Dear friend,

Welcome to Frontier, the monthly newsletter from the Future of Property Rights Program at New America. We hope that you're staying safe and healthy. This month, FPR continued to analyze the impact of COVID-19 on American housing. We've also teamed up with Land Portal and other partners to host a webinar series next week on property rights and the pandemic. Here's what we've been up to:

What We're Doing

There's a Rental Crisis Coming. Here's How to Avoid It.

The United States' 44 million rental households are uniquely vulnerable amid the current public health and economic crises. What happens when eviction moratoriums expire and expanded unemployment benefits end, but the rent is still due? Yuliya Panfil and Tim Robustelli wrote for Politico about the need for Congress to provide long-term rental assistance amid the pandemic.

Puerto Ricans' Newest Struggle: Trying to Stay Home on an Island Without Sufficient Shelter

Yuliya Panfil and Adi Martínez-Roman wrote for The New York Daily News revealing that as many as 250,000 Puerto Ricans were improperly denied housing aid after Hurricane Maria because they couldn’t provide FEMA a document that wasn’t required in the first place: a title to their home. Now, almost three years after Hurricane Maria and in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans continue to live under blue tarps.

What History Tells Us About COVID-19’s Disastrous Impact on Black Households

Past economic downturns suggest that the financial impact of COVID-19 on black households will be catastrophic, and felt for decades to come. FPR Fellow Malcom Glenn wrote for The New America Weekly about how we can learn from the last recession in order to mitigate the impending decline in black wealth.

Land Rights Implications of COVID-19: A Webinar and Discussion Series

Alongside Land Portal, Landesa, the Global Protection Cluster HLP AOR, and GIZ, FPR is presenting a webinar and discussion series exploring the implications of COVID-19 on land rights globally.

Join us for the following webinars:

• Women’s Housing and Land Rights and COVID-19: Tuesday, May 26th, 9:00-10:30 AM EST (3:00-4:30 PM CEST)
• Eviction Response During and After COVID-19: Wednesday, May 27th, 9:00-10:30 AM EST (3:00-4:30 PM CEST)
• Migration, Displacement, and De-urbanization in the Context of COVID-19: Thursday, May 28th, 9:00-10:30 AM EST (3:00-4:30 PM CEST)

And stay tuned for the Online Discussion on the Land Rights Implications of COVID-19 from June 3rd-24th.

What We're Reading

"Highways of Peru Swell With Families Fleeing Virus" - The New York Times

Rosa Chávez Yacila and Julie Turkewitz explore the exodus of Lima's low-wage workers to their rural hometowns amid COVID-19. Both fear of the virus and widespread job loss are forcing many Peruvians to leave their city apartments and head back to the countryside. As hundreds of thousands flee, what will happen to all those urban properties left behind? And how will this de-urbanization create new competition for land and resources?

"This Is How Hard It Is to Invest in Black Neighborhoods" - CityLab

Andre Perry examines the frustrations in developing minority neighborhoods across the United States. In particular, African American real estate developers often experience difficulty in receiving fair property appraisals and loans. Blocks of houses and stores languish as a result. A further reminder that long-standing structural issues and discrimination prevent many black communities from creating neighborhoods with a high quality of life.

Thoughts on our work or where we're headed? Feel free to reach out to us at FPR@NewAmerica.org.

Until next month, the FPR 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 Property Rights 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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