Free Republic

Sanctuary states are planning to dish out billions in American taxpayer dollars to migrants in 2024, offering housing, food, and health care, among other things, to the new arrivals that have entered the United States on President Joe Biden’s watch. In New York, legislators approved a $237 billion budget, expected to be signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul (D), that includes about $2.4 billion to provide housing, health care, and legal services to newly arrived migrants. New York State Senate Republican Leader Rob Ortt has warned that such funding for migrants will only entice more illegal immigration to the sanctuary state....

It is every homeowner’s nightmare: Leave your property unattended and come back to a squatter infestation. It’s even impacted celebrity chef Gordon Ramsey, who recently saw his London restaurant overrun by intruders. These real estate pros fought back and won. Here’s how they got rid of squatters: Mohammed Choudhary, a 61-year-old Pakistani immigrant who works in construction, and his business partner Boysin Lorick, 76, originally from Trinidad, were chasing the American dream. In 2020, the men used large portions of their life savings to purchase a trio of one- and two-family houses on Mermaid Avenue in Coney Island for $1.3...

Nonprofit on boards in the city of Seattle are facing huge bosses because tenants in the city are not paying rent. Following the pandemic eviction moratorium, a lot of tenants became used to someone else paying their bills for them and continue to not pay to this day. This has hurt the revenue of the nonprofits

The already insane cost of purchasing a home has hit a new high, thanks to the ongoing horror show that is Bidenomics. Fox News: Findings from Redfin show the combination of steep mortgage rates and elevated home prices has pushed the median monthly housing payment to a record $2,775 – an 11% increase from the same time last year. … There are a number of driving forces behind the affordability crisis. Years of underbuilding fueled a shortage of homes in the country, a problem that was later exacerbated by the rapid rise in mortgage rates and expensive construction materials. And...

(Colorado Newsline) Colorado landlords will now need a specific reason to evict or not offer a lease renewal to a tenant under a new law signed by Democratic Governor Jared Polis on Friday. It is a victory for tenants-rights organizers and progressive legislators who seek to include renters in the conversation about how to address the state’s housing and affordability issues. Colorado is the sixth state to enact such a policy. “Everybody here wants to prevent unnecessary evictions and save families money. And House Bill 1098 does these things while placing no financial burdens on landlords. This is the right...

Home sales saw their biggest month-on-month decline since November 2022 in March, dropping by 4.3 percent compared to February. Meanwhile, the average 30-year fixed mortgage surged to 7.1 percent — its highest since the end of last year. Average monthly new mortgage payments are 38 percent higher than average apartment rent, with this double-digit disparity persisting for a two-year period. This is discouraging Americans from buying their own homes, with sales down 3.7 percent year-on-year.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The most significant case in decades on homelessness has reached the Supreme Court as record numbers of people in America are without a permanent place to live. The justices on Monday will consider a challenge to rulings from a California-based appeals court that found punishing people for sleeping outside when shelter space is lacking amounts to unconstitutional cruel and unusual punishment. A political cross section of officials in the West and California, home to nearly one-third of the nation’s homeless population, argue those decisions have restricted them from “common sense” measures intended to keep homeless encampments from...

A housing advocacy group is slamming Denver’s new Asylum Seekers Program as “insufficient” and “a slap in the face,” even staging a protest to voice their disapproval — as the city spends tens of millions of dollars on migrant aid and slashes its emergency services budget to stave off insolvency in the wake of the influx. The surge of new arrivals has thrown the Mile High City’s city’s budget into a tailspin. More than 40,000 migrants have found their way to Denver since December 2022 — more per capita than any other US city — at a total cost of...

Among the many hard truths for those trying to enter America's brutal housing market, here's one: Baby boomers continue to own many of the country's large houses, even after their households have shrunk to one or two people. Baby boomer empty nesters own twice as many of the country's three-bedroom-or-larger homes, compared with millennials with kids, according to a recent analysis from Redfin. That means those larger homes aren't hitting the market, one factor limiting the supply for the younger generations who could use those extra bedrooms. Some baby boomers, the generation now between the ages of 60 and 78,...

Immigrants, mostly from Africa, flooded a meeting in New York City on Tuesday with complaints that the free food and free housing they are being given are not good enough for them despite the tens of billions in tax dollars spent to care for them. Hundreds of migrants, many of whom are Muslims from Africa, told members of the New York City Council at City Hall that the tax-funded freebies they are receiving are not adequate for them and those with families. The migrants were invited to speak to the city’s immigration committee on Tuesday, and one woman was heard...

Housing starts fell to 1.32 million. The numbers: Construction of new homes fell 14.7% in March, as home builders scaled back new projects. The pace of construction slowed as builders contended with higher mortgage rates sapping demand. Housing starts fell to a 1.32 million annual pace from 1.55 million in February,

If you are planning a lengthy holiday getaway don’t leave your home unattended: beware the squatters. In some towns in the U.S. if homeowners take a lengthy vacation and squatters move into their home in the interim the intruders may wind up calling it their own “home sweet home.” And “yes,” it’s legal. The issue of squatter rights is not something new; squatters have been around since the first European settlers arrived in America. What is new is the emergence of squatters in growing numbers as a result of the Biden administration’s open borders policy. Texas Senator John Cornyn tells...

Los Angeles voters were asked to back a “mansion tax” to raise money for homeless housing after passing a $1.2 billion bond measure to build the same. Now Mayor Karen Bass wants rich residents and businesses to pitch in more money. During her State of the City address, the mayor called on business leaders, charities and wealthy residents to donate money to get homeless Angelenos off the streets, the Los Angeles Times reported. Bass urged those with the means to help buy or lease buildings that can be converted into housing for L.A.’s 46,000 homeless residents. “We have brought the...

DENVER — Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill into law Monday that officially eliminates most restrictions on how many unrelated roommates can live together in Colorado. House Bill 1007 prohibits local governments from enacting occupancy limits, which Polis and other critics of the policy have derided as discriminatory and outdated. Roughly two dozen Colorado cities have such restrictions on the books, though lawmakers said that only a few — including the college town of Fort Collins — actively enforce them. “This issue is both a housing issue and a civil rights issue,” Polis said during a bill-signing ceremony outside the...

Denver intends to defund its police force and fire department in order to better support those illegally entering the U.S. through a program that provides a monthly debit card based on family size, free housing, “access to language instruction, career pathway explorations, industry-recognized credential training, and work-based learning opportunities.”

Wayne County is rolling out a new round of funding to assist landlords with small-scale properties in meeting federal housing standards. The initiative, explained by County Economic Development Director Brian Pincelli, is a collaboration between the county, The Housing Council at PathStone, and both the Newark and Geneva Housing Authorities. This effort aims to support landlords who manage fewer than 15 units in upgrading their properties to comply with Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program inspections and health and safety regulations. The program was designed in response to a 2021 affordable housing study that highlighted the necessity for maintaining affordable...

The state is awarding just over $15 million in bonds and subsidies for a project that will create 78 affordable homes in Ontario County. Sunlight Lane Apartments in Geneva will be for low-and-moderate low-income households. The net-zero development will be fully electric and feature rooftop solar panels. The financing is allocated through the New York State Homes and Community Renewal program.

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments this month in Grants Pass v. Johnson, which focuses on whether a local government can make it a crime to live outside when adequate shelter is not available. This case has resulted in an inaccurate and harmful framing of homelessness by suggesting that there are only two potential outcomes: Either arrest those who are unhoused or homelessness will become an inevitable and permanent fixture of the urban landscape. But there is a third path: providing subsidized housing with services to people experiencing homelessness. Too often, policymakers ignore the obvious solution to homelessness —...

One reason that America’s youth is disgusted with Bidenomics is skyrocketing prices, particulalry housing. (simply unaffordable). Thanks to awful economic policies, home prices are up 32.5% under Biden and 30-year mortgage rates are up a whopping 160%! Good luck buying a home with a part-time job. The bad news is that the 10-year Treasury yield rose to 4.53%, the highest since November 2023. This means that mortgage rates will rise even further. Yes, rising rates AND home prices are daunting to part-time job holders. Of course, Biden and Powell want to addicted to gov. Doctors, doctos (Yellen and Brainard), we’ve...

The North Bay is the final destination for this rare sight in the San Francisco Bay -- it's a two-story houseboat out to sea! SKY7 captured video of the houseboat getting moved to its new home in San Rafael. The boat was forced to leave Docktown Marina in Redwood City. That's because of a long legal battle, which determined vessels that people live on were not allowed to block access to a state waterway in San Mateo County. Between 60 and 80 houseboats had to relocate. This one's journey from Redwood City to San Rafael reportedly took two days.