AAWA

  AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN'S AGENDA EDUCATION FOUNDATION

I Am Woman, Hear Me...

housing committee

The information for this site was taken from the article "How Lenders Dodge Community Reinvestment" - National Training and Information Center, 2003

The main focus of this committee is to work with neighborhoods to develop and build strong housing stock in and around Cleveland.  The major tool used to develop and move this project are policy recommendations utilizing the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA).  As information is available this site will be updated.  Old information will be archived.

The CRA states that lenders must meet the credit needs in the communities they serve. These communities become harder and harder to identify as lenders are becoming larger in scope. The top 25 lenders in the U.S. actually capture close to half of the market share for the entire country.

FACT:

• Tens of thousands of Clevelanders can not find and retain safe, affordable housing.

• Half of Cleveland households pay more than 30% of their income for housing - a level the federal government considers a disproportionate burden on family stability.

• A recent study by Cleveland State University estimated the shortage of affordable housing for low-income Clevelanders could exceed 30,000 units.

• The Case Western Reserve University Center on Urban Poverty and Social Change found that close to 2/3 of those who had stopped receiving welfare benefits were paying more than 50% of their income for housing.  "The rent burden for families leaving welfare in Cuyahoga County is severe and far exceeds the capacity of the current system of public and subsidized housing," the report concluded.

African American Women want Governmental entities to enact the following ACTIONS:

• Provide assistance in maintaining current housing stock.

• Encourage financial institution compliance with the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA).

• Implement strategies to hold landlords and tenants fully accountable to all existing laws, statutes, and codes.

• Expand incentive programs for first-time homeowners.

• Eliminate  predatory lending practices.

• Create incentive programs for landlords and owners to maintain the health, safety and security of their properties.

• Increase the number of affordable, code-compliant housing units.

• Implement a structured plan to address homelessness, including, but not limited to, utilization of currently vacant properties, and strategies to serve Cleveland's 7,000-10,000 homeless, school-aged children.

Last modified: 08/25/05