Shelter Shorts

Victory in Lead Poison Fight

Anti-lead advocates scored a big win in court in February when a jury ruled that three paint companies sold products they knew contained toxic lead. The Rhode Island attorney general had sued the paint makers as a result of sustained advocacy by the Childhood Lead Action Project. The suit charged that companies sold dangerous paint used in cribs and toys as well as houses, and that this constituted a public nuisance. After the jury decision, a judge ruled that the companies do not have to pay punitive damages, but they must pay to clean up lead paint throughout the state. HUD has estimated that 40 percent of homes in the United States contain lead paint. (Alliance for Healthy Homes)

In the second largest settlement ever involving an alleged predatory lender, Ameriquest agreed to a $325 million settlement in January after a two-year investigation led by the California attorney general. The company, a subsidiary of the largest sub-prime lender in the United States, regularly failed to disclose prepayment penalties, inflated appraisals and misrepresented buyers’ credit ratings. Most of the settlement money will go to customers in 49 states who bought homes using Ameriquest. Critics say the deal isn’t good enough for customers who were victimized. They point out that in New York state, the average customer will receive $1,000, which won’t make up for the damage done. The largest settlement with a predatory lender was the $484 million settlement involving Household Finance Corporation in 2002. (City Limits, 1/30)

President Bush issued another round of proposed cuts to housing and social service programs in February as he sent his latest budget to Congress. Having failed in 2005 to move the community development block grant program (CDBG) from HUD to the Commerce Department, which would have included a 35 percent cut, Bush proposed a more modest 20 percent slash this year. Some of his other proposals are as bad or worse than last year’s. He once again calls for a 50 percent cut to Section 811, which provides housing for low-income people with disabilities, and for eliminating the community services block grant. Section 202 housing for the low-income elderly, which Bush proposed funding in 2006 at the same level as the previous year, is now targeted for a 26 percent reduction. The president would also defund Section 515, which provides direct loans for preserving rental housing for low-income people in rural areas. As compensation, the USDA, which funds rural housing programs, would double the size of a loan guarantee program that can be used to refinance Section 515 properties. (www.nlihc.org, www.cbpp.org)

Sarasota, Florida, tops a list of the meanest cities in America compiled by the National Coalition for the Homeless and National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty. Sarasota passed a law in 2005 that criminalizes homelessness, citing a person’s lack of any indoor place to live as a criterion for arrest. Little Rock, Arkansas, made third place on the list; its police reportedly kicked homeless men out of the city bus station, even though they had tickets. In its report on these and other mean cities, the two advocacy groups also commend cities that are trying constructive approaches to moving homeless people off the streets. They include day centers that are open when shelters are closed, and outreach teams that provide mental health services and link people to housing. (www.nationalhomeless.org)

Tenants in New York City are getting fed up as growing numbers of tourists camp out in their buildings. Landlords have taken to evicting tenants from single room occupancy buildings and making their units available to tourists for overnights or one-week stays. A grassroots housing group has counted 36 buildings in the Chelsea and Clinton neighborhoods it believes are being used at least in part as youth hostels, vacation rentals or temporary quarters for corporate employees. Many of these landlords are converting their units without getting proper permits from the city. Housing advocates are pushing the city to consider legislative action to curb illegal conversions. (NY Times, 1/22)

Copyright 2006

Back to Spring 2006 index.