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With yesterday’s demise of state Sen. Scott Weiner’s controversial SB 827, which would have overcome local zoning restrictions to allow for denser residential housing near transit, the question becomes, “What’s next for efforts to address California’s housing crisis?” The bill… Continue reading 
When first moving to the Bay Area, I was shocked by the number of tent cities I saw. They reminded me of sprawling refugee camps, inhabited by people who fled violence and destruction in war torn countries like Syria, where… Continue reading 
America, we have a problem. Over the last six years, the wealth of communities of color has not been protected nor enhanced by homeownership, as displayed by a new Johns Hopkins University study. From 2005-2011, amidst higher rates of lending… Continue reading Continue reading 
The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) is a frequent target of the right wing. Congress passed the CRA in 1977 as a result of communities organizing against redlining, a practice where banks refused to lend to people of color and their… Continue reading 
As my colleague Mark Garcia pointed out the other day, Congress is in the midst of a theatrical showdown which could well result in a government shutdown and might leave the federal government unable to pay its bills in mid-October,… Continue reading 
Remember AIG? AIG is the firm that insured piles of risky securities backed by trick mortgages during the housing bubble, and had to be bailed out by the Feds with boatloads of our tax dollars. In the midst of being… Continue reading 
If you’ve got cash, you can get a home. But if you don’t, you may be out of luck. The California housing market is back on the rise with homes selling like hotcakes to the wealthy, “empty-nesters” downsizing, investors, and… Continue reading 
While the recent foreclosure crisis devastated communities of color across the nation, Californians were especially hard hit. Since the mortgage meltdown, we have heard countless stories of borrowers mistreated by fraudulent lenders, loan modifiers, and peddlers of phony foreclosure relief.… Continue reading 
