Housing News

Des Moines' Black applicants more than twice as likely to be denied home loans than their white peers, analysis shows
By Kim Norvell
August 29, 2021
"Being a homeowner in this country means so much to your credit, it means so much to the way people see you and look at you," said Jones, now a Realtor with RE/MAX Concepts in Windsor Heights. . . .

Iowa bill would give property tax break to boost home improvements in formerly redlined neighborhoods
By Kim Norvell
March 17, 2021
A bill moving through the Iowa Legislature would waive some property taxes for homeowners who make improvements in neighborhoods that deteriorated after redlining . . .

HUD Secretary says feds may sue Iowa over Section 8 housing bill
By Trevor Oates
March 19, 2021
The U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development says the Biden administration may sue Iowa if Governor Kim Reynolds signs a controversial housing bill . . .

Gov. Kim Reynolds signs law to let Iowa landlords refuse Section 8 vouchers
By Ian Richardson
April 30, 2021
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has signed a law ensuring landlords can turn away renters who receive assistance through the federal housing choice voucher program . . .

Neighborhoods We Will Not Share
January 20, 2020
In the mid-20th century, federal, state and local governments pursued explicit racial policies to create, enforce and sustain residential segregation. . .

HUD Secretary Asks America to Accept Housing Segregation
January 23, 2020
HUD Secretary Ben Carson took action earlier this month to give up on our nation’s 50-year legal commitment to housing integration.
In a proposed new rule, Secretary Carson supports the gutting . . .

Rezoning History: Influential Minneapolis Policy Shift Links Affordability, Equity
By Kathleen McCormick
January 16, 2020
With the arrival of 2020, Minneapolis becomes the first major U.S. city to implement a ban on single-family zoning in every neighborhood. For decades, single-family zoning . . .

Discrimination against black homebuyers persists. Here’s how one Northwestern grad and housing expert wants to fix it.
By DARCEL ROCKETT | CHICAGO TRIBUNE
JAN 28, 2020
Among Chicago’s many notable histories, one narrative in particular stems from real estate. Issues like redlining . . .

Housing Discrimination Made Summers Even Hotter
by LINDA POON
JANUARY 22, 2020
American cities face increasingly unbearable summers—but the heat isn’t distributed equally. Low-income and minority neighborhoods can get significantly warmer . . .

Realtors' group to roll out changes to fight housing discrimination
by Maura McDermott
January 17, 2020
The National Association of Realtors is making sweeping changes in its approach to housing discrimination. . .