Page 3 - aruba-today-20241007

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up front Monday 7 october 2024
As affordable housing disappears, states scramble to shore up the losses

years, let alone taken other
From Front measures to keep expiring
housing affordable.
By JESSE BEDYAN and Colorado, which has some
ARUSHI GUPTA 80,000 LIHTC units, passed
Associated Press a law this year giving local
Report for America governments the right of first
LOS ANGELES (AP) — For refusal in hopes of preserv-
more than two decades, the ing 4,400 units set to lose af-
low rent on Marina Maalouf's fordability protections in the
apartment in a blocky afford- next six years. The law also
able housing development in requires landlords to give lo-
Los Angeles' Chinatown was cal and state governments
a saving grace for her family, a two-year heads-up before
including a granddaughter expiration.
who has autism. Still, local governments or
But that grace had an expi- nonprofits scraping togeth-
ration date. For Maalouf and er the funds to buy sizeable
her family it arrived in 2020. apartment buildings is far
The landlord, no longer le- from a guarantee.
gally obligated to keep the Stories like Maalouf's will
building affordable, hiked keep playing out as LIHTC
rent from $1,100 to $2,660 units turn over, threatening
in 2021 — out of reach for A general view of Hillside Villa, where Marina Maalouf is a longtime tenant, is seen in Los Angeles, to send families with meager
Maalouf and her family. Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. means back into the housing
Maalouf's nights are haunted Associated Press market. The median income
by fears her yearslong evic- The catch? The buildings der for local governments ings she repeats a mantra: of Americans living in these
tion battle will end in sleep- typically only need to be and nonprofits to shell out "We still here. We still here." units was just $18,600 in 2021,
ing bags on a friend's floor kept affordable for a mini- enough money to purchase But fighting day after day to according to the Depart-
or worse. While Americans mum of 30 years. For the and keep expiring develop- make it true is exhausting. ment of Housing and Urban
continue to struggle under wave of LIHTC construction ments affordable. And there Maalouf's apartment was Development.
unrelentingly high rents, as in the 1990s, those deadlines is little aggregated data on built before California made "This is like a math problem,"
many as 223,000 affordable are arriving now, threaten- exactly when LIHTC units will LIHTC contracts last 55 years said Rossbert of Housing
housing units like Maalouf's ing to hemorrhage afford- lose their affordability, mak- instead of 30 in 1996. About Colorado. "As soon as one
across the U.S. could be able housing supply when ing it difficult for policymakers 5,700 LIHTC units built around of these units expires and
yanked out from under them Americans need it most. and activists to fully prepare. the time of Maalouf's are ex- converts to market rate and
in the next five years alone. "If we are losing the homes There also is less of a po- piring in the next decade. In a household is displaced,
It leaves low-income tenants that are currently affordable litical incentive to preserve Texas, it's 21,000 units. they become a part of the
caught facing protracted and available to households, the units. "Politically, you're When California Treasurer need that's driving the need
eviction battles, scrambling then we're losing ground on rewarded for an announce- Fiona Ma assumed office in for new construction."
to pay a two-fold rent in- the crisis," said Sarah Saadi- ment, a groundbreaking, a 2019, she steered the pro- "It's hard to get out of that
crease or more, or shunted an, vice president of public ribbon-cutting," said Vicki gram toward developers cycle," he said.
back into a housing market policy at the National Low Been, a New York University committed to affordable Colorado's housing agency
where costs can easily eat Income Housing Coalition. professor who previously was housing and not what she works with groups across the
half a paycheck. "It's sort of like having a boat New York City's deputy may- called "churn and burn," state on preservation and
Those affordable housing with a hole at the bottom," or for housing and economic buying up LIHTC properties has a fund to help. Still, it's un-
units were built with the Low- she said. development. and flipping them onto the clear how many LIHTC units
Income Housing Tax Credit, Not all units that expire out of "You're not rewarded for be- market as soon as possible. can be saved, in Colorado
or LIHTC, a federal program LIHTC become market rate. ing a good manager of your In California, landlords must or across the country.
established in 1986 that pro- Some are kept affordable by assets and keeping track notify state and local gov- It's even hard to know how
vides tax credits to develop- other government subsidies, of everything and making ernments and tenants before many units nationwide are
ers in exchange for keeping by merciful landlords or by sure that you're not losing their building expires. Hous- expiring. An accurate ac-
rents low. It has pumped out states, including California, a single affordable housing ing organizations, nonprofits, counting would require
3.6 million units since then Colorado and New York, unit," she said. Maalouf stood and state or local govern- sorting through the constel-
and boasts over half of all that have worked to keep in her apartment courtyard ments then have first shot at lation of municipal, state
federally supported low- them low-cost by relying on on a recent warm day, chit- buying the property to keep and federal subsidies, each
income housing nationwide. several levers. chatting and waving to it affordable. Expiring devel- with their own affordability
"It's the lifeblood of afford- Local governments and non- neighbors, a bracelet with opments also are prioritized requirements and end dates.
able housing development," profits can purchase expir- a photo of Che Guevarra for new tax credits, and the That can throw a wrench
said Brian Rossbert, who runs ing apartments, new tax dangling from her arm. state essentially requires that into policymakers' and ad-
Housing Colorado, an orga- credits can be applied that "Friendly," is how Maalouf all LIHTC applicants have ex- vocates' ability to fully un-
nization advocating for af- extend the affordability, or, described her previous self, perience owning and man- derstand where and when
fordable homes. as in Maalouf's case, tenants but not assertive. That is un- aging affordable housing. many units will lose afford-
That lifeblood isn't strictly red can organize to try to force til the rent hikes pushed her "It kind of weeded out peo- ability, and then funnel re-
or blue. By combining social action from landlords and in front of the Los Angeles ple who weren't interested sources to the right places,
benefits with tax breaks and city officials. City Council for the first time, in affordable housing long said Kelly McElwain, who
private ownership, LIHTC has Those options face challeng- sweat beading as she fought term," said Marina Wiant, manages and oversees the
enjoyed bipartisan support. es. While new tax credits can for her home. executive director of Cali- National Housing Preserva-
Its expansion is now central reup a lapsing LIHTC prop- Now an organizer with the fornia's tax credit allocation tion Database. It's the most
to Democratic presidential erty, they are limited, doled LA Tenants' Union, Maalouf committee. comprehensive aggregation
candidate Kamala Harris' out to states by the Internal isn't afraid to speak up, but But unlike California, some of LIHTC data nationally, but
housing plan to build 3 mil- Revenue Service based on the angst over her home still states haven't extended LI- with all the gaps, it remains
lion new homes. population. It's also a tall or- keeps her up at night. Morn- HTC agreements beyond 30 a rough estimate.q