Due to recent outcry of low- income tenants being evicted from their homes, District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser said that she's already working on to investigate the "D.C. Housing Authority's practice of flipping single-family homes in its inventory."
According to nbcwashington.com, Bowser said she'll make sure that housing authority practices are in line with her efforts of keeping available units for the low- income families.
Bowser's decision has been triggered by housing authorities' alleged scheme of gentrifying the tenants in the neighborhood by selling the houses to wealthy buyers and renovating it.
For them to investigate or scan whether an illegal eviction happened, the mayor hired different members to build a housing authority board. The board is independent and most of the funding came from Department of Housing and Urban Development in the U.S.
Investigations were sparked after reports of tenants being forced out from their homes reached the surface. In a report by equalvoiceforfamilies.org, several houses were bought and renovated for nearly $900,000 but many of them have been vacant for more than a year after residents were evicted.
The plan was to use the profit to renovate the existing low- income rental units as well as build new buildings. However, none of the plans have been started. The report also said that "some elderly tenants and their children have asked for an opportunity to purchase the homes, only to be rebuffed, even after spending thousands of dollars maintaining the rental properties."
D.C. Housing Authority had more than 300 public- housing circles but it was slowly being sold since the 1990s. Also, the report said that houses in the area were sold previously to low and middle- income buyers and even to non- profits that maintain the units as an affordable housing.
As the neighborhood progress, its low- income residents are being gentrified little by little by wealthy investors who kept on buying and renovating the units in their area.
What are your thoughts about Mayor Bowser's actions in investigating the alleged gentrification in the neighborhood? Sound it in the comments!
