DC Tenants to Launch Campaign for Safe, Healthy Housing Tackling Mold, Lead, and Asbestos

Today’s blog is the third and last in a series of stories previewing this Saturday’s 6th Annual Citywide Tenant Town Hall. The town hall will be held from 1-4 pm at the All Souls Unitarian Church. RSVP on our Facebook event page.

One of the big victories tenants have won at previous Tenant Town Halls is the right to sue their landlords in DC Superior Court over housing code violations. Before, only landlords could take tenants to court, but thanks to tenant organizing, DC renters now have a powerful tool to take action to improve conditions in their apartments.

But what if the problem in your apartment is mold?

If you have mold growing on the walls or ceiling or anyplace else in your apartment and you get a housing inspection from the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA), the inspectors will tell you they can only cite the landlord for visible “dampness” or leaks in the walls or ceiling, but not for mold. So there is no mechanism for tenants to enforce their right to healthy housing that is free of mold.

One of the demands of this year’s Town Hall is for the DC Department of the Environment and DCRA housing inspectors to implement programs to inspect for mold (including testing for airborne mold spores), and hold landlords responsible for properly eliminating mold and its underlying sources.

 

What’s At Stake for Tenants in this Year’s DC Budget?

Today’s blog, authored by Elizabeth Falcon at the Coalition for Nonprofit Housing and Economic Development’s Housing for All Campaign, is the second in a series of stories previewing this Saturday’s 6th Annual Citywide Tenant Town Hall. The town hall will be held from 1-4 pm at the All Souls Unitarian Church. RSVP on our Facebook event page.

At the annual Tenant Town Hall on Saturday, hundreds of DC renters will highlight issues that are important to them.

So how will the Council budget vote next Wednesday affect the fight for affordable housing? There are three key programs which can make housing affordable for District residents.

The Housing Production Trust Fund is a crucial program to build and preserve affordable housing. Dozens of tenant associations have used the Trust Fund to purchase their buildings or partner with a developer that will keep their homes affordable. Since 2000, more than 1500 units of affordable housing have been preserved using the Trust Fund.

Unfortunately, the Trust Fund has seen cuts over the last few years, and money has not been available to build new apartments or help tenants purchase. Now, the DC Council can follow Mayor Gray’s recommendation in his $100 million proposal for affordable housing and restore $20 million to the Trust Fund where it belongs.

“The tenants at the Concord Apartments, as is with other residents in the District, are in need and would appreciate Tax Credit Funding and potentially funds from the Housing Production Trust Fund to ensure our homes stay as affordable housing,” says Leon Wells, president of the Concord Apartments Tenant Association, which is interested in buying their building.

 

Two Tenant Associations in Ward 4, One Shared Goal: Affordable Housing for All

Tenants at 5741 Colorado Avenue NW celebrate the purchase of their apartment building.

Today’s blog is the first in a series of stories previewing this Saturday’s 6th Annual Citywide Tenant Town Hall. The town hall will be held from 1-4 pm at the All Souls Unitarian Church. RSVP on our Facebook event page.

For Margarita Pineda, president of the 1445 Spring Rd NW Tenants Association, an electrical fire in her apartment building in 2008 drove her and her neighbors to get organized and fight for their quality of life.

After filing a successful lawsuit against their landlord over poor housing conditions with the help of the Latino Economic Development Center (LEDC), the tenants received a letter in December 2012 that their building was put up for sale.

“We now have the opportunity to buy our building through the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase (TOPA) law,” Margarita says. “This is a great blessing for us because finally we can decide the future of our housing as we will be the future property owners. However, none of this hard work will be worth anything if we cannot count on the support of our government.”

 

Univision – Obama Meets with Business Owners to Improve the Economy (Spanish)

Behind closed doors, President Barack Obama met with small business owners to pressure Congress to approve a new round of economic stimulus.

Obama proposes to spend an additional $25 billion for tax credits for companies who hire new staff or raise salaries.

“This is about giving small business owners an incentive so they can hire,” said economist Isaac Cohen. “Small business owners are the most significant employer in this country, not big companies.”

To watch the full video clip also featuring LEDC in Spanish, click here.

 

Maryland Gazette – Wheaton Development Coalition Seeks Support of Urban District Committee

Below is news coverage related to the ongoing work of the Coalition for the Fair Redevelopment of Wheaton, of which LEDC is a member.

In its first appearance before the Wheaton Urban District Advisory Committee, the Coalition for the Fair Redevelopment of Wheaton asked the committee on Nov. 13 to help voice — and support — requests for the county’s commitment to help small businesses during the planned redevelopment project for Lot 13.

The coalition — composed of small business owners, residents and nonprofits — has been seeking since September 2011 a written pledge from the county to the businesses that will face “a difficult time” maintaining business in the next two to three years as a result of the project, said Ash Kosiewicz, the coalition’s lead organizer.

The coalition asked the advisory committee to send a letter to County Executive Isiah Leggett stating the coalition’s requests for that pledge and a “construction mitigation plan,” as well as showing the committee’s support.

To read the full article, click here.

 

Wheaton Patch – Wheaton Small Business Survey Shows Parking Concerns

Below is news coverage from this morning related to the ongoing work of the Coalition for the Fair Redevelopment of Wheaton, of which LEDC is a member.

A survey of small busineses in the Wheaton Urban District found that the top three “immediate business concerns” are parking, rent and safety.

The Wheaton Redevelopment Program, which is part of the county’s Department of General Services, conducted the survey in April and May. There was a 36 percent response rate; of the 298 surveys given to businesses, 108 were returned.

Peter McGinnity of the Wheaton Redevelopment Program said the survey will help to inform the county’s Department of Economic Development, as it tries to flesh out Bill 6-12. The bill, which was passed earlier this year by the county council, calls for assistance to small businesses negatively affected by county development projects.

To read the full article referencing the Coalition’s response to the survey results, click here.

To read a short writeup of the Coalition’s presentation on the survey results Tuesday before the Wheaton Urban District Advisory Committee, click here.

 

NBCNews.com – New Steps Announced to Fix Costly Credit Errors

Tawanna Sellers is a food service employee at a Washington, DC high school. But she’d like to be out here, among the ranks of food truck owners.

The reason Tawanna isn’t is because she got a bad credit report and can’t get a loan for her business. “There was a lot of stuff on there – some of it didn’t belong to me,” Sellers said. “And some were a lot of mistakes.”

She’s not alone – a recent study found that 79 percent of all credit reports have some type of error.

To watch the full video highlighting LEDC and how consumers can now file complaints with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau if they are unable to resolve a credit dispute with a credit reporting agency, click here.