housing

Rep. Aaron Pilkington, Rep. Kendon Underwood

Public housing work requirement clears Arkansas Legislature

BY: - February 23, 2023

The Arkansas Legislature sent a proposed law that would require able-bodied adults to work or volunteer part-time to receive federal housing assistance to Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ desk for approval Thursday. The House voted along party lines to pass the amended House Bill 1196, with 80 Republicans voting yes, 15 Democrats voting no, and two […]

Bruno Showers, senior policy analyst for Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, speaks against House Bill 1196 before the Senate City, County and Local Affairs Committee on Feb. 16, 2023. (Tess Vrbin/Arkansas Advocate)

Proposed work requirement for federal housing assistance advances in Arkansas Senate

BY: - February 16, 2023

The full Arkansas Senate next week will consider a proposed law that would require able-bodied adults to work or volunteer part-time to receive federal housing assistance. House Bill 1196 passed the Senate City, County and Local Affairs Committee with no dissent Thursday. Able-bodied adults between the ages 19 and 64 would have to work or […]

Renters of troubled Little Rock house will be required to appear in city court

BY: - February 10, 2023

The three tenants of a house on West 24th Street in Little Rock will be subpoenaed by their landlord in an ongoing dispute over living conditions, the landlord’s attorney told a judge in Little Rock environmental court on Thursday. City code inspectors cited landlord Imran Bohra and his company, Entropy Systems Inc., in June and […]

Rep. Aaron Pilkington, Rep. Kendon Underwood

Arkansas House approves work requirement for public housing recipients

BY: - February 6, 2023

A proposed Arkansas law that would require able-bodied adults to work or volunteer part-time to receive federal housing assistance will head to the Senate after passing the House in a party-line vote Monday. Adults between the ages 19 and 64, except people with disabilities and participants in drug and alcohol treatment programs, would have to […]

Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin greets Big Country Chateau tenants (L-R) Clara Edmonston, Delores McDaniel and Jay Richard at a Jan. 26, 2023, tenants' rally in front of Little Rock City Hall. (Photo by Sonny Albarado)

Judge grants request to freeze assets, name receiver for Little Rock apartments

BY: - February 4, 2023

(This story was updated by Sonny Albarado on Feb. 4, 2023.) A Pulaski County circuit judge on Friday froze the assets of the owners of the troubled Big Country Chateau apartments in Little Rock and issued a temporary restraining order to protect tenants. Judge Cara Connors also granted Attorney General Tim Griffin’s emergency request to […]

Proposed work requirement for federal housing assistance advances in Arkansas House

BY: - February 2, 2023

A legislative committee approved a proposed Arkansas law on Wednesday that would require able-bodied adults to work or volunteer part-time to receive federal housing assistance. House Bill 1196 passed on a split vote after state lawmakers and witnesses debated the legality of the proposal and the feasibility of implementing it. Public housing benefits are administered […]

Health and safety risks at Little Rock house persist, tenant says

BY: - January 26, 2023

Terry Lauderdale and his two roommates live in a camper in the backyard of the house they rent on West 24th Street in Little Rock. The house itself is no longer livable because of nonworking drains and faucets, a broken water heater, and holes in the walls and ceilings, Lauderdale said. He is fed up […]

Conway transitional housing program to start in late 2023

BY: - December 29, 2022

Phillip Fletcher knew he had to start working on a transitional housing program in Conway after his friend Gary Harrison died in January 2016. Fletcher is the executive director of City of Hope Outreach, a community development organization he founded in 2007. Harrison lived in a trailer with a roommate, and they had a portable […]

House owned by landlord previously sued by AG no longer risks tenants’ life and safety, lawyer says

BY: - December 23, 2022

The house on West 24th Street in Little Rock where Terry Lauderdale and his two roommates live has had its problems since they moved in almost a year ago, he said. What caused the most distress for the tenants and caught the attention of city code inspectors was exposed electrical wiring. “A puppy bit into […]

Sunrise hits the side of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next to the West Wing of the White House. (Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

White House keys in on mayors and mayors-elect for D.C. forum on federal funding

BY: - December 15, 2022

WASHINGTON — Mayors from throughout the United States will sit down with senior Biden administration officials Friday for a half-day forum on how their cities can access resources within the COVID-19 aid bill, bipartisan infrastructure law and Democrats’ signature health care and climate change package known as the Inflation Reduction Act.  The meetings, which will […]

In November, Colorado voters passed Prop 123, which will allow 0.1% of the state income tax rate to be used to increase the affordable housing stock among other provisions to help the unhoused. This man, who was living in an encampment in Boulder last year, said he had been on a housing wait list for a long time. (Derek Miles for Colorado Newsline)

Voters embraced affordable housing initiatives. Advocates say Congress should do the same.

BY: - December 15, 2022

Voters in Colorado approved a statewide affordable housing initiative in November, while voters in nine cities across the country OK’d measures to finance the construction of affordable housing, preserve existing rental properties and support renters. But as housing costs soar, analysts and advocates say more needs to be done and argue that federal action is […]

Man with face mask and blue shirt and gloves n front of white wall with mold

State settles 2019 lawsuit against Pulaski County landlord over health, safety risks

BY: - December 8, 2022

This brief has been updated at 2:15 p.m. on Dec. 8, 2022, with additional information about the settlement. The Arkansas Attorney General’s Office settled a lawsuit against a Little Rock and North Little Rock landlord in September, prohibiting the individual and his company from leasing units that risk the health and safety of the tenants. […]