Proposed Affordable Housing Commission Advances

With a comment like Ms. Hines made: being evicted after 10 years for no fault of her own? A landlord just evicts a 10 year tenant for no reason would be out of his/her mind. Of course , there was a reason; she just didn't give one. To put someone like this on an affordable housing commission would allow them to grind their own axes against any potential housing projects that come up. If you are going to put homeless people on the commission; you need to put landlords (large and small owners) on the commission as well; for balance.

I would like to reply to CityYankee's suggestion that landlords be allowed on the commission for the sake of "balance." The commission is a result on the lack of balance between the power and interests of landlords and people who rent. The need for affordable housing strongly suggests the there is a power imbalance in the first place, and having people from the community that have lived the experiences of being evicted or the pressure of having to come up with rent money is crucial for purposes of economic justice and equity.

Another thing to point out is that there is a difference between homeowners, who may own one or a few homes, versus the landlords that own many houses in New Haven. They effect the housing crisis in different ways. The slum lords, as they are called, usually own many homes and are almost never seen by the people who rent. They are also known for either not fixing things they need to fix, or for finding the cheapest alternative to any reasonable fix. They are meticulous in their business and wield greater power given their amount of wealth accumulation. They can also pay good lawyers to fight tax assessors and keep from paying their fair share of taxes.

Homeowners are smaller scale, and they have recently moved to AirBnB to procure more income from the wealth that they own (property/real estate). This reduces the supply of long term rentable spaces, which causes problems of its own. This is basic economics, less supply, more demand, equals higher prices.

This is a national problem, not just New Haven. So we must look at it as a structural and systemic problem at every level.

@ kmenescardi: I reiterate that landlords should be on any housing commission and I particularly was referring to little landlord/homeowners who are familiar with the other side of the landlord/tenant issues. Apparently, you have never seen the damage that tenants can do and the thousands of dollars of lost rent that occur in normal relations between the two. I certainly would not want slumlords like you describe to be on the commission but little homeowners/ owner occupant landlords have a greater stake in the community and in keeping quality tenants. They can't sustain the losses that the big guys can and they don't get the sweetheart deals that the big "developers" get.

I also reiterate that the story of the tenant evicted for "no good reason" is HALF the story.

AirBnB is a way to generate some nice money but no little landlord could run that vacancy risk financially; or even for our own safety to have folks from all over flopping in the houses where we live with our children.

@CityYankee

1.) On a housing commission to build more affordable housing, I do not see why existing landlords need to be included. Can you please tell me what the current (small scale) landlords gain from being on the commission? What do you think their purpose would be? I am confused on your point here.

2.) I am aware that tenants can cause damage. But there are ways to redress these grievances. Having tenants putting down a deposit comes to mind. But then again, why does this need to be factored in on a commission to provide more affordable housing?

3.) There are many people renting out spaces through AirBnB. People DO run that "risk."

4.) I agree with you that landlords in New Haven, as residents in the community, should be involved. But in this regard, it is not clear to me why they should be on this commission. On another note, a landlord owns wealth that a tenant does not. A tenant has to work to pay rent. A landlord makes money from their wealth. It does not mean it is easy to be a landlord. You have to worry about bills, taxes, a mortgage and any repairs that come up. But it is an unequal relationship to begin with.

5.) I would love to see New Haven come up with some new ideas, like investing in a worker co-op, for example. That way residents in New Haven own their own workplace, instead of a privately owned company, etc. This would also help nurture a different culture based on collaboration and cooperation within the city. It would make New Haven residents feel like they have decision-making power. It would go a long way to improving the quality of our city. It might even make better tenants like you so desire.