Are some getting meaningfully more rent?

If this message resonates with you, I encourage you to take a high level, holistic evaluation of what you’re doing…Is a foundational shift required for you to take things to the next level?

Paul, 51 percent of our renter households are housing-cost burdened, resulting in seventy-five percent of our low-income renter households being housing cost burdened and thirty-nine percent being severely housing cost burdened; andWHEREAS, the Fair Housing Act of 1968 requires that the City affirmatively further fair housing, meaning the City must take meaningful action to overcome historic patterns of segregation, promote fair housing choice, and foster inclusive communities that are free from discrimination; andWHEREAS, in April 2016, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development issued warning that blanket policies of refusal to rent to people with criminal records could violate the Fair Housing Act if “without justification, their burden falls more often on renters or other housing market participants of one race or national origin over another”; andWHEREAS, as of January 1, 2020, people of color make up 47.9 percent of the MN prison population, but only 15.9 percent of our state population; andWHEREAS, criminal justice research supports that the effect of a criminal offense on a residents housing outcome declines over time and becomes insignificant; andWHEREAS, our current credit scoring system has a disparate impact on people and communities of color, rooted in a long history of housing discrimination and wealth inequities even though credit score itself does not reflect positive rental history or timely rent payments or probability of on time rent payments; andWHEREAS, in 2017 there were an estimated 1,710 residential evictions filed against tenants in the City of Saint Paul; andWHEREAS, E evictions, regardless of outcome, impact a renter’s ability to secure future housing, and Research suggests that “Informal evictions” occurring outside of the court process are occurring at twice the rate of formal evictions; andWHEREAS, the City of Saint Paul has approximately 11,000 units of housing which are considered Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing (NOAH) affordable at or below 60 percent Area Median Income and NOAH buildings are most at risk for ownership changes; andWHEREAS, historical and ongoing discrimination in housing makes tenant protections a fair housing, racial equity and economic justice imperative; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, that the Council of the City of Saint Paul does Ordain:Section 2Chapter 193 of the Saint Paul Legislative Code is hereby created to read as follows: Sec. 193.01 Definitions.For the purposes of this Chapter, the following terms shall have the meaning ascribed to them in this section. (1)(2)Affordable Housing Building shall mean a multiple-family rental housing building having five (5) three (3) or more dwelling units where at least twenty (20) percent of the units rent for an amount that is affordable at no more than thirty (30) percent of income to households at or below eighty (80) percent of area median income, as most recently determined by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development for Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) purposes, as adjusted for household size and number of bedrooms.Affordable Housing Dwelling Unit shall mean a rental dwelling unit in an affordable housing building that rents for an amount that is affordable to households at or below eighty (80) percent of Area Median Income, as most recently determined by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, as adjusted for household size and number of bedrooms.(3) Available for Sale shall mean the earliest implementation of any of the following actions: negotiating to enter into a purchase agreement that includes an affordable housing building, advertising the sale of an affordable housing building, entering into a listing agreement to sell an affordable housing building, or posting a sign that an affordable housing building is for sale.(4) For Cause shall mean that the tenant or a member of the tenant's household materially violated a term of the lease in accordance with Sec. 193.05(a).(5) Cure the Deficiency shall mean that a tenant pays all monies rightfully owed, or fully complies with an order to correct a lease violation or notice to cease an activity that is in0) violation of a lease.(6) Displacement Dwelling Unit shall mean the dwelling unit from which a tenant was displaced pursuant to Sec. 193.05(5) or (7).(7) Eviction shall mean a summary court proceeding to remove a tenant or occupant from, or otherwise recover possession of, real property by the process of law, pursuant to Minn.

If your PM makes money by filling a vacancy, they are incentivized to fill your units with higher risk tenants to encourage turnover.  

I strongly encourage you to learn about your local housing authority because they are all different.

That seems to've paid off handsomely so far, even with the covid crisis we've just had.I hope this would be of some help and encouragement to you.

Have moved since, but strongly encourage you take a look there.

Some folks on here have been great about trying to help encourage me to keep my spirits up. 

Joann Ginal (Larimer County - Fort Collins) - A fully copy of the latest draft of the Bill and our one-page summary and talking points can be found here: https://mcusercontent.com/988acf0cfce2504c029ccd116/files/066f75f4-5eaa-4f1c-9ad1-febe93e2847c/Talking_Points_from_AAMD_and_Proposed_Bill.pdf The bill would impose a moratorium on evictions against all residents (with no meaningful documented COVID related hardship) effectively giving all residents the legal ability not to pay rent for more than a year.

I strongl;y encourage you to file a complaint with the PA Attorney General's office.