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Dear friend,
Welcome to Frontier, the monthly newsletter from the Future of Land and Housing Program at New America. This month, we engaged with elected officials in Orlando on our housing loss research, and continue to work with a dozen other cities and counties to develop a public tool for analyzing and mapping local eviction and foreclosure data. We've also increasingly explored the intersection between land use management and infectious disease spillover worldwide.
Here's what else we've been up to:
What We're Doing
Report Release and Event: A "How-To" on Improving America's Eviction Data
Nearly 9 million U.S. households are behind on rent amid COVID-19, and the end of the CDC eviction moratorium looms large. Yet data about evictions is so poor that we don’t know who is losing their homes where, and how to focus aid and outreach.
Last month, we released 8 recommendations, co-developed and co-signed by National League of Cities, Stanford Legal Design Lab, Eviction Lab, National Low Income Housing Coalition, and others, that present a framework for improving eviction data collection at the local and national levels. These recommendations are part of a longer report, Why is Eviction Data so Bad?, that outlines the current challenges of eviction data and a vision for a more ideal data landscape.
FLH Senior Policy Analyst Sabiha Zainulbhai and Luciana Herman from the Stanford Legal Design Lab co-authored a blog post on how eviction data, while crucial, is also not a silver bullet for more just housing policy.
And lastly, we teamed up with National League of Cities and Stanford Legal Design Lab to host a webinar highlighting what happens when decision-makers have good data, and charting a path towards improving our local and national eviction data systems. A recording of the event is available here.
Is a Foreclosure Surge Coming in the United States?
There's been a significant decrease in U.S. foreclosures during the pandemic, largely due to homeowner protections included in the CARES Act. Most notably, the nationwide foreclosure ban and an expansion of mortgage forbearance programming are helping to keep vulnerable families housed.
But what will happen when these COVID-related safeguards expire? And who will be most at-risk of foreclosure?
FLH Fellow Dona Stewart explores the current data surrounding foreclosure trends on the FLH Blog, providing some policy recommendations to mitigate home loss.
There are Plenty of Affordable Homes in America, But Little Financing
Homes priced under $100,000 are prevalent in cities and towns throughout the U.S.—even in today's grueling housing market. Yet many American families struggle to obtain the financing needed to purchase these lower-cost properties. A major reason: small-dollar mortgages aren't easily accessible.
FLH intern Elaine Tsui spotlights small-dollar mortgages on the FLH Blog, noting that Black and Latinx communities are disproportionately impacted by the issue, further exacerbating racial inequity in housing.
Check out Elaine's piece here.
FLH Writes for The Thread, New America's Newest Blog
Earlier in May, New America launched The Thread, a new blog and newsletter that approaches our work through the lens of policy, equity, and culture. Each month's edition will summarize research on timely topics that may be overlooked.
FLH Policy Analyst Tim Robustelli recently wrote for the blog, stressing that better U.S. eviction data can lead to more targeted interventions and save renters from home loss once pandemic-era protections end.
Subscribe to The Thread to catch the latest stories, and read Tim's piece here.
What We're Reading
"Farmers in India Are Protesting Disaster Capitalism" - Boston Review
Amidst the devastating surge in COVID deaths, Raj Patel sheds light on the global relevance of the farmers movement in India this past year. Newly-passed laws deregulating agricultural markets have been lauded by many, but those on the front lines—Indian farmers—see them as a catalyst for a more monopolized and ecologically destructive system, and the beginning of the end of small-scale farming. With over 8 million groups of farmers studying agroecological techniques globally, many of which better address hunger than any of our current solutions, why is the agricultural knowledge of farmers routinely ignored in creating policy?
Alexandria Burris chronicles the home appraisal process of Carlette Duffy, a Black homeowner in Indianapolis. After two separate appraisals valued Duffy’s home at $125,000 and $110,000, she removed herself from the process, asking a white friend to stand in. The third appraisal valued her home at $259,000, prompting Duffy to file a complaint with the Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana. National research shows this is more than an individual act of racism, but a systemic devaluing of Black property, which equates to $48,000 per home or $156 billion in stolen equity from majority-Black neighborhoods across the United States.
"Land to lose: coronavirus compounds debt crisis in Cambodia" - Thomson Reuters Foundation
Cambodia may have a remarkably low death toll from COVID-19, but that doesn’t mean Cambodians have been shielded from loss. Matt Blomberg and Mech Dara document how a shuttered economy and overreliance on predatory microfinance loans have accelerated economic devastation and land loss among poor Cambodians. Most microfinance loans in Cambodia are collateralized—primarily by land titles. And while the lender lobby claims that formal land seizures to pay off debts during the pandemic are not occurring, human rights groups detail off-the-book tactics where borrowers are convinced to sell their land before it is formally seized.
Thoughts on our work or where we're headed? Feel free to reach out to us at FLH@NewAmerica.org.
Until next month, the FLH Team.
About New America
New America is dedicated to renewing the promise of America, bringing us closer to our nation’s highest ideals. We’re a different kind of think tank: one dedicated to public problem solving. Our team of visionary researchers, changemakers, technologists, and storytellers study and seize the opportunities presented by dramatic social and technological change. We search for powerful ideas, wherever they are, and collaborate with civic innovators around the world to develop evidence-based solutions.
The Future of Land and Housing Program at New America aims to help solve today’s property rights challenges, both at home and abroad. Through our research, writing, and convening, we strive to connect new constituencies and shed light on underreported issues in the property rights space.
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