The Howard Center for Investigative Journalism
48 Articles
Customers walking out of a Walmart store during the COVID-19 pandemic
The Howard Center for Investigative Journalism
Essential and Exposed
Essential and Exposed
About Essential and Exposed

These stories were produced by the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism, part of the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, in collaboration with journalists from Boston University, the University of Arkansas and Stanford University. The mission…

The Howard Center for Investigative Journalism
Settlement in Idaho case strengthens homeless protections

Homeless people in Boise with nowhere else to sleep can no longer be arrested for doing so in public, under the terms of the settlement announced by the city and plaintiffs.

Margaret Szabo, 42, sits with her two daughters on the porch of their home in Richmond, Virginia, on Nov. 6. The Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority, which owns Szabo’s home, filed an eviction case against her for unpaid rent last fall. She said an aid organization paid the back rent, but she’s behind again in 2020. (Nick McMillan/Howard Center)
The Howard Center for Investigative Journalism
Public housing, the last refuge for the poor, threatens to kick out tenants for small debts

Public housing is supposed to be a solution to homelessness, not a cause of it. The Howard Center for Investigative Journalism analyzed four years of eviction data to find out why five public-housing authorities are taking so many of their clients to court.

Wyconda Clayton in her home at 2871 N. 45th Street in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, looks over a memorial honoring the sudden passing of three family members just months apart this year. Her mother Eula Clayton died April 14, God-sister Tarnisha Young died May 20, and her oldest sister Sarah Clayton died June 23. (Pat A. Robinson)
The Howard Center for Investigative Journalism
Milwaukee evictions spurred by COVID-19, longstanding racism and poverty

States across the country temporarily barred landlords from evicting tenants this year as the coronavirus reached the United States, forcing businesses to shutter and unemployment to spike. Wisconsin was one of the first states to lift its eviction moratorium on May 26.

The Myers family is receiving money for rent from The Landlord Tenant Relief Fund in Tulsa after getting an eviction notice. The fund paid their landlord four months’ rent after city officials and nonprofits collaborated to collect public and private money to keep vulnerable renters like the Myerses from being evicted during the pandemic. Five of the six family members -- from left, Duncan, 21, Riley, 9, parents Beth and Jack and Dylan, 20 -- gathered on the front porch of their Tulsa rental home recently. (Mike Simons)
The Howard Center for Investigative Journalism
A federal law tried to block evictions and prevent homelessness. Cracks appeared immediately.

A two-month investigation by the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism found that while the federal and state moratoriums dramatically decreased eviction filings in April and May, cracks in the federal law appeared immediately.

Massachusetts
The Howard Center for Investigative Journalism
Unable to evict, Massachusetts landlords avoid riskier tenants

The Massachusetts eviction moratorium is creating a deeper affordable housing crisis in the state, as landlords once willing to take on financially riskier tenants, like those with poor credit, balk at the prospect.

The Myers family is receiving money for rent from The Landlord Tenant Relief Fund in Tulsa after getting an eviction notice. The fund paid their landlord four months’ rent after city officials and nonprofits collaborated to collect public and private money to keep vulnerable renters like the Myerses from being evicted during the pandemic. Five of the six family members -- from left, Duncan, 21, Riley, 9, parents Beth and Jack and Dylan, 20 -- gathered on the front porch of their Tulsa rental home recently. (Mike Simons)
The Howard Center for Investigative Journalism
Tulsa landlords were offered rent if they didn’t evict. Few took the deal.

A program in Tulsa, Oklahoma, designed to stem evictions amid the pandemic fell flat when lawyers advised landlords the deal offering to pay back rent was too risky.

Yochebed Israel, 59, poses for a portrait inside her Tampa, Florida, apartment on Monday, Aug. 17, 2020. Israel, a nursing assistant, found an eviction notice on her door in May after being unable to pay rent since she contracted COVID-19 from her daughter in April, and could not return to work. “There’s a lot of despair in this situation,” Israel said. “Not only are you sick from COVID-19, you miss work, you miss your job, you miss getting paid, you miss a lot of things that dominoes into this situation.” (Ivy Ceballo)
The Howard Center for Investigative Journalism
Confusion over federal eviction moratorium led to selective enforcement

A two-month investigation by the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism found that while the federal and state moratoriums dramatically decreased eviction filings in April and May, cracks in the federal law appeared immediately.

The Massachusetts attorney general is asking that 70 illegal eviction cases be withdrawn from state housing court for violating either the federal eviction moratorium or the state consumer protection law. (Photo courtesy of the Office of the Attorney General)
The Howard Center for Investigative Journalism
Massachusetts’ strong tenant protections weren’t enough to stop evictions

A two-month investigation of the federal and Massachusetts moratoriums found holes in safeguards against evictions for Massachusetts tenants emerged soon after the laws took effect.