Manhattan

Tenant Lawsuit Against Mega-Landlord Gains Steam

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When The Pinnacle Group purchased the building where Kim Powell and her family were living in 1997, she and her family hoped their 19 years of housing woes might finally come to an end. Their dispute with the building’s former owner had ended with a victory: a judge ordered their rent reduced $53 per month until necessary repairs were made. All they needed now was for Pinnacle to comply with that order, which is exactly what Powell says the company didn’t do. Not only would Pinnacle resist the order for the next 12 years – raising her rent to $705 and suing her for failing to pay it – they would also delay repairs and frequently fail to supply heat and hot water, according to a lawsuit that Powell and eight fellow tenants filed against the company in 2007. The company even installed three feet from Powell’s door a device, Powell believed, to spy on her.

Bronx

HUD Proposes Landmark Changes to Public Housing

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In a move signaling the biggest changes since the advent of public housing 70 years ago, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development told Congress last week that it wants to radically overhaul how the nation houses its poorest citizens.The proposed changes aim to increase the social and physical mobility of public housing residents and turn existing public housing developments into mixed income communities with market rate tenants. The changes also aim to attract private investment to those existing public housing developments. Such investment would help pay for costly, long-delayed repairs, which the agency projects total $20 billion. Public housing that receives such investment would remain under the control of the local housing authority for 30 years.In testimony before the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee last week, HUD Commissioner Shaun Donovan outlined the Preservation, Enhancement and Transition of Rental Assistance Act (PETRA). Under the voluntary program, local housing authorities would no longer get one stream of federal funding to run dedicated developments and another to administer portable voucher programs. Instead all public housing residents who meet income limits would be given rental vouchers.