AFFORDABLE HOUSING
Homelessness is a violation of our basic social right to affordable housing. Unless we have a decent place to live, we can hardly exercise our family, social, or political freedoms on a par with others.
During the Great Recession of 2008, millions of Americans were evicted and foreclosed upon, leaving them destitute. This was especially true of minorities, many targeted by mortgage lenders to take on unsustainable loans, whose forfeiture led to the destruction of their family wealth. No one should ever be evicted from or foreclosed upon in a personal residence, nor face utility cut-offs, due to an inability to make payments.
What We Need
We must provide eviction, foreclosure, and utility cut-off protection by requiring payment rescheduling so that landlords, mortgage lenders, and utilities can receive their payments while preventing families from suffering the dislocation of losing their residence and living without proper heat, air-conditioning, water, electricity, or broadband services. Guaranteed jobs, a fair minimum wage, and the fruits of employee empowerment all contribute to providing individuals with the secure stream of income they need to make rescheduled rent, mortgage, and utility payments at a pace that will not jeopardize the solvency of landlords, banks, or utilities.
Most critically, we must ensure that there is a sufficient supply of environmentally sound affordable housing, both in urban and rural areas. The Federal Job Guarantee will put people to work refurbishing and constructing such housing and help eliminate homelessness.