callers lived with their families in the Tenderloin, and were calling for help.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Don’t forget that children and young people are affected in their mental health directly. It’s a day-to-day situation where they’re offered drugs and are afraid of being shot,” said Norma Carrera, a 26-year Tenderloin resident who spoke in Spanish with the aid of an interpreter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thomas Wolf, who previously struggled with substance abuse \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/26/us/san-francisco-drug-crisis.html\">and became notable in San Francisco for going sober after his arrest by city police\u003c/a>, told the board, “I’m alive today, and in recovery, because I was held accountable when I broke the law to support my addiction. Accountability is the cornerstone of recovery.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People speaking publicly against Breed’s emergency order sometimes characterized it as police overreach, even though the mayor’s office pledged in the meeting not to add funding to policing by using the order.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Callers repeatedly described fear of the police, citing the police killings of \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/series/1000988747/george-floyds-murder-one-year-later\">George Floyd\u003c/a> and\u003ca href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/mar/21/death-by-gentrification-the-killing-that-shamed-san-francisco\"> Alex Nieto\u003c/a>. They also often suggested officials boost funding for the Community Alternative Response Team (CART), a citywide program designed to connect unhoused people with community workers, as opposed to police.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jessica Hernandez, an 18-year-old who said they were unhoused, said “instead of a police crackdown,” Breed should increase funding for housing initiatives to aid those living on the streets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t want to live in fear,” they said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Peter Murphy, a Tenderloin resident who works at the Mental Health Association of San Francisco, said his agency opposes the emergency order and any measure that would criminalize substance use disorders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I identify as an addict and an alcoholic. The only thing that’s worked for me is voluntary treatment,” he said, and suggested the city fund CART. “This is not the time to repeat the mistakes of the past, with over-policing the Tenderloin.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Deaths attributable to drug overdoses have increased more than 200% in San Francisco since 2018, and last year, more than 700 people died from drug overdoses in the city, more than the number who died from COVID-19, according to \u003ca href=\"https://sfmayor.org/sites/default/files/Emergency%20Declaration%20-%20Tenderloin.pdf\">Breed’s proclamation of a local emergency\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Nearly 600 people have died of drug overdoses through November of this year, with nearly half the deaths occurring in the Tenderloin and the neighboring South of Market neighborhood, the proclamation said. These areas make up 7% of San Francisco’s population.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin joined the city’s public defender Mano Raju at a news conference on Monday to denounce the mayor’s plan, saying that jailing people experiencing substance use disorders, mental health issues and homelessness would not work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If arrests and prosecutions alone could solve the drug crisis in this country or in this city, it would have been solved long ago,” Boudin said. “We’ve invested over a trillion dollars in fighting the so-called war on drugs, and where has it gotten us?”\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>Boudin said the “raw human suffering” he sees in the neighborhood outrages him. But using outdated methods won’t make people any safer, and the city has other options, said Boudin, who worked in the public defender’s office before becoming DA.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among local community activists, reaction to Breed’s declaration has been mixed, at best.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jennifer Friedenbach, executive director of the Coalition on Homelessness, last week slammed the mayor’s strategy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s really clear that Mayor Breed is vilifying and degrading people who are living in poverty,” she said, calling it a shortsighted political response to the “misleading flood of media hysteria around crime.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pointing to Proposition C, the 2018 voter-approved measure that directs hundreds of millions of dollars a year to pay for services for unhoused people in the city, Friedenbach said Breed was already “sitting on very carefully crafted solutions to these issues that the community has been calling for, with feedback and expertise from unhoused community members themselves.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chan, the supervisor representing the Richmond, said at the meeting that San Francisco has seen police-focused plans to address drug use and homelessness in the past, and they haven’t succeeded — because the problem still lingers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve been in city government for almost two decades, serving under four different mayors. We’ve seen this all before. It’s why we know it’s not going to work. From \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-gavin-newsom-homelessness-san-francisco-20181023-story.html\">Care Not Cash\u003c/a>, to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/The-Scanner-SF-police-have-backed-off-13322561.php\">sit-lie ordinance\u003c/a>, to the \u003ca href=\"https://sf.curbed.com/2016/11/10/13576508/san-francisco-homeless-tents-election\">[Proposition] Q tent prohibition\u003c/a>. Different slogans, but the same tactics of criminalizing the poor and the unhoused. Different players, same game, and we know they don’t work, because we’re suffering from these measures’ cumulative impact on our streets right now,” Chan said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She added, “We know the solution, colleagues, and that work is hard, to implement policy solutions that may not garner news attention. Work that includes meaningful investment in the health care system, public education, workforce development and housing security not just for the homeless, but working families to stop them from becoming homeless in the first place.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This post includes reporting from The Associated Press and KQED’s Kate Wolffe, Carlos Cabrera-Lomelí, Matthew Green and David Marks.\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"tagline": "Exploring the Bay Area, one question at a time",
"info": "KQED’s new podcast, Bay Curious, gets to the bottom of the mysteries — both profound and peculiar — that give the Bay Area its unique identity. And we’ll do it with your help! You ask the questions. You decide what Bay Curious investigates. And you join us on the journey to find the answers.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Bay-Curious-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Bay Curious",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/news/series/baycurious",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 3
},
"link": "/podcasts/baycurious",
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"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/500557090/bay-curious",
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}
},
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"id": "bbc-world-service",
"title": "BBC World Service",
"info": "The day's top stories from BBC News compiled twice daily in the week, once at weekends.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 9pm-10pm, TUE-FRI 1am-2am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/BBC-World-Service-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/live:bbc_world_service",
"meta": {
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"source": "BBC World Service"
},
"link": "/radio/program/bbc-world-service",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/global-news-podcast/id135067274?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/BBC-World-Service-p455581/",
"rss": "https://podcasts.files.bbci.co.uk/p02nq0gn.rss"
}
},
"californiareport": {
"id": "californiareport",
"title": "The California Report",
"tagline": "California, day by day",
"info": "KQED’s statewide radio news program providing daily coverage of issues, trends and public policy decisions.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-California-Report-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED The California Report",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/californiareport",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 8
},
"link": "/californiareport",
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"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/26099305-72af-4542-9dde-ac1807fe36d5/kqed-s-the-california-report",
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"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/tag/tcram/feed/podcast"
}
},
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"id": "californiareportmagazine",
"title": "The California Report Magazine",
"tagline": "Your state, your stories",
"info": "Every week, The California Report Magazine takes you on a road trip for the ears: to visit the places and meet the people who make California unique. The in-depth storytelling podcast from the California Report.",
"airtime": "FRI 4:30pm-5pm, 6:30pm-7pm, 11pm-11:30pm",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/californiareportmagazine",
"meta": {
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"order": 10
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM3NjkwNjk1OTAz",
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"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/tag/tcrmag/feed/podcast"
}
},
"city-arts": {
"id": "city-arts",
"title": "City Arts & Lectures",
"info": "A one-hour radio program to hear celebrated writers, artists and thinkers address contemporary ideas and values, often discussing the creative process. Please note: tapes or transcripts are not available",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/05/cityartsandlecture-300x300.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.cityarts.net/",
"airtime": "SUN 1pm-2pm, TUE 10pm, WED 1am",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "City Arts & Lectures"
},
"link": "https://www.cityarts.net",
"subscribe": {
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/City-Arts-and-Lectures-p692/",
"rss": "https://www.cityarts.net/feed/"
}
},
"closealltabs": {
"id": "closealltabs",
"title": "Close All Tabs",
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"info": "Close All Tabs breaks down how digital culture shapes our world through thoughtful insights and irreverent humor.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/CAT_2_Tile-scaled.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/closealltabs",
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 1
},
"link": "/podcasts/closealltabs",
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"code-switch-life-kit": {
"id": "code-switch-life-kit",
"title": "Code Switch / Life Kit",
"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Code-Switch-Life-Kit-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/code-switch-life-kit",
"subscribe": {
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnByLm9yZy9yc3MvcG9kY2FzdC5waHA_aWQ9NTEwMzEy",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510312/podcast.xml"
}
},
"commonwealth-club": {
"id": "commonwealth-club",
"title": "Commonwealth Club of California Podcast",
"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
"airtime": "THU 10pm, FRI 1am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Commonwealth-Club-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.commonwealthclub.org/podcasts",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
},
"link": "/radio/program/commonwealth-club",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/commonwealth-club-of-california-podcast/id976334034?mt=2",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jb21tb253ZWFsdGhjbHViLm9yZy9hdWRpby9wb2RjYXN0L3dlZWtseS54bWw",
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}
},
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"id": "forum",
"title": "Forum",
"tagline": "The conversation starts here",
"info": "KQED’s live call-in program discussing local, state, national and international issues, as well as in-depth interviews.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 9am-11am, 10pm-11pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Forum-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Forum with Mina Kim and Alexis Madrigal",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/forum",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 9
},
"link": "/forum",
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"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/kqeds-forum/id73329719",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM5NTU3MzgxNjMz",
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}
},
"freakonomics-radio": {
"id": "freakonomics-radio",
"title": "Freakonomics Radio",
"info": "Freakonomics Radio is a one-hour award-winning podcast and public-radio project hosted by Stephen Dubner, with co-author Steve Levitt as a regular guest. It is produced in partnership with WNYC.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/freakonomicsRadio.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://freakonomics.com/",
"airtime": "SUN 1am-2am, SAT 3pm-4pm",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WNYC"
},
"link": "/radio/program/freakonomics-radio",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/4s8b",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/freakonomics-radio/id354668519",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/WNYC-Podcasts/Freakonomics-Radio-p272293/",
"rss": "https://feeds.feedburner.com/freakonomicsradio"
}
},
"fresh-air": {
"id": "fresh-air",
"title": "Fresh Air",
"info": "Hosted by Terry Gross, \u003cem>Fresh Air from WHYY\u003c/em> is the Peabody Award-winning weekday magazine of contemporary arts and issues. One of public radio's most popular programs, Fresh Air features intimate conversations with today's biggest luminaries.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 7pm-8pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Fresh-Air-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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"meta": {
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"source": "npr"
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"link": "/radio/program/fresh-air",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=214089682&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/381444908/podcast.xml"
}
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"here-and-now": {
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"title": "Here & Now",
"info": "A live production of NPR and WBUR Boston, in collaboration with stations across the country, Here & Now reflects the fluid world of news as it's happening in the middle of the day, with timely, in-depth news, interviews and conversation. Hosted by Robin Young, Jeremy Hobson and Tonya Mosley.",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510051/podcast.xml"
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},
"hidden-brain": {
"id": "hidden-brain",
"title": "Hidden Brain",
"info": "Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/series/423302056/hidden-brain",
"airtime": "SUN 7pm-8pm",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "NPR"
},
"link": "/radio/program/hidden-brain",
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"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/Science-Podcasts/Hidden-Brain-p787503/",
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},
"how-i-built-this": {
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"title": "How I Built This with Guy Raz",
"info": "Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/howIBuiltThis.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510313/how-i-built-this",
"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
"meta": {
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"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/how-i-built-this",
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"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/3zxy",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-built-this-with-guy-raz/id1150510297?mt=2",
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},
"hyphenacion": {
"id": "hyphenacion",
"title": "Hyphenación",
"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Hyphenacion_FinalAssets_PodcastTile.png",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
"meta": {
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"order": 15
},
"link": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
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"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/2p3Fifq96nw9BPcmFdIq0o?si=39209f7b25774f38",
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},
"jerrybrown": {
"id": "jerrybrown",
"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Political-Mind-of-Jerry-Brown-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 18
},
"link": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1492194549",
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}
},
"latino-usa": {
"id": "latino-usa",
"title": "Latino USA",
"airtime": "MON 1am-2am, SUN 6pm-7pm",
"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/latinoUsa.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://latinousa.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
"subscribe": {
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=79681317&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510016/podcast.xml"
}
},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
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"rss": "https://feeds.publicradio.org/public_feeds/marketplace-pm/rss/rss"
}
},
"masters-of-scale": {
"id": "masters-of-scale",
"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Masters-of-Scale-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://mastersofscale.com/",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WaitWhat"
},
"link": "/radio/program/masters-of-scale",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "http://mastersofscale.app.link/",
"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
}
},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/mindshift/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mindshift-podcast/id1078765985",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/464615685/mind-shift-podcast",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/stories-teachers-share",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/0MxSpNYZKNprFLCl7eEtyx"
}
},
"morning-edition": {
"id": "morning-edition",
"title": "Morning Edition",
"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3am-9am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Morning-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/morning-edition/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/morning-edition"
},
"onourwatch": {
"id": "onourwatch",
"title": "On Our Watch",
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