The debate is playing out across the country as the Treasury Department begins reallocating some of the $46.5 billion in rental assistance from places slow to spend to others that are running out of funds.
The dilapidated Lakeside Pointe at Nora and Fox Club apartment complexes in Indianapolis could see major improvements soon, Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita announced Thursday.
Herbert “Bert” Whalen, who operated Oceanpointe Property Management in Indianapolis, engaged in a scheme to obtain millions of dollars from dozens of out-of-state investors, prosecutors said.
Lakeside Pointe at Nora apartment complex—under threat of a city nuisance lawsuit—has a new owner. The former owner owed more than $225,000 for 600-plus housing code violations at the complex.
The Treasury found that more than 40% of tenants getting help were Black and two-thirds of recipients were female-headed households.
In the 50 largest U.S. metro areas, median rent rose an astounding 19.3% from December 2020 to December 2021, according to a Realtor.com analysis of properties with two or fewer bedrooms. Indianapolis-area rents have seen a smaller, but still significant, jump.
City officials say they’re focused on a “test case” nuisance lawsuit and funding a range of programs to tackle persistent challenges with habitability, affordability and legal aid for tenants.
The city had been poised to file suit against the owner of troubled Nora-area apartment complex Lakeside Pointe, but is delaying legal action in hopes of a change in ownership.
The Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana and 20 other fair housing organizations across the country announced Monday that they have reached a $53 million agreement with Fannie Mae to settle a discrimination suit.
In Indianapolis, rents increased 9% last year, to $1,280 per month. But in some cities, rent jumped by more than 40%.
Conditions at Lakeside Pointe have been on the decline for years. Residents have reported going weeks without hot water, air conditioning and heating; raw sewage leaks; and a dozen fires.
Eviction filings in Indianapolis were 49% below average in August but just 7% below average in the first 11 days of December, according to Eviction Lab at Princeton University.
The number of households receiving emergency rental assistance has increased steadily in recent months, with no major increase in evictions despite the expiration of the federal eviction moratorium, the Treasury Department said.
The deal likely is worth around $4 billion. Mark Fields, Hertz’ interim CEO, said that Teslas are already arriving at the company’s sites and should be available for rental starting in November.
The court’s action late Thursday ends protections for roughly 3.5 million people in the United States who said they faced eviction in the next two months.
Smaller landlords with fewer than four units, who often don’t have the financing of larger property owners, were hit especially hard by the pandemic, with as many as 58% having tenants behind on rent, according to the National Association of Realtors.
The city’s IndyRent program—which launched last July with $15 million in funding and eventually grew to $96 million—has so far pushed out $53 million in rent payments to landlords of those seeking rental assistance.
Rents are rising, buoyed by strong demand as U.S. home prices push to new highs, leaving many would-be buyers no choice but to rent.
Only one day after the Biden administration issued a new policy protecting renters from eviction, a series of real estate and landlord groups is trying to invalidate it.
Congress was unable to pass legislation swiftly to extend the ban, which expired at midnight Saturday, and the Democratic leaders said it was now up to President Joe Biden’s administration to act.
