Tag Archives: housing

Apple Pledges $2.5B To Combat CA Housing Crisis

Axios reports: Apple CEO Tim Cook, unveiling a $2.5 billion plan to help alleviate California’s housing availability and affordability crisis, told Axios in an interview that Apple feels “a profound responsibility” to the region where it was born and thrived.  “It’s just unsustainable,” Cook said. “This problem is so big that the public sector cannot do it alone.” Many teachers …

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California Lawmakers Approve Statewide Rent Cap Bill

The New York Times reports: California lawmakers approved a statewide rent cap on Wednesday covering millions of tenants, the biggest step yet in a surge of initiatives to address an affordable-housing crunch nationwide. The bill limits annual rent increases to 5 percent after inflation and offers new barriers to eviction, providing a bit of housing security in a state with …

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Kushner Company Fined $210K For False Documents Claiming Its Buildings Had No Rent-Regulated Tenants

The Associated Press reports: The Kushner family real estate company has been fined $210,000 by New York City regulators following an Associated Press investigation that showed it routinely filed false documents with the city claiming it had no rent-regulated tenants in its buildings when it, in fact, had hundreds. The false documents allowed the company to escape extra scrutiny during …

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CALIFORNIA: AIDS Healthcare Foundation Donates $10M To Dem-Backed Rent Control Ballot Measure

The San Jose Mercury-News reports: Amid a tense battle over rent control in California, real-estate interests are writing big checks to defeat a November ballot measure that would give cities more power to regulate what landlords can charge tenants — and the initiative’s backer responded this week with a $10 million cash infusion. “We know we will be significantly outspent …

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MISSOURI: Married Lesbian Couple Sues After Senior Community Denies Them Housing Because Jesus

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports: A St. Louis County senior community has denied housing to a married lesbian couple who have been together for nearly four decades because of the couple’s sexual orientation, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court. Mary Walsh, 72, and Bev Nance, 68, both of Shrewsbury, say the Friendship Village senior living community, …

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New York City Council Moves To Rein In Airbnb Hosts

Bloomberg reports: Last week, Airbnb Inc. was dealt one of its biggest blows in the company’s 10-year history. New York City council members voted to require the home-rental company to hand over the names and addresses of its hosts in the city. The officials have said they need the information to police Airbnb hosts that operate illegally and drive up …

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STUDY: San Francisco Rents Now World’s Highest

NBC News reports: Let’s face it, San Francisco is expensive. To make matters worse, a new study has now ranked the city No. 1 in the world with the highest rent and the list also includes three more Bay Area cities in the top ten: San Jose, Oakland and Berkeley. According to a study released by financial advice site Walletwyse, …

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SAN DIEGO: LGBT Seniors Housing Opens [VIDEO]

San Diego’s KUSI-TV reports: Assemblyman Todd Gloria, Councilman Chris Ward and others Friday celebrated the opening of North Park Seniors, which is being called San Diego’s first LGBT-affirming senior housing community.  Studies suggest the need for LGBT-friendly housing continues to outpace demand amid rental discrimination cases. The building will have 76 affordable apartments for qualified people 55 and older; seniors …

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ALABAMA: Birmingham City Council Approves Sweeping LGBT Anti-Discrimination Protections, First In State

Via press release: Today, HRC hailed the Birmingham City Council for passing city-wide non-discrimination protections that include sexual orientation and gender identity in housing, public accommodations and employment. This ordinance is the culmination of more than ten years of work from local LGBTQ grassroots organizers and a pro-equality coalition including Equality Alabama and HRC. “Today, the City of Birmingham made …

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HHS Strips LGBT Seniors From Annual Survey

NBC News reports: Advocates are outraged that questions about LGBTQ seniors have suddenly been removed from an annual survey that determines services for elderly Americans. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) uses the National Survey of Older Americans Act Participants (NSOAAP) to decide how to allocate federal funding to groups that work with the elderly. For years, LGBTQ …

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UNQUALIFIED: That Time HUD Nominee Ben Carson Said It’s Communistic To Fight Housing Discrimination

Brian Tashman lays it out at Right Wing Watch: In November, Carson’s spokesman said that the former neurosurgeon and Republican presidential candidate didn’t want to pursue a role in the Trump administration because he has no relevant experience in managing a federal agency and the “last thing he would want to do was take a position that could cripple the …

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“Pathological” Ben Carson Tapped For HUD Secretary

NBC News reports: President-elect Donald Trump will nominate “tough” former Republican primary rival Ben Carson as Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the transition team announced Monday. A statement described Carson as a “distinguished national leader who overcame his troubled youth in the inner city of Detroit to become a renowned neurosurgeon.” In the statement, Trump said …

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Rockers Boston Go Springsteen On North Carolina

THREE shows cancelled. From the band’s Facebook page: While the enjoyment of our fans is our central concern, and we have been looking forward to celebrating forty years of history performing for our listeners in North Carolina with spectacular live shows this spring, human rights are more important. It is with deep regret, that I must announce the cancellation of …

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WaPo Gives NC Gov. Pat McCrory “Three Pinocchios”

The Washington Post has evaluated North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory’s statements in the video accompanying last week’s executive order and given him “Three Pinocchios.” They write: By saying he is “taking action to affirm and improve the state’s commitment to privacy and equality” through his executive order, McCrory creates the illusion that there will be more changes than he can …

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Pat McCrory On Meet The Press: The “Human Relations Council” Is More Powerful Than The NRA [VIDEO]

North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory appeared on Meet The Press this morning, where he claimed that he was recently congratulated by black residents for protecting them from evil LGBTs. McCrory also stumbled over the name of the Human Rights Campaign, calling them the “Human Relations, uh, Rights Council.” McCrory then exclaimed, “My God, they are more powerful than the NRA!” …

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LOS ANGELES: City Council Votes Unanimously To Boycott North Carolina And Mississippi

Add Los Angeles to the lengthy boycott list: The North Carolina law “overturns all state protections for gay and lesbians and puts new discrimination on the books,” according to Councilman Mike Bonin, who proposed the resolution that was approved on a 12-0 vote. Bonin said the Mississippi law allows rental car businesses to turn away gay couples, and allows for …

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North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory Slams “Smear Campaign Of Politically Correct Elite” In WaPo Letter

From the Washington Post‘s letters to the editor: Regarding Kathleen Parker’s April 12 op-ed column, “Bigotry raises its hideous head in North Carolina”: Let me set the record straight: North Carolina proudly welcomes all people to live, work and visit our great state. We have long-held traditions of ensuring equality for all of our citizens and our visitors while respecting …

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Cirque Du Soleil Goes Springsteen On North Carolina

From their statement: Cirque du Soleil strongly believes in diversity and equality for every individual and is opposed to discrimination in any form. The new HB2 legislation passed in North Carolina is an important regression to ensuring human rights for all. We therefore choose to cancel our scheduled performances of OVO in Greensboro (April 20-24) and our scheduled performances in …

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True Or False With Pat McCrory [VIDEO]

Yesterday a spokesman for North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory called the Human Rights Campaign “a shadowy, left-wing group funded by anonymous donors that is recklessly leading the charge to mislead the public and smear North Carolina.” Today we get the below HRC clip with calls McCrory out on his lies.

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Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant: Churches Would Be Sued Into Closing If I Didn’t Sign That Hate Law [AUDIO]

Yesterday Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant appeared on the American Family Association’s radio show to declare that he signed his state’s anti-LGBT bill in order to protect churches from being closed because they won’t host same-sex weddings. Seriously. Right Wing Watch has the transcript: “This is about the churches,” Bryant said. “The next stop will be American Family Radio and it …

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