Free Republic

African Americans are trailing their white counterparts in homeownership across age groups at a time when high mortgage rates, elevated prices and stifled supply has made the dream of owning a home out of reach for millions of Americans. A third of Black millennials—the age group born between 1981 to 1996—own their home compared to two-thirds of white Americans. Meanwhile, for those between 43 and 58 years old, or Gen Xers, the situation is slightly better with 52 percent of Black Americans possessing a property compared to 80 percent of their white counterparts, and for boomers, the data breaks down...

-At least 22 people have been shot dead in a mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, and 50-60 people injured at three different locations -Robert Card, a 40-year-old Army reservist and firearms instructor from Bowdoin, is named by police as 'a person of interest': his empty car has been found -They have issued a photo of the suspect entering Sparetime bowling alley at 7:15pm; they were also called to a bar and a Walmart distribution center A massive manhunt is underway in Maine for an Army reserve firearms instructor who was sectioned this summer for mental health reasons, and is suspected...

Now, a New York State Supreme Court judge has ruled for Ithaca Renting, agreeing with the local business’s position that the Section 8 program’s inspection requirement was a violation of the Constitution’s protection against searches. In his ruling on June 27th, Hon. Mark G. Masler says the Attorney General’s argument “is fundamentally flawed for the simple reason that, as set forth above, a landlord cannot accept a Section 8 housing voucher as payment for rent without agreeing to participate in Section 8, which, in turn, requires that the landlord authorize warrantless searches.” Judge Masler’s ruling points out that the Housing...

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New York State Attorney General Letitia James is suing an Ithaca landlord for allegedly denying housing to low-income tenants. Landlord Jason Fane, his company Ithaca Renting Company, and his related entities are all subject to the suit. An investigation by the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) found that Mr. Fane and his real estate agents refused to accept Section 8 vouchers at his properties, in violation of New York’s housing laws against source of income discrimination. The lawsuit alleges that agents at Ithaca Renting repeatedly told renters they do not accept government assistance vouchers. Through her lawsuit, Attorney General...

The new American way of life... For a guy and his girlfriend with two kids, all you have to do is follow these proven steps: 1. Don't marry her! 2. Always use your mom's address to get your mail. 3. The guy buys a house. 4. The guy rents out the house to his girlfriend with his two kids. 5. Section 8 will pay $900 a month for a 3 bedroom home. 6. Girlfriend signs up for Obamacare, so the guy doesn't have to pay for family insurance. 7. Girlfriend gets to go to college for free for being a...

PHOENIX — Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey signed a bill last week that will remove the cap of the size of affordable housing apartment communities built by developers wanting to qualify for a property tax exemption. The bill — HB2610 — allows for more construction of larger apartment communities across the state that will income-eligible tenants can rent, according to a press release. Tom Simplot, the Arizona Department of Housing Director, said in the release that the new law will aid with increasing affordable housing by ridding of any unnecessary barriers to development. By removing this burdensome regulation, non-profits can build...

Democrats may use their massive “infrastructure” plan to bribe local governments to essentially abolish suburbs, by making grants contingent upon towns and counties allowing apartments in any neighborhood, including those currently limited to single-family homes. That creates two scenarios, both of which benefit Democrats seeking power: If jurisdictions want to preserve a small-town feel, they must turn down the money, meaning the massive infusion of taxpayer dollars turns into a bonanza for Democratic-dominated cities, while leaving others out. Or if centrist suburbs give in to the temptation to take the money, they would essentially be signing a contract to become...

President Trump recently decided to rescind the Obama administration’s Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) rule, which put pressure on suburbs to construct more low-income, high-density housing in their communities. Trump’s decision met with a predictable outcry. “It’s not even a dog whistle anymore,” Connecticut senator Chris Murphy tweeted. “Our President is now a proud, vocal segregationist.” Somehow, Democrats still see the suburbs as racially homogenized, lily-white enclaves — something they haven’t been for a long time. According to demographer Joel Kotkin and urban studies professor Alan Berger, 151 million Americans live in the suburbs and exurbs, compared with only 25...

He’s locked up on murder charges — but still has a rent-regulated apartment. A deadbeat tenant who allegedly killed a man in his Bronx apartment beat an eviction proceeding while in jail on Rikers Island thanks to a controversial new state rent law, The Post has learned. Charles Votaw’s landlord first slapped him with a 10-day notice demanding more than $7,000 in unpaid rent on June 6 last year, the first step to boot him from his federally subsidized Section 8 apartment in Fordham Heights. But on June 14, Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act...

A bill filed in advance of the next legislative session would make gold and silver legal tender again in the state of South Carolina. State Representative Stewart O. Jones submitted legislation that would restore gold and silver to their status as legal tender in his state. In an op-ed written in October, Representative Jones set out the sound economic principles that support his proposed statute: To understand the full extent of the debt and the destruction of the dollar, it’s essential to realize that paper money has a history of being printed as bills of credit to finance runaway government....

COLUMBIA, S.C. (Nov. 22, 2019) – A bill prefiled in the South Carolina House would make gold and silver coins legal tender in the state. Passage of this bill would take a step toward creating currency competition in South Carolina and undermine the Federal Reserve’s monopoly on money. Rep. Stewart Jones filed House Bill 4678 (H.4678) on Nov. 20. Under the proposed law, “gold and silver coins minted foreign or domestic shall be legal tender in the State of South Carolina under the laws of this State. No person or other entity may compel another person or other entity to...

California landlords would no longer be allowed to reject prospective tenants solely because they hold federal Section 8 housing vouchers under a bill passed by the state Legislature on Wednesday. 300,000 Californians who receive the vouchers. The program provides the largest direct federal subsidy for low-income tenants. “Why do we continue to criminalize and penalize and have bias against people who are poor?”

Want some perspective on why so many blue sanctuary cities have so many homeless encampments hovering around? Try the reality that illegal immigrants are routinely given free public housing by the U.S., based on the fact that they are uneducated, unskilled, and largely unemployable. Those are the criteria, and now importing poverty has never been easier. Shockingly, this comes as millions of poor Americans are out in the cold awaiting that housing that the original law was intended to help.

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Furious tenants of a public housing project in the Bronx were pleading for help Monday, saying their buildings are overrun with rats — and they’re not kidding. They have the video to prove it. But we should warn you, the pictures are not for the squeamish. “I’m traumatized,” tenant Veronica Martinez told CBS2’s Marcia Kramer. You’d be traumatized, too, if you had the same kitchen as Martinez. Rats. An entire family of rats, some as big as cats, have taken over, hopping in the sink, into pots and pans. It’s absolutely gut wrenching. “I should never...

Trump administration officials announced Saturday that immigrants who legally use public benefits like food assistance and Section 8 housing vouchers could be denied green cards under new rules aimed at keeping out people the administration deems a drain on the country.

Recently, a sailor on the cruiser Shiloh started to behave erratically. He claimed he had the ability to shoot fireballs from his hands and that he had traveled into outer space. Despite his obvious insanity, no action was taken. The sailor, named Peter Mims, then hid aboard his ship, and no one was able to find him for a week. Peter Mims was a troubled sailor who wanted out of the Navy. He had financial problems, his marriage had fallen apart[,] and his chain of command was riding him about qualifications. He'd sought mental health counseling, but was not treated...

Cairo, Ill., has a population of fewer than 3,000 people. A plan to demolish two public housing developments would force many residents to leave and cut the school enrollment in half. ___ The authorities announced last month that the cost of fixing the developments was out of reach, and that replacing them altogether would cost almost 10 times as much. For hundreds of residents, the decision may mean not only leaving these crumbling buildings, but also moving from Cairo altogether. “For sure they needed to fix this place up a long time ago,” said Nena Ellis, 38, a mother of...

Ald. Arena's Section 8 development means more crime, lower property values in Jefferson Park, says expert Crime Glenn Minnis James Bovard warns residents of Jefferson Park that they need look no further than the opposite side of the city to see what a proposed low-income, subsidized housing complex could mean for their neighborhood. The plan, backed by 45th Ward Alderman John Arena, would nearly double the amount of subsidized housing in the neighborhood. “It could be the Chatham aftermath all over again,” Bovard, a noted libertarian author and lecturer, told the Chicago City Wire. Chatham is a South Side neighborhood...

The mobile home park has been around as a real estate sector for over half a century. However, it has remained in complete obscurity except for a few lucky investors and such heavyweights as Sam Zell. But 2017 is the year in which mobile home parks will finally be identified for the wonderful business models that they are, as well as the prime solution to the affordable housing crisis in America. And this attention is coming from a number of sources. The U.S. government After being ignored by the Federal Government for the past 50 years, that period of silence...