June 2023
Alternative homeownership options – 6/16/23
Reserve studies of common areas – 6/9/23
Disaster Relief for Housing Cooperatives – 6/7/23
Social Housing: How a New Generation of Activists Are Reinventing Housing – 6/6/23
Airbnb Files Suit Over Law Curbing Short-Term Rentals – 6/6/23
Suggestions to grow affordable housing – 6/1/23
May 2023
Condo common areas studies required now – 5/26/23
New $22M Philanthropic Initiative Launches to Propel the Community Ownership Movement in California – 5/23/23
Homeowners insurance vs. co-op insurance vs. condo insurance – 5/16/23
Affordable Housing: Fixes for scarcity come into focus – 5/16/23
Housing Lottery Launches For Seed Cooperatives At 1900 Park Place In Brownsville, Brooklyn – 5/13/23
Homeownership remains small part of city housing production – 5/8/23
April 2023
New York City’s Famed Cooperative Housing Is Under Threat – 4/28/23
Ten innovations to address America’s housing affordability crisis – 4/17/23
March 2023
Innovating Equitable Homeownership – 3/7/23
SB City Council to address affordable housing – 3/7/23
Andrew Bibby draws lessons from the legacy of co-operative housing – 3/1/23
February 2023
Upper Manhattan Real Estate Update: HDFC Coops As First-Time Buyer Homes – 2/28/23
25 Innovative Solutions to the Housing Affordability Crisis – 2/27/23
Testimony of Comptroller Brad Lander to the New York City Council Housing and Buildings Committee – 2/23/23
Pittsburgh’s URA creates program to preserve existing affordable housing – 2/10/23
January 2023
Greg Carlson, tireless advocate of co-ops and condos, has died at age 72 – 1/27/23
December 2022
This Community-Controlled Real Estate Co-Op Is Proving Its Value – 12/20/22
Madison housing co-ops aim for energy efficiency – 12/20/22
Chatham food-service worker cooperative ChiFresh Kitchen starts a housing co-op. – 12/9/22
Sparks Fly Over Bill to Ban Criminal Background Checks on Co-op Buyers – 12/8/22
Lowering emissions is every New Yorker’s responsibility – 12/3/22
November 2022
Housing authority should choose cooperative plan – 11/12/22
Chicago Housing Cooperatives, Explained – 11/2/22
Pittsburgh City Council approves $1.2M in funding for groups that combat homelessness – 11/1/22
October 2022
Unpaid water bills, foreclosure and board turmoil weigh on concerned Parade Park residents – 10/28/22
How DC Can Leverage the Tenant Right to Purchase to Achieve Housing Justice – 10/26/22
Jackson Heights Co-ops Band Together to Cut Carbon Emissions – 10/26/22
The Making Of Co-op City, America’s Biggest Housing Co-op – 10/20/22
Pittsburgh City Council looks to give organizations $1.2M to combat homelessness – 10/19/22
This Non-Profit Wants to Help You Turn Your Building Into a Co-op – 10/4/22
September 2022
New Affordable Housing Cooperative Opens in Liberty City – 9/22/22
How Housing Is Captive to Investment Demands – 9/9/22
The Transformative Power of Worker Ownership – 9/7/22
Pittsburgh City Council to explore ways to expand affordable housing options – 9/6/22
August 2022
Can a building super serve on a co-op board? – 8/29/22
What is a co-op? – 8/16/22
Community Through Collective Property Ownership in Oakland – 8/12/22
Developer Ewing Properties Expanding Senior Housing Co-op Model With ‘Patio Home’ Concept – 8/11/22
Parade Park offered Black Kansas City families a chance for home ownership. Now it’s crumbling – 8/10/22
Buy a co-op at a discount: All about HDFCs and how to get one – 8/2/22
Upzoning is necessary, but won’t produce an equitable Gainesville on its own – 8/2/22
July 2022
New York Condominium Act Amendment Authorizes Electronic Unit Owner Meetings – 7/19/22
All MD Condos and HOAs Are Now Required To Undertake Regular Reserve Studies – 7/15/22
Residents of Kansas City’s historic Black housing co-op ‘hoping for a miracle’ – 7/1/22
Sunday on the Hudson with former Rep. Eliot Engel – 7/1/22
June 2022
Sustaining the Rising Tide of Black Co-ops: An Ecosystem Approach – 6/29/22
TOPA Is Good Housing Policy – Banker & Tradesman
(bankerandtradesman.com) – 6/19/22
SF Supervisor Dean Preston Seeks $100M For Public Housing
(therealdeal.com) – 6/17/22
Exact Capital Reveals Two Affordable Cooperative Buildings in West
Harlem, Manhattan – New York YIMBY – 6/15/22
Rise of the ‘SHIMBY’? New Report Outlines Steps to Social Housing
What Do South Shore Neighbors Want For Their Community? A New Quality Of Life Plan Is The Roadmap
New Lake Placid housing on the horizon?
South Florida Nonprofits Create Affordable Housing Cooperatives in Miami
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS CITY OF DETROIT
Ebenezer to develop first seniors housing cooperative in Minnesota community
Investors are buying up mobile home parks. These Fresno tenants have a different idea | PBS NewsHour
Pittsburgh To Assess Limited-Equity Coops as Affordable Housing Tool | Planetizen News
Devastated’: Missoula renters denied after forming cooperative to buy their homes | Local News | missoulian.com – 5/1/22
Campbell River group wants to say “Yes in my backyard” | Campbell River Mirror
Do Co-op Apartments Ban Getting Home Equity Loans?
(investopedia.com)
Libbytown complex with affordable housing wins approval – Portland
Press Herald
City Council approves measure to investigate limited-equity housing cooperatives | TribLIVE.com
Can One Bay Area Housing Complex Radically Change Affordable Housing? – Mother Jones
Pittsburgh officials seek an easier path to home ownership for residents | TribLIVE.com
How an old housing model could help Pittsburgh’s affordability
crisis | 90.5 WESA
What We Learn From Black- and Women-Led Cooperative Practice
Black-owned housing near 18th & Vine set a national example. But now it can’t be saved
Bridgeport woman helps people achieve the ‘American Dream’ through affordable housing
Why this recent change just made it harder to buy or sell an apartment
Advocates call for ‘social housing’ funding in budget
How Legal/financial Problems Are Solved By Nyc Co-ops And Condos
Regina woman shares story in support of permanent supportive housing project
Criminal history may soon be actual history
Redesigning the Cooperative Governance Experience for Inclusive Economies
Shared Equity Programs Topic of NHC Webinar
Consequences of rising house prices
National Cooperative Bank announces Casey Fannon as acting CEO – The Highland County Press
Co-op Seniors Can Now Get Reverse Mortgages | Habitat Magazine, New York’s Co-op and Condo Community
Biden signs stopgap bill to avert shutdown ahead of midnight deadline – CNNPolitics
LSHR Toolkit: Introduction – HUD Exchange
More Help to Get Older Adults to Vaccine and Booster Appointments (ncoa.org)
Don’t force in the criminals | The Riverdale Press | www.riverdalepress.com
Hochul signs co-op protection measure | Queenswide | qchron.com
Maine Voices: Co-ops reveal the power in the concept of ‘we’
– CentralMaine.com
Ronan event explores housing co-op models | Lake County Leader (leaderadvertiser.com)
Ask Eli: Smoking Bans Made Easy For Condos/POAs with New Law | ARLnow.com
Where’s That Confounded Kingsbridge? | www.splicetoday.com
Co-op Housing In Springfield First Of Its Kind In Oregon |
KLCC
Ronan event explores housing co-op models | Lake County
Leader (leaderadvertiser.com)
Worker housing one hot topic Monday | Coeur d’Alene Press (cdapress.com)
Building tenant power with the Housing Justice for All Coalition Building tenant power with the Housing Justice for All Coalition – NationofChange
The emerging solidarity economy: The emerging solidarity economy: A primer on community ownership of real estate (brookings.edu)
Remaking the Economy: Social Housing—A Path to Housing for All?
The East Bay Permanent Real Estate Cooperative reimagines ownership and equity
Austin, UTRGV partner to educate people on benefits of co-ops
The City of Austin is partnering with a University of Texas system school in hopes to build more cooperatives citywide. Read more on Knax
What Happens When 10 Million Tenants Can’t Make Rent?
It is a crisis, but it is also an opportunity for a huge expansion in social housing. Read more on NY Times
Stimulus payments, vaccines, and other COVID -19 resources
Resources to help ensure that residents of Multifamily properties are receiving stimulus payments, staying safe, and are aware of pertinent information related to the pandemic. Please share with your communities. Read more from HUD
Westchester bill on housing cooperative admissions misses a critical mark | Opinion
Catafago Fini LLP Successfully Defends Manhattan Cooperative Building in Appeal
Report: Differences between Blueprint Boise and zoning code fuel conflict
Detroit’s Largest Black-Owned Housing Co-Op Isn’t Going Anywhere
Office Hours: Daniel Libeskind
The Co-Own Company Is Changing the Game for Future Denver Homeowner
Second-Round PPP: ‘Businesses Are More Strategic’
Common Council Ordinance Reduces Limitations For New And Existing Co-Ops
A Habitat Chapter Embraces Community Land Trusts in the Big Apple
How the Real Estate Lobby Exploits Small Landlords
The Paycheck Protection Program Continues to Provide a Lifeline to Small Businesses
Catafago Fini LLP Successfully Defends Manhattan Cooperative Building in Appeal
Report: Differences between Blueprint Boise and zoning code fuel conflict
Detroit’s Largest Black-Owned Housing Co-Op Isn’t Going Anywhere
Office Hours: Daniel Libeskind
The Co-Own Company Is Changing the Game for Future Denver Homeowner
Housing Cooperatives Added To Second Round Of Paycheck Protection Program
Housing co-ops and condominiums to receive funding in new COVID-19 relief bill
What’s in new Paycheck Protection Program, Small Business Relief – NC Bankers CEO breaks it down
Paycheck Protection Program Phase 2: What Businesses Need to Know
Housing Cooperatives and PPP Loans- Is It Time To Rejoice?
Co-op Boards Need to Act Fast on Paycheck Protection Loans
Co-ops are Now Eligible for Paycheck Protection Loans
Replacing Decorative Balconies at This Historic Building Could Displace Low-Income Washingtonians
Portland bets on co-ops to meet need for affordable housing
Approved COVID-19 Relief Bill: What Small Businesses Need to Know about PPP
Webinar: A cooperative response to the affordable housing crisis
The Art of the Legal Hack, as Pioneered by Janelle Orsi
Thanksgiving as Self-Giving and Community-Building
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett’s budget plan cuts 120 police officers
Guest Commentary: Postwar Interracial Co-ops and the Struggle against Redlining
Analysis of Current and Expected Rental Shortfall and Potential Eviction Filings in the U.S.
Economic Fallout From COVID-19 Continues To Hit Lower-Income Americans the Hardest
Temporary Halt in Residential Evictions to Prevent the Further Spread of COVID-19
Post from Community: The people have spoken and continue to demand divestment from the Milwaukee Police Department
The African American Roundtable sees this as a moment to share a simple statement and remind everyone that demoting the Milwaukee Police Chief is simply not enough. In less than a month the Mayor will be sharing his executive budget with the community that needs to reflect a $75 million divestment from the Milwaukee Police Department. Read more
Berkeley cannot wait to right historical housing wrongs
I came to the San Francisco Bay Area from Ohio more than 40 years ago. I was drawn to the Bay Area because of its natural beauty, culture and inspiring political activism. This area had the most diversity I had witnessed in my lifetime. However, I was shocked at the high price of housing. I was also surprised to face much of the same racial discrimination and prejudice in my search for housing as my parents experienced in the Midwest during the Jim Crow era. Read more
WinnDevelopment and Soldier On, Inc., Close Financing for $23 Million Veterans Housing Development in Tinton Falls
WinnDevelopment, an award-winning multifamily housing developer, and Soldier On, Inc., a non-profit organization serving homeless veterans, today announced they have closed on the financing needed to develop a $23 million, 70-unit apartment community in Tinton, Falls, NJ, for veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces, including veterans transitioning from homelessness. Read more
Building a Co-op Economy in Maine—And Perhaps in Your State Too
Consider an economy facing significant economic challenges. The economy is relatively small, geographically isolated, and faces challenging weather that inhibits the growing season, year-round tourism, and in-migration. The population is small, relatively dispersed, and homogenous. In many respects, this economy is in deep trouble, even as a few southern and coastal population centers are faring relatively well. Read more
The End of Housing as We Know It
In the face of compounding crises, tenants and housing organizers see an opportunity to pry open the real estate industry’s grip on our cities. Read more
Guest Commentary: Comparative Study of Four Affordable Home Ownership Models and Market Rate Ownership and Renting Shows Strength of Housing Cooperatives
The United States is facing a housing crisis. The American workforce of moderate-income citizens—or people who make between 80% and 120% of the area median income (AMI)—has been highly affected. This group is often stuck paying a significant portion of their income towards rent and cannot make the jump to homeownership due to such high home prices and their inability to save. When people are contributing so much of their income to housing, it makes it difficult to pay for other necessities such as food and health care. Read more
New York State Legislature Considers COVID-19 Rent And Mortgage Relief Bill
The Rent and Mortgage Cancellation Act of 2020, introduced on July 10, 2020 by Assemblymember Yuh-Line Niou (D) and Senator Julia Salazar (D), proposes to cancel residential rent payments and mortgages for small homeowners (owners of residential properties with six or fewer units) accrued between March 7, 2020 and the end of New York’s ongoing state of emergency, plus an additional 90 days. Read more
Housing Is a Worker Issue: Why the Labor Movement Should Support the ‘Beyond Recovery’ Campaign
The uprising for Black Lives has opened new possibilities for organizing. But besides fighting police brutality, unions and worker organizations can address racial injustice by organizing around the issues of workers’ everyday lives. Read more
National Cooperative Bank Originates Over $212 Million for New York Area Cooperatives and Condominiums in Q2 of 2020
National Cooperative Bank (NCB), a leading lender to cooperative housing and condominiums throughout the Tri-State area, originated over $212 million to 51 New York area housing cooperatives and condominiums during the second quarter of 2020. Edward Howe III, Managing Director of NCB’s New York office, made the announcement. Read more
Court Says Pandemic Losses Not Covered by Business Interruption Insurance
In a ruling sure to send shivers through many New York housing cooperatives and condominiums, a Michigan judge has thrown out a lawsuit by a restaurant owner who sought to recoup income lost during the coronavirus pandemic through his business interruption insurance policy. Judge Joyce Draganchuk, ruling on one of the first such cases in the nation, said that insurers must pay business interruption claims only if tangible physical damage, say from a fire or flood, “alters the physical integrity of the property,” the New York Times reports. Read more
Has your co-op registered to participate in National Voter Registration Day yet?
The November elections are less than 100 days away. Like most things in 2020, the election will look very different this year, but the need to practice our cooperative principles and values—including democratic participation and exercising voting rights—remains the same. Read more
Court Says Pandemic Losses Not Covered by Business Interruption Insurance
In a ruling sure to send shivers through many New York housing cooperatives and condominiums, a Michigan judge has thrown out a lawsuit by a restaurant owner who sought to recoup income lost during the coronavirus pandemic through his business interruption insurance policy. Judge Joyce Draganchuk, ruling on one of the first such cases in the nation, said that insurers must pay business interruption claims only if tangible physical damage, say from a fire or flood, “alters the physical integrity of the property,” the New York Times reports. Read more
Housing discrimination: It’s real and not just a tweet
The president’s recent tweets show how far we still have to go Read more
Housing Is a Worker Issue: Why the Labor Movement Should Support the ‘Beyond Recovery’ Campaign
The uprising for Black Lives has opened new possibilities for organizing. But besides fighting police brutality, unions and worker organizations can address racial injustice by organizing around the issues of workers’ everyday lives. Read more
New York State Legislature Considers COVID-19 Rent And Mortgage Relief Bill
The Rent and Mortgage Cancellation Act of 2020, introduced on July 10, 2020 by Assemblymember Yuh-Line Niou (D) and Senator Julia Salazar (D), proposes to cancel residential rent payments and mortgages for small homeowners (owners of residential properties with six or fewer units) accrued between March 7, 2020 and the end of New York’s ongoing state of emergency, plus an additional 90 days. Read more
NEW IDEAS for the up community COMMUNITY PLAN We need co-op housing;
We need living green walls. Studio City as always, the vanguard for well-planned community development. Read more
CALL TO ACTION – Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) for Housing Cooperatives
Good news! Housing cooperatives were included in the recent House passed Heroes Act. Although the Senate will not consider this specific legislation, they will include some provisions from it in a likely next stimulus package.
Senators Schumer and Gillibrand, as well as many NY representatives sent this letter to Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and Small Business Administrator Secretary Jovita Carranza seeking eligibility for housing cooperatives to be included in the PPP.
Now, we need your help. Please e-mail your Senators and ask them to include PPP eligibility for housing cooperatives in the next stimulus package. Please do it today and ask everyone in your cooperative to e-mail them too. To contact them, simply go to Democracy.io and send them the following message:
The Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)
The Paycheck Protection Program is a loan designed to provide a direct incentive for small businesses to keep their workers on the payroll. SBA will forgive loans if all employees are kept on the payroll for eight weeks and the money is used for payroll, rent, mortgage interest, or utilities.
Now is the Time to Take Radical Steps Toward Housing Equity
It’s time to think big about housing. No more evictions and foreclosures. Rent and mortgage cancellation on a grand scale. Twelve million new green housing units in the next 10 years. A massive reinvestment in housing under public control, resident control, and community control. Rent freezes, rent control, tenant protections, and anti-displacement measures across the nation. Read more
Op-Ed All I Want for Mother’s Day is Relief for All
When I was 4 years old, my mother made the difficult decision to leave Mexico City with me and my brother to reach the United States, for the promise of a better life. As a single mother, she was barely able to afford an apartment and she worked incredibly hard to provide me with a better chance of success in life. We lived in Spanish Harlem at first, but after my aunt was stabbed, we moved out to Bushwick where we thought it was safer. Read more
Valone Calls on Congress For Co-ops, Condos CARES Relief
Council Member Paul A. Vallone (D-Alley Pond Park, Bay Terrace, Bayside, College Point, Douglaston, East Elmhurst, Flushing, Fresh Meadows, Little Neck, Whitestone) announced on Friday he will introduce a resolution calling on Congress and President Trump to expand the CARES Act and Payroll Protection Program (PPP) to include considerations for housing cooperatives and condominiums.
Read more
Queens lawmaker introduces new legislation seeking to cancel rent and mortgage payments nationwide
As millions of tenants were unable to pay rent on April 1, and with no clear end to the COVID-19 crisis in sight, a Queens lawmaker is helping to introduce a new legislation to cancel rent and mortgage payments nationwide.
Congresswoman Grace Meng on April 20 announced the Rent and Mortgage Cancellation Act, which would constitute a full forgiveness of payment, with no accumulation of debt for renters or homeowners and no negative impact on their credit rating or rental history. Read more
Confusion Over COVID-19 Mortgage Relief Programs
Government relief for homeowners facing difficulties paying their mortgages has been a slow and confusing process: thousands of homeowners are spending several hours waiting to speak with their mortgage service providers and the options given may not be suitable for a household suffering from the loss of a significant portion of their income due to the novel coronavirus epidemic, says the Center for New York City Neighborhoods, a homeownership advocacy group. Read more
Ensuring Access to Needed Medications During the COVID-19 Pandemic
One of the challenges many people may face during the coronavirus pandemic is access to needed prescription and over-the-counter medications. Our tips below offer advice for how to get your medications, as well as find help affording them. Read more
Getting the Care You Need via Telemedicine
Keeping on top of your healthcare needs is now more important than ever, but due to the COVID-19 virus, you may be asked by your healthcare system or local physician’s office to avoid in-person visits. Avoiding in-person visits helps control the spread of the disease and ensures that the most critically ill receive frontline care. But just because you may not be able to see your healthcare provider in person does not mean that you should not seek out medical care. Read more
New York City’s affordable HDFC co-ops, explained
New York City’s affordable housing stock mostly consists of rental apartments, but for those who are in the market to buy, there is one reliable source for homeownership on a budget. Housing Development Fund Corporation cooperatives, better known as HDFC co-ops (which are also advertised as “income-restricted” or “restricted sale” apartments), are often priced much lower than a typical NYC apartment, but require buyers to meet certain income caps while also having significant financial assets on hand. Read more
Chicago: With East Garfield Park Ripe For Gentrification, Residents Draw Up Blueprint To Protect Themselves
The community-driven plan was created over the past year in response to rising rents and new development coming to the area.
The West Side may get a lot of bad press about gun violence and poverty, but legacy residents of East Garfield Park have always known their neighborhood is prime real estate. Just a 10-minute ride Downtown by the Green Line, the neighborhood is positioned within arm’s reach of the city’s major employment centers like the Kinzie Industrial Corridor, as well as some of Chicago’s best attractions like the United Center and the Garfield Park Conservatory. Read more
EEI Statement on Suspending Electric Service Disconnections
Edison Electric Institute (EEI) President Tom Kuhn today announced that all EEI member companies are suspending electricity disconnects for nonpayment nationwide. Many companies already have made this commitment in their local service territories. Read on (PDF)
NY Eviction Bill Raises Concerns For Residential Owners
Highlights
Coronavirus: What Older Adults Need to Know
The situation around the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is changing rapidly, and NCOA is taking proactive steps to share the best information we have to protect the public’s health, especially among older adults. Now is the time to stay informed and follow basic tips to protect yourself and those around you. Read more
Opinion: We Need Housing Guarantee for Brooklyn’s Working Families
In 1949, President Harry Truman signed the Housing Act to provide “a decent home and suitable living environment for every American family.” Now 70 years later, our country is in an affordable housing crisis and homeownership is at record lows. Access to housing is a human right and a quintessential part of the American Dream, and yet, for far too many Americans, rents are increasing at alarming rates and buying a home is completely out of reach. Read more
Hurricane Planning Tips
This page explains what actions to take when you receive a hurricane watch or warning alert from the National Weather Service for your local area. It also provides tips on what to do before, during, and after a hurricane. Read more.
Coalitions and Cooperation
NAHC regularly participates with coalitions of multi-family affordable housing organizations, cooperative organizations including the National Cooperative Bank, the National Cooperative Business Association and Credit Unions as well as consumer organizations including the Consumer Federation of America, in support of federal initiatives to benefit our members.
NAHC has joined coalitions in signing letters of support particularly to maintain (or increase) funding for affordable housing.
Stay up to date on the latest news and developments in cooperative housing.