Why The Housing Bust Is Good For The Homeless

Newsweek:

The real-estate bust is creating an unexpected benefit: housing for the homeless. Even as the foreclosure crisis pushes some low income families into shelters, chronic homeless rates are shrinking thanks in part to the foreclosed and vacant buildings social-service agencies can now afford to buy. In Denver, persistent homelessness is down 36 percent since 2005, as nonprofits have turned seized apartment buildings and run-down motels into 1,242 rooms, complete with access to addiction treatment and health care. A Wooster, Mass., nonprofit will soon close on five multifamily duplexes that will provide 20 to 30 units for the homeless, and Ventura County, Calif., is in talks with local banks to take over 100 homes for permanent use. "These are opportunities we haven't seen in decades," says Philip Mangano, the Bush administration's homelessness czar.

Read the whole story: Newsweek

Comments

[VivaZapata]

this upside to the economic crisis is negatively exceeded by the swelling numbers of homelessness.

[kirkland]

While there is some truth in the basic jiist of this- it's really stretching the facts and is primarily hyperbole. In the NE ( for my purposes - NY/CT/RI/MASS ) homelessness is not just reduced to the destitute disabled ( rents or home ownership stopped being affordable for this vulnerable population a decade ago , sect. 8 assistance closed/defunct for the most part -) but now includes single mothers, the once middle class. Articles like these are misleading and take attention off the sheer scope of the problem . In the state of Ct ( in the top 5 of the most expensive states in which to live, the highest taxed and also one of the richest ) there are some services in New Haven, Danbury , Hartford but they are primarily used by illegal aliens ( New Haven and Danbury Sanctuary cities) and even if that were the case no funds are allocated for the poor. You could not HAVE enough housing to meet the need which currently exists for those who cannot afford housing. Chris Dodd and Joe Lieberman and Jodi Rell would love to read an article like this---no doubt it would enable them to feel less sick at what their neglect of this issue has caused in the State.
Excuse my vitriol ....the situation as it exists infuriates me, breaks my heart and to suggest that the housing debacle has any meaningul advantage for the homeless is absurd and vulgar.

[alfredjr]

Umm. They spelled Worcester wrong. Wooster is in NY.

[WillPower]

Many of the foreclosed homes were owned by investers and were not primary residences. When the bank takes back a home the tenant just finds a rental property. Entire neighborhoods never should have been built because investers bought the majority of homes with no hope of getting the rent to cover the mortgage, especially after an ARM readjusted.

There is extra housing inventory right now which is why the prices are falling. That's why there is room for the homeless.

[Sundialsvc4]

Truth:

"Squatters" don't pay anything.

[marymansour]

What about those working families who are unable to pay their mortgages and have been foreclosed on? Won't they join the ranks of the homeless soon? This theory makes no sense.

[WillPower]

If they're working they can afford to pay rent. The vast majority won't be homeless.

[trinity]

Not necessaril­y...rents in many areas are still through the roof. Some families may be lucky to qualify for Section 8 (maybe) but then again there is a limited amount of Section 8 units as well.

[cruisepuppy7452a]

That had to be written by the GOP. Nobody is benefitting from this recession or near depression. Its a bold face lie. Come to St. Louis or any other city in the country and you see people living out of thier cars who lost everything. That is a benefit how or to whom? Tell the mother who can't feed her kids what a benefit this is. Or the father who just lost his job, health insurance for the family how great things are. Dont think so. If the houses are vacant its not a good thing, it means people lost it all. Nobody should claim success from this. They should hit themselves in the head as they ask what the hell went wrong and why wasn't it fixed? I see arcticles like this and I want to scream. I get so mad, so angry at how the GOP paints this, like its the people's fautl. No, its the fault of a president who abused his office, position, was allowed to destroy the fabric of our country, our people, our rights. Nobody should praise that, they should demand impeachment and jail time.

[WillPower]

"Nobody is benefitting from this recession or near depression­."


I'm going to benefit. I saw the housing mess coming and have rented for the past two years. I think thinks are hitting rock-bottom so I'm going to buy a home for myself. Soon I'll be buying homes to rehab.

[chicago25624]

My first 2 homes were HUD repos. Those who failed to keep their promise and pay their mortgage. I bought low on the first and made enough on the resell to buy the second. Looks like I benefited. But that's just an evil republican being smart.

[chicago25624]

"Nobody is benefiting from this recession.­.."

Just more gloom and doom from some. Anyone who has been buying stock as the prices fall is benefiting. Anyone who buys a repossessed home and then is able to resell it for a profit in the future is benefiting. eal Estate has always gone up and down, and will always go up and down. Just like the stock market goes up and down.

Those who lost their home did so because, in most cases, they didn't take the responsibility seriously. Those who bought speculative homes only lost when they tried to sell the home. They didn't lose the home because the value dropped.

Just another lie from the gloom and doom party.

[StoneSoupStation]

I recently filmed the entire march and takeover of an abandoned HUD house in foreclosure in Nashville, TN by members of the Nashville Homeless Power Project. Cheri Honkala, nationally recognized homeless advocate and housing takeover expert was in town to offer guidance and assistance.

The takeover went smooth and it took several hours before local police were able to get permission from the Feds to intervene, seeing as how it was federal property. The three main takeover personnel were cited and released for trespassing, basically paving the way for takeovers citywide, so long as the property in question was HUD housing.

Once in the property, the new "residents" must maintain 24/7 occupancy in order to force HUD into eviction proceedings, since the action is considered a civil matter to be resolved in housing court. Ultimately, taking over a HUD house means at least 90 days of free residence, and when it's done quietly and correctly, some folks have been living for years without detection in HUD properties.

[WillPower]

Great solution to the mortgage mess: Clog up the courts with squatters who never owned the homes in the first place.

[MoeJava]

So now those who's houses were foreclosed and are now homeless, can apply for residency in their former house? and have access to medical treatment? Heck of a deal, Brownie!

[ShamusNYC]

... and the high price of gas has lead to more conservation and lower death rates....

I guess every cloud has a silver lining...

In fact, if you lose your job under Bush II's regime, don't think of it as losing your livelihood, think of it as a HUGE cut in your taxes!

Now, again, quit whining! Phil Gramm's getting a headache and he's been busy trying to count all the N A Z I gold he got from UBS!

[Wiredwilly]

How totally pathetic. The wealthiest Nation in the World has to resort to foreclosing on people's homes and kicking children out into the street so social service agencies can afford to buy Homeless shelters. The Federal Reserve Bankers and Neocon-men causing all this should be behind bars. Not in jail, in a cage for animals.

[Bitsko]

Here here! I would prefer to see the bankers and neocons sleeping on park benches, being shunned by yuppies and forced to eat from the trash.

[chicago25624]

People who didn't pay their mortgage.

People, in most cases who had bad credit to start with. Here's a great idea, let's loan 100's of thousands of dollars to people with bad credit.

Home ownership is not easy. Did some of these people get taken advantage of by unscrupulous lenders, yes, but all one has to do is read the contract to see they couldn't afford the house they bought. Did they factor in insurance, taxes, upkeep? Probably not. But that's not the governments fault. IT IS THEIR FAULT!

$5 bucks says their cell phone bills were paid though.

Personal Responsibility is a bitch sometimes.

[JScott]

Hope enviromental groups are doing same, buying up land (on the cheap hopefully) that was slated for more urban sprawl and then it could be conserved as open space. (Oh and don't argue the crap about well then their won't be any land for housing when the recession is over-that's total bs, the homes builders want to build most of the time are way overpriced and don't help with alleviating homelessness anyway [as we are now finding out] for the market with out these fancy (and stupid) financial instrument­s.)

[DeSwiss]

Newsweek sucks!!!!

[Nobrun]

How about Businessweek?

[peacefulworldcitizen]

Here, where I live they just had a story on the local news about how bad the homeless shelters are doing. They have had to lay off employees and they no longer have the gas money to leave the city to pick up donations. I am not sure how that benefits the homeless.

[Erdgeist]

Anyone who bought a home[s] for speculative purposes deserves what they get.