Housing should be a basic source of stability, safety, and dignity—not a speculative asset class distorted by corruption, insider dealing, and Wall Street profiteering. For too long, housing policy has been shaped by developers, financiers, and lobbyists who profit from scarcity while working families pay the price. I support expanding affordable housing by repealing the Faircloth Amendment so cities can build public housing again, strengthening the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, permanently funding the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund, and using surplus public land to develop mixed-income, permanently affordable homes. Public housing should be a point of pride, not a casualty of political neglect driven by private interests.

 

I also support repairing and modernizing existing public housing, which has been left to decay because maintenance doesn’t generate profits for politically connected contractors. Addressing lead, mold, ventilation, elevators, plumbing, and crumbling infrastructure is not just a housing issue—it’s a public health and accountability issue. Through the Green New Deal for Public Housing, we can transform public housing into safe, healthy, zero-carbon homes while creating hundreds of thousands of good-paying union jobs each year. Housing policy should improve lives and rebuild the economy, not funnel money upward through no-bid contracts and deferred repairs.

 

Renters need strong protections to stay housed in a system increasingly tilted toward large landlords with lobbying power. I support limits on excessive rent hikes, a guaranteed right to legal counsel in eviction proceedings, bans on discrimination against tenants who use housing assistance, and strong anti-displacement policies so longtime residents are not pushed out when neighborhoods improve. Fair housing laws must be aggressively enforced to end discrimination in renting, lending, appraisals, and insurance—especially where regulatory capture has allowed biased and predatory practices to persist.

 

Homeownership should be attainable for working- and middle-class families, not crowded out by institutional investors gaming the system. I support mortgage relief, targeted tax benefits, lower property taxes, and policies that reduce overall housing costs so families can spend closer to 20% of their income on housing instead of today’s 30–50%. We must also stop Wall Street and private equity firms from buying up single-family homes by imposing bulk-purchase limits, first-look periods for owner-occupants, ownership transparency requirements, vacancy taxes, and higher taxes on non-owner-occupied properties. These reforms close loopholes that allow shell companies and speculative capital to distort local housing markets while helping first-time buyers compete through down-payment assistance and repair programs.

 

Finally, we must increase housing supply in smart, inclusive ways that serve people rather than profit-driven gatekeepers. That means zoning and land-use reforms that allow duplexes, triplexes, ADUs, and small apartment buildings in high-demand areas, fully accessible housing for seniors and people with disabilities, investments in rural and small-town housing, and climate-resilient construction that protects homes from floods, heat, and extreme weather. A fair housing system resists corruption, builds what communities actually need, protects people where they live, and puts families—not speculators and insiders—first.