Rent collections by San Francisco’s public housing agency fell precipitously in late 2019 and have continued to decline to less than half of what is owed, according to a San Francisco Public Press analysis — but the agency can’t explain why.
Author Archives: Nina Sparling
Nina Sparling is a reporter and audio producer based in San Francisco. She has written for outlets including the New York Times, the Paris Review, and Vogue. Her radio work has aired on NPR, KQED, CapRadio, and Alaska News Nightly. Nina earned a master's in journalism from the University of California at Berkeley.
Posted inEconomy & Business, Government & Politics, Housing
City Approves $2.7 Million Loan to Private Developer to Start Repairs at Plaza East
San Francisco officials have agreed to lend a private developer $2.7 million to make repairs at a public housing complex in the Western Addition.
Last week, the Citywide Affordable Housing Loan Committee, part of the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development, approved the loan to McCormack Baron Salazar, which owns and manages Plaza East Apartments. For years, residents have lived with leaking pipes, pest infestations and electrical fires.
Posted inCity Hall, Economy & Business, Government & Politics, Housing, Public Housing in Private Hands
HUD Denies Request to Demolish Plaza East
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development denied an application to raze and rebuild Plaza East Apartments, a 20-year-old public housing complex in the Western Addition, the agency confirmed.
The determination was made on March 30 but not publicly disclosed until Tuesday, when HUD officials were questioned by the Public Press. The move comes three months after the San Francisco Housing Authority submitted a demolition application, with Mayor London Breed’s endorsement.
Posted inCity Hall, Economy & Business, Housing, Public Housing in Private Hands
With Mayor’s Backing, Developer Asks to Demolish, Rebuild 20-Year-Old Public Housing
Federal officials are considering a proposal to allow a developer to tear down and rebuild a 20-year-old public housing complex in the Western Addition — a plan that does not address residents’ demands for repairs to health and safety issues in the current structures.
Posted inCoronavirus, Economy & Business, Government & Politics, Health, Homelessness, Housing, Law & Justice, Public Housing in Private Hands, Renters at Risk
Despite Pandemic, New Wave of Court-Ordered Evictions Displacing Poor Tenants
After an eight-month pause, court-ordered evictions in San Francisco have resumed, and they’re coming down hardest on some of the city’s most vulnerable residents. The Sheriff’s Department has conducted evictions at 33 addresses across the city since November 2020, according to documents obtained through a California Public Records Act request. More than half — 18 — involved tenants in permanent supportive housing.
Posted inCoronavirus, Economy & Business, Health, Housing, Law & Justice, Public Housing in Private Hands
Hundreds of SF Renters Threatened With Eviction During Pandemic
Landlords have tried to force hundreds of San Francisco renters from their homes during the coronavirus pandemic. From March 1 to Dec. 31, 2020, landlords filed close to half the number of eviction notices as in the same period a year earlier, even as state and federal moratoriums on pandemic-related evictions remain in effect.
Posted inBay Area, Housing, Public Housing in Private Hands
One-Quarter of Bay Area Tenants Say They Can’t Pay the Rent
As the pandemic stretches into its second year, an estimated 278,000 households, or roughly one-quarter of the Bay Area’s 1.1 million renters, have little or no confidence they will be able to make next month’s rent, according to a San Francisco Public Press analysis of Census Bureau data. An estimated 60,000 renters living in Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Mateo and San Francisco counties who were behind on their rent in mid-December said they feared eviction in the next 60 days.