Selling Off Public Housing: A Human Rights Analysis of HUD’s New Funding Plan (March 2011 Update)
A joint endevour of the Campaign to Restore National Housing Rights and the National Economic and Social Rights Initiative, the March 2011 update of “Selling Off Public Housing: A Human Rights Analysis of HUD’s New Funding Plan” takes a fresh look with a human rights lens at the Obama Administration’s “signature initiative,” Transforming Rental Assistance (“TRA”), and its latest legislative form, the Rental Housing Revitalization Act of 2010 (“RHRA”), a lightly-edited version of HUD’s legislative proposal, the Preservation, Enhancement, and Transformation of Rental Assistance Act of 2010 (“PETRA”). RHRA was introduced into the 111th Congress on Dec. 1, 2010 by Representative Keith Ellison (D-MN). The Administration has promised it will be re-introduced in the 112th.
This issue brief explores the implications of RHRA, comparing public housing as it is today with public housing as it would be if RHRA were to be enacted by Congress. In particular the article the ways in which public housing – before and after RHRA – fulfill or undermine central components of the human right to housing, as well as respect resident participation and the need for accountability.
