Dominican Immigrant: Activist Against Foreclosures and Freddie Mac

BY JORDAN FRIAS

POSTED ON MARCH 26, 2013

Ramon Suero of Boston, MA, stands up against Ed DeMarco during a senate house hearing last Tuesday.

There are some people out there who are determined to fight for a cause that they believe in. Ramon Suero is one of those people.

After interrupting a Senate house hearing on Federal Housing Finance Agency acting director Ed DeMarco last Tuesday, Suero and four other housing activists were arrested.

Suero is a member of a grassroots organization known as City Life/Vida Urbana located in the Brewery Building near the Stony Brook T stop in Jamaica Plain in Boston.

He is an immigrant from Dominican Republic whose house was foreclosed after his mother-in-law fell ill and his wife had to travel to the Dominican Republic to take care of her.

City Life/Vida Urbana has a mission to protect tenants, owners and landlords from banks like Freddie Mac who are purchasing foreclosed homes throughout the city and are refusing to sell them back to their previous owners at fair prices.

This isn’t the first time Suero has been involved in activism. He was fired from his job at a hotel for organizing a union on behalf of his fellow workers. Luckily, he was hired back a year later with the help of the group UNITE HERE Local 26.

Suero is one among many residents in Boston who are being evicted from their homes by Freddie Mac. He received a notice that he was going to be evicted on Feb. 1, but is currently fighting that eviction in court. Suero did not have the money to by his house back when it was foreclosed, but has the money now. At the time of the eviction, Suero tried to modify his home loan with Freddie Mac, but the bank wouldn’t let him.

Suero’s story is now becoming nationally known due to his activism. Suero has started a petition against DeMarco on SignOn.org which has gained over 3,000 signatures. (Read more about Suero’s cause here and other causes similar to his here).

The organization City Life/Vida Urbana holds weekly meetings to discuss current developments nationally and locally around the issue of evictions, foreclosures and affordable housing.

It was at tonight’s meeting that Ramon Suero’s case was brought up along with discussions around Ed DeMarco’s hearing and his possible replacement. Below is a video that was shown at the meeting:

The video above is courtesy of Shelterforce. Check out their blog post where the video originally came from here.

City Life/Vida Urbana also provides legal assistance to its members who are asked to pay a yearly fee of $15. Many of the legal advisers there are law students from Harvard University. Harvard has a Legal Aid Bureau of law students that work with members of City Life/Vida Urbana who are dealing with evictions. They meet with their clients every Tuesday night during weekly meetings held by the organization.

New Faces and Resources from Greater Boston Legal Services

BY JORDAN FRIAS

POSTED ON FEBRUARY 19, 2013

Last Thursday afternoon, I ventured off to the Greater Boston Legal Services office conveniently located just five minutes from the North Station T stop. There I met with Barbara Zimbel an attorney from the housing department who explained the process someone goes through to get a lawyer to represent them.

Outside Greater Boston Legal Services. Photo taken from Google Maps Street View.

“You can’t just walk in and request a lawyer,” Zimbel said. Greater Boston Legal Services helps people find a lawyer after they fill out the appropriate paperwork. Lawyers do not directly come from Great Boston Legal Services, rather from the Legal Advocacy and Resource Center (LARC), which they match you up with.

LARC operates as a free legal hotline service since 1983 as stated on its website.

Nevertheless, she was able to connect me with Mac McCreight, the Housing Law Unit Lead Attorney at Greater Boston Legal Service who sent me an email this morning to see how he can assist me with my research. He focus is on public housing and section 8 vouchers and he primarily works with the Boston Housing Authority.

He was able to provide me with resources for my interest in gentrified neighborhoods. McCreight told me to try reaching out to the Department of Neighborhood Development since the City of Boston regularly monitors trends in rent levels throughout the city. He also mentioned an organization known as City Life/Vida Urbana

which also keeps track of post-foreclosure units that are sold at higher rent prices to investors and owners.

I will look into these resources as I continue to report on news for my blog. I will hopefully conduct an interview with McCreight sometime in the near future.

Apartment Construction Strengthens Boston’s Economy

BY JORDAN FRIAS

POSTED ON FEBRUARY 13, 2013

“The Boston metro area is experiencing its strongest job growth in three years.” – We Are Apartments

PR Newswire’s study on apartment construction in Boston.

Yesterday, PR Newswire released a study report on how apartment construction has contributed 3.3 billion to the metro economy in Boston (read study here).  This report shows that it has created jobs for the city, homes for its residents and almost $28 billion in revenue for the entire state. Read how the city and state compares to the nation as a whole in terms of apartment construction and its contribution to the economy.

Check out this interactive website WeAreApartments.org to see the progress in your area. Here is the link to Boston’s report.

We Are Apartment’s interactive map.

Ameresco’s Green Initiative Works in Boston and Beyond

BY JORDAN FRIAS

POSTED ON FEBRUARY 12, 2013

After running a search on videos about Boston housing, I discovered this company Ameresco who was recently in the news. I’ve created a story about what I discovered below using the curation tool Storify.

Mayor Thomas Menino of Boston signs a labor agreement between Ameresco and the Boston Housing Authority.View as slideshow

1. Public Housing Announcement

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   bostoncable

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   Mon, May 23 2011 12:46:31

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2. This video shows how public housing and energy efficiency can go hand-in-hand. Ameresco teams up with the Boston Housing Authority to create greener units at no cost to tax payers using cutting-edge technology!
3. Ameresco – Boston Housing Authority

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   ameresco

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   Fri, Jul 15 2011 07:19:10

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4. How does Ameresco do this you might ask? Read all about its efforts in this publication:
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   Naesco

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6. Here is information on two of the 13 housing developments Ameresco has been working with. Both are in the South End. Lenox and Camden are considered one development.
7. Boston Housing Authority – Torre Unidad

   Torre Unidad is located on West Dedham Street in the historic South End community of Boston. Our complex is very close to a wide variet…

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   Bostonhousing

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8. Boston Housing Authority – Lenox

   52 Chauncy Street Boston, MA 02111-2375 … 136 Lenox Street, South End … Lenox/Camden is located in the South End, near many shops a…

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9. Boston Housing Authority – Camden

   52 Chauncy Street Boston, MA 02111-2375 … Street is a small family development located within the Lenox/Camden complex in the South E…

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10. A brief history of Ameresco Inc., based in Framingham, Massachusetts. This article explains how its investment in energy efficiency is perfect for the present.
11. Not flashy, but Ameresco prospers in energy … – The Boston Globe

    Sep 11, 2012 … While flashy alternative energy companies with gee-whiz technologies have foundered in recent years, George P. Sakella…

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    www.bostonglobe.com

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12. The company teams up with Ennovate, a company based in Aurora, Colorado, as of Friday, February 8, 2013.
13. 

    techrockies@techrockies

    Ennovate Acquired By Ameresco bit.ly/TTSiXi

    Fri, Feb 08 2013 05:58:45

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    WBJournal@WBJournal

    Ameresco Purchases Colorado Company goo.gl/fb/WDvyK

    Fri, Feb 08 2013 07:48:13

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15. 

    Christopher McIntosh@BosBizPublisher

    Ameresco buys Colorado energy services biz – Boston Business Journal lnkd.in/F7qUzk

    Fri, Feb 08 2013 08:24:31

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16. 

    Renewable Search@RenewableSearch

    Ameresco Inc. Buys Energy Services Company Ennovate Corp.: Ameresco Inc., an energy efficiency … bit.ly/11UJhkt #renewable #grid

    Fri, Feb 08 2013 09:09:26

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17. 

    DenverBusinessJournl@denbizjournal

    Ameresco buys Colorado’s Ennovate to expand in Rocky Mountains dlvr.it/2w4Vbd

    Thu, Feb 07 2013 13:59:01

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Strategy for action: radon detection on list of priorities for healthy homes on world cancer day

BY JORDAN FRIAS

POSTED ON FEBRUARY 4, 2013

This morning, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) hosted the two-hour event “Advancing Healthy Housing – A Strategy for Action” in Washington, D.C. (purpose of event here, read press release here). The event began at 9:30 a.m. HUD started the hash tags #StrategyforAction and #HealthyHomes in the Twitter-sphere which were used by other federal agencies throughout the event.

While most relaters, mortgage loaners and others involved in the housing industry were mostly Re-tweeting updates from the event and quotable moments, The National Center for Healthy Housing was the first to Tweet about radon and how it can affect a household when undetected.

Radon in homes is estimated to cause 21,000 lung cancer deaths annually #HealthyHomes
#StrategyforAction

— Department of Housing and Urban Development (@HUDgov) February 4, 2013

@HUDNews Secretary Donovan endorses principles of #HealthyHousing testing 100,000 #multifamily housing units for #radon #StrategyForAction

— National Center for Healthy Housing (NCHH) (@NCHH) February 4, 2013

The hash tag #radon caught on briefly after this Tweet and more news about radon detection was Tweeted alongside the hash tags #StrategyforAction and #HealthyHomes.

The Children’s Environmental Health Network then Tweeted about the correlation between radon and lung cancer.

88% of Americans do not know #radon is a health issue to be aware of. #HealthyHomes #LungCancer

— Children's Environmental Health Network (@CEHN) February 4, 2013

The hash tag #LungCancer has been spread around the Twitter-sphere today alongside #WorldCancerDay which falls on February 4. “Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States,” according to the National Cancer Institute website.

It’s interesting that radon detection was mentioned on World Cancer Day. established by the Union for International Cancer Control, as a way to make all homes and housing units  in the United States healthier.

Low-income and disabled: conversation with peer advocate of Boston Center for Independent Living

BY JORDAN FRIAS

POSTED ON JANUARY 31, 2013

Trying to find housing in Boston is hard enough. Imagine trying to find housing for you and your spouse when you are both low-income, disabled and have “CORIs” (Criminal Offender Record Information) against you.

Erica Tanen, peer disability advocate for Boston Center for Independent Living, is currently working with a couple, or consumer, to secure  housing for them, but the process has not be easy. A major issue has been dealing with owners who have denied applicants based on their section 8 vouchers which pays for about 70 percent of the person’s housing costs.

“It’s illegal for anyone to deny an applicant because of a section 8 voucher,” Tanen said. Still, owners have told some of her consumers that they do not accept these vouchers, which is obviously not the case. Tanen then has to tell her consumers that the owner is misinformed. The next step is advocacy. At times the consumer will call the home-owner themselves, other times Tanen confronts the owner for her consumer via telephone.

“It’s awkward for me,” Tanen said. Owners usually tell her that they will not accept her consumers because they have had low-income section 8 voucher owners as tenants before which, “hasn’t worked out so well.”

Tanen’s job is to then refer her consumers to a lawyer in the community. One popular choice is Greater Boston Legal Services which provides lawyers to these low-income applicants to fight discriminatory affordable housing owners.

While this process is going on, these applicants must renew their section 8 vouchers which expire every 60 days, depending on where they got their voucher, what type of voucher it is, along with some other factors. Their disability helps approve them for these renewals, Tanen said.

Consumers who resource Boston Housing Authority for housing are usually placed on an eight year waiting list on average. If they are homeless at the time then their waiting time is reduced to about five years. These consumers can either apply to be on another  list for public housing or private subsidized housing (check out list of available private subsidies here or on the HUD website here). The benefit of applying for public housing is that there is one single application that can be used to apply to almost all 242 different housing authorities (see list of public housing here or on the Metropolitan Boston Housing Authority page here).

Snapshot of public housing application with reasonable accommodation request through Boston Housing Authority

With the rise in affordable housing units across the city, consumers of Boston Center for Independent Living are applying to live in newer buildings which can sometimes be easier to get in to depending on the owner, according to Tanen. Tanen says that consumers who apply to private subsidized buildings in addition to public housing tend to get housing quicker than those who only apply to public housing as well.

There are other obstacles that stand in the way of her consumers getting housing. If they are married during the waiting process then their spouse cannot live with them because they originally asked to be housed as a single person. They can also lose their housing easily if they allow someone to stay over their apartment during the night.

These strict factors make it hard for some to gain or maintain their affordable housing units. Tanen said that there is also a “pre-waiting list” for individuals who apply for section 8 vouchers which are “really hard to get.”

While these consumers are playing the waiting game essentially, they are competing with many others who wish to occupy affordable housing in the city. Agencies like Boston Center for Independent Living will strive to streamline the process for those who are unsure of their options.

Former environment and energy chief describes how Boston challenges gentrification

BY JORDAN FRIAS

POSTED ON JANUARY 29, 2013

In this video produced by the National League of Cities for the Sustainable Cities Institute, former chief  of environment and energy for Boston James W. Hunt III says that “affordable housing” contributes to “a vibrant living city that attracts diversity of economy and diversity of people.”  He also cites an  “inclusionary zoning  provision” in Boston as something that has balanced out the amount of affordable housing and market rate housing in affluent neighborhoods. This video was posted on July 11, 2012 on the Sustainable Cities Institutes’s Vimeo page.

Organizations form in the South End as housing contracts expire

BY JORDAN FRIAS

POSTED ON JANUARY 16, 2013

The South End of Boston is known for its Victorian style high end apartments and fancy red brick sidewalks. What’s also in this neighborhood is affordable housing complexes such as the Villa Victoria (Victory Village), Torre Unidad (Unity Tower Development) and Rutland Housing. Section 8 of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) contract has sustained affordable housing in the state of Massachusetts for 40 years, a move seen as a temporary solution for public housing requirements by the federal government. On May 31, 2012, that contract expired.

Tenants of apartments on 105 West Concord Street’s Rutland Housing were determined to remain in their South End homes regardless of the $500 rent increase that was imposed on them after the first of June. Luckily, they were issued enhanced vouchers by HUD and the Boston Housing Authority (BHA) to sustain the increase in their rent for the year.

Some tenants are determined to make sure that their residence status at Rutland Housing is not threatened again as federally funded programs like HUD and BHA could possibly lose funding from Congress during this recession.

Rutland Housing unfortunately did not have a tenant organization until this past summer. Tenants who wanted to form an organization to preserve affordable housing for themselves and future generations in the South End got support from Michael Kane the executive director of the Mass Alliance of HUD Tenants. They then formed their own grassroots organization and called it the Rutland Housing Tenants Organization (RHTO), as reported by Andrew McFarland, freelance reporter, in a September 7, 2012 edition of The Phoenix Boston (read article here). He described affordable housing facilities like Rutland in Massachusetts as “ticking time bombs in gentrifying neighborhoods.” At that time the group had only five official members.

With Mass Alliance’s support, RHTO was able to write letters and form petitions to urge Rutland Housing owners David and Karen Parker to continue to support the 40 plus families that are fighting for affordable housing. RHTO has won the support of Mayor Thomas Menino, State Representative Byron Rushing and Arch Bishop Sean O’Malley.

The City Council ordered that negotiations between the Parkers and RHTO begin to draft up new contract plans, which the Parkers oppose.

No news on the newly formed organization has been written since. Members of the RHTO said in the September 7 article that they were hoping to increase membership sometime in the near future.