Rad and Section 18 are coming to a public housing development near you. These two programs in the hands of Mr. Trump and Mr. Carson, have devastated public housing.
Tenants need to realize that all is not lost. RAD and Section 18 are here, but there are ways to hold the developers in check. But only through organizing and education on tenant rights can this be done.
RAD and Section 18 Are Coming
RAD and Section 18 are coming. They may already be in your neighborhood. It is doubtful that the program can be stopped because too much time has passed. The mayor worked in the shadows, giving out as little information as possible. The required meetings are meant to pacify the tenants while the developers make their move. States subjected to this program has been able to stop it. In its wake, public housing has suffered losses.
Consider the following:
Trump and Carson Attack Public Housing
..the Trump administration has taken an aggressive approach to getting rid of all public housing one way or another
Section 18 has contributed to the loss of over 200,000 units of public housing in the United States as of 2009, and many thousands more in the decade since. At the same time, the affordable housing stock in American cities has declined over 60 percent since 2010 according to the Washington Post.
At the same time, HUD Secretary Carson continues to push Congress to lift the cap on the number of public housing units eligible to be transferred to the private sector under the RAD program. Initially set at 60,000 public housing units, the cap is currently set at 455,000.
Source: The Trump Administration’s Impact on Public and Assisted Housing
CALL TO ACTION!
The Glendale Article on the problems with the RAD program
https://www.dgphc.org/2019/03/18/call-to-action/
RAD is a federal program, administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), that hands public housing buildings over to private owners. It began as a small pilot program aimed at housing agencies that couldn’t maintain their dilapidated properties, but in reality, it’s been used as a way to benefit private developers and accelerate gentrification by forcing low-income tenants out of their homes.
Trump’s HUD Secretary, Ben Carson, has greatly expanded the RAD program while at the same time cutting the staff who oversee it. This means housing authorities who are privatizing their properties are basically unaccountable, and residents have no recourse for complaints.
Public Housing is in jeopardy. According to what I have read, no oversight or accountability is left in the program. Mr. Trump and Mr. Carson have seen to that. It’s no surprise that two people, who have spoken against public housing, are working hard to destroy it.
Timing is Everything
Speculation about developers taking over the Linden and Boulevard projects started over 2 years ago. But, I could get not verify this. People I spoke to in the projects could only tell me that they send their payments to NYCHA. But the address was not in New York. Finally, a breakthrough. A former resident of Linden Houses posted a link to an article. This article was about Mayor DeBlasio and his deal with the federal government. It would be the first time that I heard about the Rental Assistance Demonstration or Section 18. Two titles that spell the end of public housing in the five boroughs.
Link to Article: NYCHA inks $1.5B deal to privatize management of 5,900 units.
Answer to Eviction Question
This article answered questions I was having about an eviction that seemed to make no sense. But now it did. My article NYCHA To Evict Family Member Not On The Lease Pt 1 is about Mac, a NYCHA tenant fighting to stay in his family apartment. The story details the twists, turns, and hurdles that he is still going through to remain in his apartment.
The item that stood out most was the eviction proceedings. Or the lack of one. Nothing followed protocol. From the eviction notice to the hearing, things did not add up until now. And then there was Mayor DeBlasio’s stand against evictions. This runs contrary to what he was saying.
I urge readers facing eviction from “NYCHA” to read NYCHA To Evict Family Member Not On The Lease Pt 1 and the subsequent articles. They will prepare you for what is coming.
RAD and Section 18
In my articles What you need to know about The RAD Program and Section 18, and NYCHA evictions RAD Section 18 and a Linden Houses Tenant one thing is clear. Developers are behind NYCHA evictions with the blessings of the city and the federal government. And, developers are also behind other actions happening in Linden and Boulevard houses.
What Happens In Glendale Doesn’t Stay In Glendale
Information outside of New York would move my investigation into high gear. The Glendale Defense And Public Housing Coalition is fighting RAD Conversion. They have organized and produced articles on their efforts against RAD. Conversations with tenants from Linden and Boulevard houses show that tactics used in Minneapolis are being used here.
Case in point: tenants moved from their apartments during renovations. However, those tenants are not allowed back into their renovated apartments. We can learn from Minneapolis, consider it the source we can learn from. What happens there will happen here.
For example:
MPHA Forces Residents to Sign a New Lease for Section 18 Disposition & Demolition
RAD and Section 18 Short Version
Simply put, The Rental Assistance Demonstration Program or RAD is a HUD program. It allows Public Housing Authorities to privatize housing. Developers are supposed to rehabilitate units and maintain the complex.
Section 18 allows for the demolition of units deemed not worth rehabilitation. As well as the dispossession of tenants. However, because of the relaxing of obsolescence requirements, public housing authorities no longer have to prove that units are beyond repair. RAD and Section 18 have been distorted from their original purpose thanks to Mr. Trump and Mr. Carson.
Trump And Carson
Scattered Sites Are Not For Sale
Excerpt: Trump and Carson have made it easier for PHAs to obtain permission to dispose of public housing by reducing the “obsolescence” requirement. This change means a PHA no longer needs to prove a unit is beyond repair to dispose of it.
Source: Scattered Sites are not for sale September 26, 2019
Paragraph: Why Section 18 Demolition and Disposition in Minneapolis Now?
The Trump Administration’s Impact on Public and Assisted Housing
Excerpt: Just recently, in response to the PIH memo, the Orlando Housing Authority decided to demolish more than 1,000 aging public housing units instead of trying to repair and rehabilitate them. The Orlando Housing Authority is planning to provide vouchers to public housing residents, who will now have to contend with one of the tightest rental markets in the country.
Source: The Trump Administration’s Impact on Public and Assisted Housing on October 02, 2019
How did we get here?
As much as I would like to place full blame on Carson and Trump, I can not. In 2018 Shelter Force published an in-depth article about RAD and how it came to be. The article entitled The Promise and Peril of HUD’s RAD Program tells of the failure of Congress through the decades in underfunding public housing. This failure led to the downfall of public housing developments throughout the country.
RAD To The Rescue?
Congress’s failure led to the creation of RAD. The article lays out the program’s benefits and perils. One of which is gentrification in a neighborhood. Another is the lack of oversight and accountability. These I can lay at Trump and Carson’s feet. Through their expansion of the program, they changed its original purpose and scope.
Fighting Back
As bad as things seem, all is not lost. In my article, The Destruction of Public Housing By RAD Can It Be Stopped? I report on lawsuits against developers that violate the rules of the RAD program. There is also a section of efforts New York made in 2018 to create principles that guide the conversion by RAD. This is one of two articles that illustrate how tenants can fight for their rights. But it is only through organizing can tenants fight this terrible machine.
Rules Of Engagement
So now this is the plan.
- Use what rules exist in the program to make sure developers protect tenant rights.
- Use Federal laws such as Fair Housing Laws to protect tenant rights.
- Reinstate accountability and oversight by adding protective covenants to any agreement.
- And most of all, make the developers pay dearly if they violate tenant rights.
- Read about how tenants did this in Virginia.
CALL TO ACTION
This is your call to action. In follow-ups to my articles, I have heard from people who have attended meetings. They related some of what is said and I can say some of it violates tenant’s rights. Sadly, some tenants have already given up. The feeling is “They are gonna do what they want to do.” And I don’t blame them. Some public officials have all but joined in the ending of public housing and, with it, affordable housing.
Hopefully, the articles in this series will open eyes and empower those who want to fight with information to make a start.
For further information, read the articles in this series. The articles offer more details than this introduction can.
And remember to:
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