Add Your Organization to a Letter Urging Congress to Enact the Bipartisan "Eviction Crisis Act" (All States)
The bipartisan "Eviction Crisis Act" (S.2182), introduced by Senators Michael Bennet (D-CO) and Rob Portman (R-OH), and its House companion bill "Stable Families Act" from Representative Ritchie Torres (D-NY) would create a permanent emergency rental assistance program to provide financial assistance and stability services to low-income households facing an unexpected economic shock. If passed, the cost-effective tools established by this bill would ensure that households are stabilized quickly and effectively before facing the risk of eviction and, in worst cases, homelessness. Fill out the form below by the September 30 deadline to add your organization to NLIHC's letter urging Congress to enact the bipartisan "Eviction Crisis Act." Please note: This is an ORGANIZATIONAL sign-on letter, and your organization, not your individual name, will be listed as an endorser. If you are an individual not associated with an organization, please contact your member of Congress directly to weigh in on this issue. |
Add Your Organization to the ERASE Letter to the Biden Administration Urging the Release of Disaggregated Demographic Data for All State and Local Emergency Rental Assistance Programs (All States)
Since the summer of 2021, the ERASE cohort has been working to ensure that ERA funds reach the lowest-income renters with the greatest need for assistance, especially Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) and other marginalized people and communities. One barrier the ERASE Cohort has faced in their work is access to state and local ERA program data. State and local level demographic data is a key tool in supporting the equitable distribution of ERA by allowing housing advocates to identify any disparities that may exist, determine where outreach and engagement efforts are best targeted for the remaining ERA funds, and ensure that equity is at the forefront of future planning efforts. The ERASE Cohort advocated for the release of state and local ERA program demographic data during our January 6 Federal Partners meeting. Building off this recommendation, ERASE Cohort members have drafted a joint letter to the Biden Administration further urging them to make public disaggregated demographic data for all state and local emergency rental assistance programs. As an ERASE Cohort member, please join us in this request by filling out the form below to add your organization to the ERASE Cohort's letter. Please note: This is an ORGANIZATIONAL sign-on letter, and your organization, not your individual name, will be listed as an endorser. |
Call on Congress to Strengthen & Enforce Renter Protections (All States)
Racial inequities in all areas of life are deeply rooted in housing segregation, discrimination, and inequity. The prominent power imbalance between renters and landlords puts renters at greater risk of housing instability, harassment, and homelessness, further fueling racial inequity. Affordable, stable, and accessible housing and robust housing choice are necessary to foster just and equitable communities. Contact your members of Congress and urge them to establish vital renter protections renter protections. Instructions:
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Ask Congress for Increased Housing Investments in Fiscal Year 2023 (All States)
State and local governments and the communities they serve rely on federal resources to meet the housing, homelessness, and community development needs of their communities. However, Congress has underfunded these resources for decades. Contact your members of Congress and urge them to:
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Add Your Organization to Letter Urging Congress to Invest in Affordable Housing and Community Development Programs in Fiscal Year 2023 (All States)
State and local governments and the communities they serve rely on federal resources to meet the housing, homelessness, and community development needs of their communities. However, Congress has underfunded these resources for decades, and the staggering increase in rents across the country requires significantly increased funding to maintain the current level of people being served by vital HUD and USDA programs. Fill out the form below by the September 30 deadline to add your organization to the Campaign for Housing and Community Development Funding's letter urging Congress to work together to ensure affordable housing and community development programs receive the highest allocation of discretionary funds possible in fiscal year 2023. -- Read the full text of the letter here. -- Please note: This is an ORGANIZATIONAL sign-on letter, and your organization, not your individual name, will be listed as an endorser. If you are an individual not associated with an organization, please contact your member of Congress directly to weigh in on this issue. |
Ask Your Members of Congress to Support the "Our Homes Our Votes Act" (All States)
The Our Homes Our Votes Act (H.R. 2215), introduced by Representatives Garcia (D-IL) and Scanlon (D-PA), would allow residents of federally subsidized housing to register to vote as they sign their lease by adding federally subsidized housing to the National Voter Registration Act (better known as the Motor Voter Law). The bill makes it clear that all public housing agencies and other housing providers who use federal housing subsidies are expected to conduct voter registration activities at lease up, reducing voting barriers for some renters. Click here to learn more. Contact your members of Congress and urge them to support the Our Homes Our Votes Act! Instructions:
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Let Congress Know Your Organization Supports Fast, Transparent, and Effective Disaster Recovery Funding (All States)
Fill out the form below to add your organization in support of the bipartisan Reforming Disaster Recovery Act and help ensure every disaster survivor receives the assistance they need to fully recover. Background: NLIHC and its Disaster Housing Recovery Coalition (DHRC) of more than 850 local, state, and national organizations support the Reforming Disaster Recovery Act, introduced by Senators Brian Schatz (D-HI), Susan Collins (R-ME), Todd Young (R-IN), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Representative Al Green (D-TX). If enacted, the Reforming Disaster Recovery Act would permanently authorize the Community Development Block Grant - Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program, which provides states, tribes, and communities with flexible, long-term recovery resources needed to rebuild affordable housing and infrastructure after a disaster. The bill also provides important safeguards and tools to help ensure that federal disaster recovery efforts reach all impacted households, including the lowest income and most marginalized survivors who are often hardest-hit by disasters and have the fewest resources to recover. Completing this form adds your organization to a growing list of groups supporting this important bill. The list will be shared with congressional offices as a part of advocacy efforts.
Please note: This is an ORGANIZATIONAL sign-on form, and your organization, not your individual name, will be listed as an endorser. |
Tell Congress to Advance Historic Housing Investments! (All States)
Negotiations have restarted over a scaled-down reconciliation package, presenting a once-in-a-generation opportunity to advance the bold, long-term solutions needed to address the nation's affordable housing crisis. Urge your members of Congress to ensure any reconciliation package includes robust affordable housing investments targeted to people with the greatest needs, including funding for NLIHC's top priorities. Instructions:
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Urge Your Members of Congress to Join Dear Colleague Letter in Support of HoUsed Campaign’s Infrastructure Priorities! (All States)
Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Representative Ritchie Torres (D-NY) are circulating a "Dear Colleague" Letter urging congressional leaders to include the HoUSed campaign's top priorities in any infrastructure package:
Please email and call your members of Congress today and ask them to sign onto this Dear Colleague letter to show their support for including these top priorities! Instructions:
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Add Your Organization to a Letter Urging HUD to Increase Access to Federally Assisted Housing for People with a Conviction History (All States)
Fill out the form below to add your organization to NLIHC's letter urging HUD to Increase Access to Federally Assisted Housing for People with a Conviction History Millions of people with a conviction history are routinely denied access to a safe place to call home because of their involvement with the criminal-legal system. Public Housing Authorities (PHAs) provide vital affordable housing resources for low-income people, but too often PHAs impose barriers to housing access that lock people with a conviction history out of the opportunity to live in federally assisted housing. The systemic bias inherent to the criminal-legal system has led Black, Latino, and Native people, as well as people with disabilities and members of the LGBTQ community, to be disproportionately impacted by these barriers. When people with a conviction history are unable to find safe, affordable housing, they are at an increased risk of housing instability, homelessness, and ultimately recidivism. Much of HUD’s guidance on evaluating current and potential tenants is advisory rather than mandatory, giving PHAs and project owners broad discretion in screening out tenants with a conviction history. HUD’s planned update to the Public Housing Occupancy guidebook presents the opportunity for a complete revision to HUD’s admission policies so they align with HUD’s 2015 and 2016 guidance for PHAs and owners of federally assisted housing on the use of conviction and arrest records in tenant screening. These changes would help mitigate the collateral consequences of a conviction history and significantly expand housing access.
Please note: This is an ORGANIZATIONAL sign-on letter, and your organization, not your individual name, will be listed as an endorser. This letter will remain open until May 28. |
Add Your Organization to a Letter Urging Congress to Enact Bold, Long-term Solutions (All States)
Fill out the form below to add your organization to the HoUSed campaign's letter urging Congress to quickly enact the bold, long-term solutions included in the Build Back Better Act . The time is now: Nationwide, there is a shortage of nearly 7 million affordable and available homes for the lowest income renters. As rents continue to rise and wages remain stagnant, there are now zero counties in the U.S. where a minimum wage earner working full-time can afford a two-bedroom apartment. There are numerous proven solutions that can address the affordability crisis, but current funding levels from Congress leave 3 out of 4 eligible households receiving no assistance at all. Specifically, the economic recovery package includes:
Join us in calling on Congress to quickly enact these new resources! Please note: This is an ORGANIZATIONAL sign-on letter, and your organization, not your individual name, will be listed as an endorser. |
Ask Congress to Pass Final Spending Package for Fiscal Year 2022 (All States)
The House and Senate have reached a deal for Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 to fund affordable housing and community development programs at $4 billion above FY21 -- let's get this across the finish line! Use the email template below to urge your members of Congress to pass this final FY22 spending package as quickly as possible, and thank key members for ensuring increased funding for housing and community development programs! (Key members include: Senators Brian Schatz (D-HI) and Susan Collins (R-ME) and Representatives David Price (D-NC) and Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL)) Instructions:
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Add Your Organization to Letter Urging Congress to Invest in Affordable Housing and Community Development Programs in Fiscal Year 2022 (All States)
State and local governments and the communities they serve rely on federal resources to meet the infrastructure needs of their communities, such as community development and accessible, affordable housing. Increased investments are ever more critical this year as families struggle to make ends meet and our nation's affordable housing crisis worsens due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Fill out the form below to add your organization to the Campaign for Housing and Community Development Funding's letter urging Congress to work together to ensure affordable housing and community development programs receive the highest allocation of discretionary funds possible in fiscal year 2022. Read the full text of the letter here. Please note: This is an ORGANIZATIONAL sign-on letter, and your organization, not your individual name, will be listed as an endorser. If you are an individual not associated with an organization, please call or email your member of Congress directly to weigh in on this issue (find their contact info here). |
Add Your Organization to a Letter Urging the Biden Administration to Extend the Federal Eviction Moratorium (All States)
Fill out the form below to add your organization to NLIHC's letter urging the Biden administration to extend, improve, and enforce the federal eviction moratorium. Background: When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) eviction moratorium expires on March 31, tens of millions of low-income renters will be at risk of losing their homes, and with them, their ability to keep themselves and their families safe and healthy. The Biden administration must issue an Executive Order to extend, enforce, and improve the moratorium through the duration of the pandemic.
Please note: This is an ORGANIZATIONAL sign-on letter, and your organization, not your individual name, will be listed as an endorser. This letter will remain open until March 15. |
Tell Congress to Support the Housing Survivors of Major Disasters Act (All States)
Please use the email template below to contact your members of Congress and ask them to support legislation like the Housing Survivors of Major Disasters Act from the 116th Congress. It would address barriers that prevent low-income households from accessing FEMA assistance and provide temporary rental assistance and wrap-around services to people displaced by disasters through the Disaster Housing Assistance Program. Instructions:
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Tell Congress to Support Proven Solutions to End Homelessness (All States)
Please use the email template below to contact your members of Congress and ask them to support solutions that get at the crux of the housing affordability and homelessness crisis in our country such as those in the Ending Homelessness Act from the 116th Congress. Instructions:
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Ask Congress to Support the Fair Chance at Housing Act (All States)
Please use the email template below to contact your members of Congress and ask them to support legislation like the Fair Chance at Housing Act from the 116th Congress which would reform the ways in which public housing authorities and owners of federally-assisted housing screen out applicants or evict tenants based on their involvement with the criminal justice system. Instructions:
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Ask Congress to Take Action to Preserve Public Housing (All States)
Please use the email template below to contact your members of Congress and ask them to preserve public housing through measures such as the Public Housing Emergency Response Act from the 116th Congress. Instructions:
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Urge Congress to Support the Reforming Disaster Recovery Act (All States)
Please use the email template below to contact your members of Congress and ask them to support legislation like the Reforming Disaster Recovery Act. It would permanently authorize and reform the federal government’s primary long-term disaster rebuilding program, the Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery program, which provides states and communities with the flexible resources needed to rebuild affordable housing and infrastructure after a disaster. Instructions:
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Tell Congress to Increase Funding for the National Housing Trust Fund (All States)
Please use the email template below to contact your members of Congress and urge them to support a significant increase in funding for the national Housing Trust Fund (HTF) through legislation like the Fulfilling the Promise of the Housing Trust Fund Act. The HTF provides states resources to build and preserve rental homes affordable to the lowest-income people in America. Instructions:
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Support Renter Tax Credit Proposals (All States)
Please use the email template below to contact your members of Congress and urge them to support renters' tax credits to bridge the gap between incomes and rental housing, such as the Rent Relief Act and the Housing, Opportunity, Mobility, and Equity (HOME) Act from the 116th Congress. Instructions:
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Urge Congress to Establish a Permanent Emergency Rental Assistance Fund (All States)
The bipartisan Eviction Crisis Act would create new tools to address the devastating impacts of evictions on individuals and families and create a foundation for cost-effective prevention in the future. Among these tools is the creation of an Emergency Assistance Fund -- a national stabilization fund aimed to help low-income households absorb an unexpected economic shock and remain stably housed. Learn more here. Contact your members of Congress below and ask them to support the Eviction Crisis Act by signing on as a co-sponsor, or thank them if they already have! Instructions:
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Tell Congress to Expand the Availability of Rental Assistance (All States)
The bipartisan Family Stability and Opportunity Vouchers Act would largely eliminate homelessness among families with young children and substantially reduce the number of children growing up in areas of concentrated poverty by creating an additional 500,000 housing vouchers specifically designed with these goals in mind. Learn more here. Contact your members of Congress below and ask them to support the Family Stability and Opportunity Vouchers Act by signing on as a co-sponsor, or thank them if they already have! Instructions:
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Urge Congress to Make Improvements to Deeply Target the Housing Credit (All States)
Please use the email template below to contact your members of Congress and urge them to support legislation like the Affordable Housing Tax Credit Improvement Act which would expand the Housing Credit to better serve people with the lowest incomes and rural and tribal communities. Instructions:
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Tell Congress to Include Housing Investments in Infrastructure Package (All States)
Please use the email template below to contact your members of Congress and urge them to include housing investments in any infrastructure package, including $70 billion to repair public housing and $5 billion for the national Housing Trust Fund as included in Representative Maxine Waters' Housing is Infrastructure Act introduced in the 116th Congress. Instructions:
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Tell Congress to Protect and Expand the National Housing Trust Fund (All States)
2019 will be an important year for protecting and expanding the national Housing Trust Fund (HTF), the first new resource in a generation dedicated to building and preserving homes affordable to the lowest income people in America. More than 1,900 national, statewide, regional, and local organizations have signed onto a letter calling on Congress to dramatically increase funding to the HTF. If your organization is not already a signatory, endorse the campaign and sign the letter by filling out the online form below. Please note that this is an ORGANIZATIONAL sign-on letter, and your organization, not your individual name, will be listed as an endorser. Both the Senate Banking Committee and the Trump administration are likely to unveil new proposals in March to reform the U.S. housing finance system. These proposals will include dramatically altering or replacing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the funding sources for the HTF. There will also be calls this year for significant new infrastructure investments, another opportunity to expand funding for the HTF. Housing – especially for the lowest income households – is infrastructure. Advocates should sign your organizations onto the letter and send the email below to your senators and representatives today, urging them to commit to expanded funding for the HTF as part of a broader commitment to housing affordability in any housing finance reform legislation and in any new infrastructure investment legislation. There are also threats to ongoing funding for the HTF. The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) regulates Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and new FHFA Acting Director Joseph Otting recently signaled he would be considering “all options” when asked about funding for the HTF. Mark Calabria, President Trump’s nominee for FHFA director, gave promising answers to questions about protecting HTF funding at his confirmation hearing on February 14, but until Dr. Calabria is confirmed and beyond, it remains crucially important for advocates to demonstrate robust support for the HTF. The campaign letter reads as follows: To Members of Congress, We, the undersigned organizations, write to express our support for the national Housing Trust Fund (HTF) and to urge Congress to protect and expand this critical resource. The HTF is the first new federal housing resource in a generation, and it is exclusively targeted to help build and preserve housing that is affordable to people with the lowest incomes. In the first three years of HTF, $659.8 million has been allocated to states. Because the HTF is administered as a block grant, each state has the flexibility to decide how to best use HTF resources to address its most pressing housing needs. Most states have chosen to use their HTF investment to build and preserve affordable rental housing for extremely low income veterans, seniors, people with disabilities or special needs, and people experiencing homelessness. While these initial rounds of funding are an important first step, far more resources are necessary to meet the need. In every state and community, growing numbers of extremely low income renters are struggling to make ends meet. According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, there is a shortage of 7.2 million rental homes affordable to the nation’s 11.2 million extremely low income renters. This means that for every 100 extremely low income households, there are just 35 rental homes that are affordable and available to them. As a result, 71% of extremely low income households are severely cost burdened, paying more than half of their limited income on rent. These families are forced to make difficult choices between paying rent and buying groceries, seeing a doctor, or saving for college or a rainy day. In the worst cases, they become homeless. In 2014, Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee voted in support of housing finance legislation, known as Johnson-Crapo, which included a provision to increase funding for the HTF to an estimated $3.5 billion annually, making a significant contribution to ending homelessness and housing poverty without competing with other important HUD programs for appropriated funds. To continue to build bipartisan support for housing finance reform legislation, the HTF must be protected and expanded and the HTF provision included in the Johnson-Crapo bill should be the starting point for any future legislation considered by Congress. Investments through the HTF are more important now than ever before. We urge you to work with your colleagues to protect and expand the HTF in housing finance reform legislation, as part of a broader commitment to access and affordability throughout the housing market, to serve more families with the greatest needs. Sincerely, |
Advocacy Needed for Next COVID-19 Relief Package (All States)
Congress is moving quickly to pass the next COVID-19 relief package which includes nearly $50 billion in essential housing and homelessness assistance. Now is a critical time to reach out to your members of Congress to get this package across the finish line. Use the template below to contact your members of Congress and urge them to vote to approve these critical investments. For more details on the housing and homelessness provisions in the relief package, see NLIHC's factsheet. Instructions:
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Tell Congress to Support Bold Solutions like the American Housing and Economic Mobility Act (All States)
Please use the email template below to contact your members of Congress and urge them to support ambitious proposals like the American Housing and Economic Mobility Act that directly addresses the severe shortage of affordable rental homes for people with the lowest incomes. Instructions:
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