Free Republic

As one of the most expensive cities in the world, it should come as no surprise that a third of New Yorkers are forking over half their income for rent. The devastating data comes from the latest report from the nonprofit the Community Service Society of New York, which found that 55% of households, or nearly 1.2 million households, in the Big Apple were “rent-burdened” in 2021, meaning tenants spent at least 30% of their income on rent. A staggering 34% of the city’s tenants were classified as “severely rent-burdened,” spending at least half their income on monthly rent as...

The US housing crisis has been decades in the making, but combined with an inflation squeeze and a systemic shortage of affordable housing, more renters have nowhere to go. erardo Vidal, who has lived in the same apartment in Queens, New York, with his family for 9 years, recently received a $900-a-month rent increase this year. “It means having to uproot my entire family, given the fact we’re still having a difficult time earning money due to the pandemic and loss of jobs,” said Vidal. “It’s unfair that we are being basically forced out of places we lived in for...

On a recent weeknight, writing instructor Ellen Tara James-Penny sits with a student in a parking lot near San José State University for more than an hour, explaining the perils of “hasty generalizations” and other pitfalls in college-level writing. Then, James-Penny and her husband get into their aging Volvo sedan and drive a few blocks to a local church, where she sleeps in their car with one dog and he sleeps in a tent a few feet away with the other.Despite the four college courses she teaches, and the master’s degree she earned a few years ago, James-Penny is homeless....

It didn't take much to keep potential borrowers away from their mortgage lenders last week—a minimal rise in rates sent volume tumbling 9.2 percent, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). Applications to refinance a loan fell 13 percent on week, while applications to purchase a home fell 5 percent on week and are now 15 percent below the volume seen a year ago. "Interest rates increased relative to the previous week, as incoming economic data continues to suggest a pickup in the pace of growth," said Mike Fratantoni, MBA's Chief Economist. "Some lenders continue to report that they have...

Gov. Jerry Brown says he has told his labor union allies they should be open to concessions that Republican lawmakers want on public employee pensions in exchange for GOP votes on the budget.