The multiple levels of illegal immigration’s effects on housing and a 1,700-page report on a deadly building fire are part of this week’s Hits and Misses.
Miss: Saying It Ain’t So. Colorado officials owe the public a huge apology for their incompetent handling of the takeover of several apartment complexes in Aurora by the Venezuelan crime gang. The Denver Gazette revealed that the property management company for the apartment complexes alerted Aurora officials in early July about the gang’s activities, but nothing was done – until a viral video of gun-toting gang members prowling hallways went online in late August. But rather than acknowledge there was a crisis, officials in Aurora and neighboring Denver – along with Colorado Gov. Jared Polis – falsely claimed the crisis was being exaggerated before belatedly and sheepishly admitting there was a problem. Hopefully, Colorado voters will remember this when these politicians run for re-election. And speaking of illegal immigrants…
Miss: Conflated Crises. Former President Donald Trump announced this week he would ban illegal immigrants from obtaining home mortgages. However, the Wall Street Journal cited Urban Institute data in noting that only 5,000 and 6,000 mortgages of this kind were issued last year – much more common is real estate acquisitions by foreign buyers, which Trump does not oppose. The huge influx of illegal immigrants and the challenges facing the housing market are two of the biggest issues in this year’s election, but Trump erred in blending them together – and, for that matter, he didn’t bother to explain how he would enact such a ban, which is outside of Executive Branch authority. And while we’re on the subject of illegal immigrants…
Miss: Perhaps A Bit Too Generous. New York City’s Department of Homeless Services has quietly given 150 illegal immigrant families up to $4,000 each to leave the city’s shelter system and move into permanent housing. A Gothamist report revealed this unpublicized effort, which provides taxpayer money that can be used by the illegal immigrants for moving expenses, security deposits, first and last month’s rent, and other household supplies. It would appear that New York City’s government’s policy to illegal immigrants is based on the old show tune “Consider Yourself at Home.”
Miss: Other Odd Priorities. New Jersey’s state government is trying to lure the Philadelphia 76ers out of Pennsylvania with the promise of a major new arena that would be centerpiece of a mixed-use development in the city of Camden. While the project is expected to be self-financed by Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, the owner of the 76ers, it would be eligible for state tax incentives of up to $800 million. Furthermore, the office of Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, said it would work with the state legislature to enable the structuring of up to $500 million of special-purpose bonds supported by fees and surcharges on tickets, concessions, and parking to support the arena’s creation. Gee, if only Murphy was so bend-over-backwards generous with developers trying to build affordable housing in his state.
Miss: A Tragedy Still Awaiting Justice. Earlier this week, a nearly 1,700-page public inquiry report was released regarding the 2017 London Grenfell Tower blaze that killed 72 people in the UK’s worst residential building fire since World War II. According to Reuters, the report blamed the disaster on the companies involved in the maintenance and refit of the apartment tower, and it also faulted the companies that marketed its combustible cladding materials as safe. Also being blamed were the national and local authorities, industry and regulatory groups, and an ill-prepared fire brigade. But while British police said 58 people and 19 organizations are under investigation, there has yet to be a single indictment related to the tragedy.
Hit: Who’s to Blame? Our sole Hit this week goes to the Wall Street Journal editorial board for their commentary “The New Housing Inflation Scapegoat,” which offered a much-needed defense of the software company RealPage, which is being sued by the Department of Justice for supposedly colluding with landlords to jack up rents. The Journal’s editors remarked, “What’s really going on here is an attempt to distract voters from frustration over the Biden Administration’s inflationary policies … It doesn’t require a Ph.D. in economics to understand that ballooning rents are caused by demand exceeding supply. Higher interest rates have caused more Americans to rent while local government zoning and rent controls restrict supply. Landlords are also passing on higher insurance and maintenance costs. As usual, politicians blame businesses rather than fix their own misguided policies.” Hey, we couldn’t have said it better ourselves!
Phil Hall is editor of Weekly Real Estate News. He can be reached at [email protected].
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