New research found that 35% of families in the United States that work full-time year-round do not have enough money to cover the costs of basic needs.

The study was conducted by researchers at Brandeis University’s diversitydatakids.org program at the Institute for Child, Youth and Family Policy.

Researchers said more than half of full-time working Black and Hispanic families cannot afford basic needs. The study showed that 25% of white families and 23% of Asian and Pacific Islander families who work full-time cannot afford basic needs.

According to the study, the situation is especially dire for low-income families with children. The researchers found that 77% of those who work full time do not earn enough to cover housing, food, and child care.

The researchers said that in order for families to afford the necessities, they should be making about $11.00 more per hour.

Black and Hispanic families would need to earn more than $12.00 per hour, the researchers said.

“Full-time work alone isn’t enough to cover the everyday essentials most families need to support themselves, which creates significant financial hurdles to support children,” said Pamela Joshi, Ph.D., senior research scientist and lead study author. “We’re seeing that full-time work provides even fewer necessary resources to Black and Hispanic families. That’s a problem because it drives inequities in child well-being. These results are a wake-up call for decision makers to prioritize policies that address income inequality and racial and ethnic equity and extend real opportunities for economic self-sufficiency.”

Entering court using a walker, a doctor's note clutched in his hand, 70-year-old Dana Williams, who suffers from serious heart problems, hypertension and asthma, pleaded to delay eviction from his two-bedroom apartment in Atlanta.

Although sympathetic, the judge said state law required him to evict Williams and his 25-year-old daughter, De'mai Williams, in April because they owed $8,348 in unpaid rent and fees on their $940-a-month apartment.

They have been living in limbo ever since.

They moved into a dilapidated Atlanta hotel room with water dripping through the bathroom ceiling, broken furniture and no refrigerator or microwave. But at $275 a week, it was all they could afford on Williams' $900 monthly social security check and the $800 his daughter gets biweekly from a state agency as her father's caretaker.

"I really don't want to be here by the time his birthday comes," said De'mai Williams in August. "For his health, it's just not right."

The Williams family is among millions of tenants from New York state to Las Vegas who have been evicted or face imminent eviction.

After a lull during the pandemic, eviction filings by landlords have come roaring back, driven by rising rents and a long-running shortage of affordable housing. Most low-income tenants can no longer count on pandemic resources that had kept them housed, and many are finding it hard to recover because they haven't found steady work or their wages haven't kept pace with the rising cost of rent, food and other necessities.

Homelessness, as a result, is rising.

"Protections have ended, the federal moratorium is obviously over, and emergency rental assistance money has dried up in most places," said Daniel Grubbs-Donovan, a research specialist at Princeton University's Eviction Lab.

"Across the country, low-income renters are in an even worse situation than before the pandemic due to things like massive increases in rent during the pandemic, inflation and other pandemic-era related financial difficulties," he said.

Eviction filings are more than 50% higher than the pre-pandemic average in some cities, according to the Eviction Lab, which tracks filings in nearly three dozen cities and 10 states. Landlords file around 3.6 million eviction cases every year.

Among the hardest hit is Houston, where rates were 56% higher in April and 50% higher in May. In Minneapolis/St. Paul, rates rose 106% in March, 55% in April and 63% in May. Nashville was 35% higher and Phoenix 33% higher in May; Rhode Island was up 32% in May.

The latest data mirrors trends that started last year, with the Eviction Lab finding nearly 970,000 evictions filed in locations it tracks — a 78.6% increase compared to 2021 when much of the country was following an eviction moratorium. By December, eviction filings were nearly back to pre-pandemic levels.

At the same time, rent prices nationwide are up about 5% from a year ago and 30.5% above 2019, according to the real estate company Zillow. There are few places for displaced tenants to go, with the National Low Income Housing Coalition estimating a 7.3 million shortfall of affordable units nationwide.

Many vulnerable tenants would have been evicted long ago if not for a safety net created during the pandemic.

The federal government, as well as many states and localities, issued moratoriums during the pandemic that put evictions on hold; most have now ended. There was also $46.5 billion in federal Emergency Rental Assistance that helped tenants pay rent and funded other tenant protections. Much of that has been spent or allocated, and calls for additional resources have failed to gain traction in Congress.

"The disturbing rise of evictions to pre-pandemic levels is an alarming reminder of the need for us to act — at every level of government — to keep folks safely housed," said Democratic U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, urging Congress to pass a bill cracking down on illegal evictions, fund legal help for tenants and keep evictions off credit reports.

Housing courts are again filling up and ensnaring the likes of 79-year-old Maria Jackson.

Jackson worked for nearly two decades building a loyal clientele as a massage therapist in Las Vegas, which has seen one of the country's biggest jumps in eviction filings. That evaporated during the pandemic-triggered shutdown in March 2020. Her business fell apart; she sold her car and applied for food stamps.

She got behind on the $1,083 monthly rent on her one-bedroom apartment and, owing $12,489 in back rent, was evicted in March. She moved in with a former client about an hour northeast of Las Vegas.

"Who could imagine this happening to someone who has worked all their life?" Jackson asked.

Last month she found a room in Las Vegas for $400 a month, paid for with her $1,241 monthly social security check. It's not home, but "I'm one of the lucky ones," she said.

"I could be in a tent or at a shelter right now."

In upstate New York, evictions are rising after a moratorium lifted last year. Forty of the state's 62 counties had higher eviction filings in 2022 than before the pandemic, including two where eviction filings more than doubled compared to 2019.

"How do we care for the folks who are evicted ... when the capacity is not in place and ready to roll out in places that haven't experienced a lot of eviction recently?" said Russell Weaver, whose Cornell University lab tracks evictions statewide.

Housing advocates had hoped the Democrat-controlled state legislature would pass a bill requiring landlords to provide justification for evicting tenants and limit rent increases to 3% or 1.5 times inflation. But it was excluded from the state budget, and lawmakers failed to pass it before the legislative session ended this month.

"Our state legislature should have fought harder," said Oscar Brewer, a tenant organizer facing eviction from the apartment he shares with his 6-year-old daughter in Rochester.

In Texas, evictions were kept down during the pandemic by federal assistance and moratoriums. But as protections went away, housing prices skyrocketed in Austin, Dallas and elsewhere, leading to a record 270,000 eviction filings statewide in 2022.

Advocates were hoping the state legislature might provide relief, directing some of the $32 billion budget surplus into rental assistance. But that hasn't happened.

"It's a huge mistake to miss our shot here," said Ben Martin, a research director at the nonprofit Texas Housers. "If we don't address it now, the crisis is going to get worse."

Still, some pandemic protections are being made permanent and having an impact on eviction rates. Nationwide, 200 measures have passed since January 2021, including legal representation for tenants, sealing eviction records and mediation to resolve cases before they reach court, said the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

These measures are credited with keeping eviction filings down in several cities, including New York City and Philadelphia — 41% below pre-pandemic levels in May for the former and 33% for the latter.

A right-to-counsel program and the fact that housing courts aren't prosecuting cases involving rent arrears are among the factors keeping New York City filings down.

In Philadelphia, 70% of the more than 5,000 tenants and landlords who took part in the eviction diversion program resolved their cases. The city also set aside $30 million in assistance for those with less than $3,000 in arrears and started a right-to-counsel program, doubling representation rates for tenants.

The future is not so bright for Williams and his daughter, who remain stuck in their dimly-lit hotel room. Without even a microwave or nearby grocery stores, they rely on pizza deliveries and snacks from the hotel vending machine.

Williams used to love having his six grandchildren over for dinner at his old apartment, but those days are over for now.

"I just want to be able to host my grandchildren," he said, pausing to cough heavily. "I just want to live somewhere where they can come and sit down and hang out with me."

___

Casey reported from Boston. AP writer Rio Yamat in Las Vegas contributed.

Finding affordable and workforce housing continues to price many renters out of many parts of the U.S. But, a real estate expert has some advice to try and lower the price as costs skyrocket.

In Florida, Palm Beach County leaders have said that monthly rent is on the rise by as much as 50%. That scenario is playing out in some form in many areas of the country.

Real estate attorney Adam Seligman, an equity partner at Ward Damon Law in West Palm Beach, is now offering advice to negotiate a better deal.

RELATED: More Priced Out of Paradise coverage

"For tenants, it's probably the worst time to be a renter that I've ever seen as a lawyer," Seligman said.

WPTV

"We have a combination of extremely low inventory. You have high expenses. You have a booming population, low vacancy rates. It's just not a good time to be a renter," Seligman said.

He is witnessing a changing landscape across the region.

"Palm Beach County, overall, I think is up 10% since last year," Seligman said. "North County is up almost 24%."

RELATED: Miami bypasses New York City as least affordable housing market in US

Palm Beach County

The conversation is also taking center stage among county leaders.

"Workers can't find an affordable place to live here," said Palm Beach County Mayor Robert Weinroth said a Jan. 25 meeting.

"Whatever we're doing right now, it's not working," said Palm Beach County Commissioner Mack Bernard during the same meeting.

The rising cost of rent is taking a toll on renters.

Seligman said corporate-owned complexes are not likely to cut costs, but renting directly from a property owner could be promising.

"With the small mom and pops, you maybe negotiate with these owners and renew for only a 5% increase next year," Seligman said. "You can also try to pull on their heartstrings a little bit and negotiate year over year with caps on increases for options."

However, low inventory mixed with limited options is adding to the strain on renters.

"There's just no inventory whatsoever, so landlords could demand much higher increases," Seligman said.

This story was originally published by Linnie Supal of WPTV in West Palm Beach, Florida.

LEBANON, Ohio —

There's a devil of a controversy is brewing in the Lebanon School District Thursday night.

A nonprofit known as "The Satanic Temple After-School Satan Club" has rented space in a local grade school for monthly after-school activities. That's got parents responding to those in charge of the district with fire and brimstone.

But legally the district's hands appear to be tied.

When parents discovered a flyer circulating Thursday that promoted the Satan Club's arrival, there was "shock" and "anger" as one parent put it. She spoke to us on the condition that she remain anonymous.

She saw how the flyer reads like a scouting club poster.

One line reads "Science Projects! Puzzles & Games! Arts and Crafts Projects! Nature Activities!"

That sounds harmless enough. But it's the name itself and the logo that drives some parents to a point of outrage.

"Hey Kids, let's have fun at After School Satan Club!"

The program is open to grades one through five at Donovan Elementary School in the cafeteria for about an hour after school starting next Thursday, Jan. 27.

The mom of a student there told us she didn't think it was age-appropriate.

"They're very impressionable and it's just very uneasy for everybody," she said.

So uneasy, Superintendent Isaac Seevers issued a statement saying, in part, the club "...is NOT a district or school-sponsored event. Lebanon City Schools do not endorse the activities or intent of this group or any other religiously affiliated groups offering after-school activities."

The flyer tells parents their child will learn about benevolence and empathy, critical thinking, problem-solving, creative expression and personal sovereignty.

"You know, I think the concept is there," the mother who didn't want to be identified told us. "With Lebanon being so conservative and most of our residents being conservative, I don't think it's the right club for third and fourth graders."

A parental permission slip would be needed for a child to attend the sessions.

In spite of the uproar, the Satan Club appears to be on solid legal ground. Donovan Elementary has provided space for a Christian Good News program for years.

A generation ago, the Supreme Court ruled if you rent to secular groups you can't keep religious groups like Good News out. You either rent to everyone or you'd have to rent to no one.

"Exactly," the mother said to us. "And I think we would choose the latter."

Three conservative Supreme Court Justices, Clarence Thomas, William Rehnquist and Antonin Scalia, joined in the majority opinion back in 2001 to set the ground rules for such cases, ensuring the right to allow religious groups to rent space in public schools.

In recent years, wherever the Good News Club, an evangelistic Christian nonprofit, situates The Satanic Temple After School Satan Club is certain to try to follow.

Despite the name, which many families find repugnant, the group's mission statement said it does not try to convert children to Satanism.

In fact, the club doesn't regard Satan as real, merely using the image as a representation of iconoclast thinking and rebellion.

The group states its intent is to promote free inquiry, rationalism, and science.

If you believe the devil's in the details, so to speak, the 2019 film documentary "Hail Satan" could prove to be revealing and at least thought-provoking.

According to the statement from Seevers, a local resident and taxpayer in the district asked for a chapter to be started at Donovan Elementary. The requisite forms and documents were filled out and approval was given.

Rent is the biggest monthly expense for most Americans, and there are ways renters can use on-time payments to boost their credit scores. But they can't do it alone.

"It would be wonderful to see it evolve eventually into rent payments, making it on to credit reports automatically," said Sara Rathner, a credit analyst at NerdWallet. "That's something that I would love to see because I think so many people would benefit from it. But for now, you do need to use a third-party service."

Those third-party services include special credit cards renters use to pay rent or apps that report rent payments to credit bureaus. But Rathner says many of those third-party services require a startup fee or a monthly subscription rate — unless a landlord agrees to cover the cost.

However, one company, Piñata, offers a first-of-its-kind program that's free to renters. The company provides the service for free by working with businesses that offer rewards on the app while renters build credit.

"For us, it's really about helping people who have lower to mid credit scores; also thin credit files," said Lily Liu, the CEO and co-founder of Piñata.

Liu says Piñata isn't a magic fix for a bad credit score. It would take time for rent payments alone to recover big hits to a poor credit score.

"One of the big risks we always want to remind renters of is that rent reporting is just one small aspect of your total credit score," Liu said. "It's important to look at other major life expenses."

Rathner says it's also important to remember that anything can boost a credit score — just as anything can hurt a credit score.

"Obviously, if you ever have a late rent payment, that can hurt you. It's just kind of like paying any other bill late," she said. "It can appear on your credit report, and it can ding your credit temporarily."

Rathner also recommends that with any rent reporting service, users first look into what will happen if they cancel because of a move or if a user is in dispute with a landlord. Piñata does let users cancel at any time for any reason.

With unemployment filings continuing to come in, many are unsure when or if they can pay the rent. Evictions are happening across the U.S. and experts predict it could get worse.

“Most states, at this point, I would say have some sort of statewide policy in place. Although again many of those are expiring,” said Lavar Edmonds, a Research Specialist at Eviction Lab.

Edmonds is talking about evictions. As state moratoriums end, the impacts on renters and landlords are unknown.

“I would imagine you're looking at millions of households that are at risk of facing eviction in the coming months,” he said.

The Eviction Lab has a team of researchers tracking the issue. Two years ago, they published a national database of evictions based on records. Now, they are looking at how states are handling COVID-19 and evictions.

“In some places that has meant a stopping of eviction hearings,” Edmonds said. He continued to note it could also mean some places are stopping filings, others late fees, and a bunch of different rules.

More than 40 million people have filed for unemployment since COVID-19 hit the U.S. according to the U.S. Labor Department. Studies show nearly 78% of renters were able to pay their April rent in the first week of the month, according to the National Multifamily Housing Council.

This could be due to additional weekly payments provided by the CARES Act to those who are unemployed.

“I now am on unemployment,” Desiree Kane said. “I’m concerned about that though, because the $600 a week pandemic support ends on July 31.”

Back in March, Kane, a freelancer, found herself in a situation many others also experienced.

“Over the course of 72 hours in the middle of March, I lost 100% of my clients and leads because of COVID,” she said. “I went from living by myself to living in an apartment where we’re splitting the rent multiple ways so that its affordable. But it’s a very small apartment and a lot of people.”

Kane helped create the Colorado rent strike group on Facebook, a group calling for change with evictions and homelessness in the state. While she continues to look for a job, she fears that July 31 end date.

“They’re calling it a cliff, and I very much feel that cliff,” Kane said.

It's a cliff that landlords are also concerned about.

“I have talked to a lot of landlords though that are worried their tenants aren't going to be able to pay their rent,” said Tom Orlando, owner of real estate firm Housing Helpers. “Business slowed down quite a bit.”

While each rental situation is different, for many property owners, no rent payment means no mortgage payment.

“I do see both sides. “I feel for the tenants who have lost their jobs,” Orlando said. “It’s also unfortunate for the landlord because they need to pay their mortgage. Most landlords do have a mortgage on their properties.”

The Eviction Lab is now examining what states are doing to help. They rate states using a scorecard system.

“Essentially a state by state look at what policies states are taking to combat evictions during the pandemic,” Edmonds said.

Moving forward, the potential for evictions is unknown and varies state to state.

“In 2016, we saw somewhere around 3.7 million filings, eviction filings,” Edmonds said. “I think it’s not so much a stretch to believe we’re gonna see something comparably, if not more severely, devastating for renter households.”

Video above: Tenants worry as US eviction moratorium expires

The federal eviction ban, which protected millions of struggling renters while frustrating landlords across the country, has ended for the second time in just four weeks.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court blocked the latest eviction moratorium, writing in an unsigned, eight-page opinion: "Congress was on notice that a further extension would almost surely require new legislation, yet it failed to act in the several weeks leading up to the moratorium's expiration."

The back and forth over what landlords can do in terms of evictions and what renters can expect when they have lost income due to the pandemic has been legally, financially and emotionally fraught for both groups. The end of the federal protection has landlords declaring victory and housing advocates calling it a "tragic" and "avoidable" outcome.

The eviction moratorium was put in place last September by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to prevent the spread of coronavirus. When it expired at the end of July, there was a strong and vocal reaction from housing advocates and members of Congress that ending the ban before the bulk of the federal government's $46 billion in emergency rental assistance was distributed would undermine the point of the moratorium in the first place.

Days later, on August 3, the CDC issued a new eviction ban covering areas where COVID-19 infection rates are elevated, protecting about 90% of renters. The new moratorium was challenged in court by landlords and real estate companies, leading to the Supreme Court's ruling on Thursday.

In a U.S. Census Bureau survey conducted at the beginning of August, more than 3 million renters said they will likely have to leave their home due to eviction in the next two months.

"The federal eviction moratorium was a lifeline for millions of families, the last remaining federal protection keeping them safely and stably housed throughout the pandemic," said Diane Yentel, president and CEO of the National Low Income Housing Coalition. "The tragic, consequential, and entirely avoidable outcome of this ruling will be millions of people losing their homes this fall and winter, just as the delta variant ravages communities and lives."

Renters will need to turn to local protections

Eviction filings are expected to ramp up, but it is yet to be seen how backlogged courts are and how effective the remaining patchwork of state and local protections will be in keeping renters in place until they secure rent relief.

"There will be a ton of eviction filings," said John Pollock, coordinator for the National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel, which advocates for renters. "How quickly the courts might actually evict everyone, is hard to say. Courts have shown they can be ruthlessly efficient, they can dispose of hundreds of cases in a morning."

Many struggling renters were hoping to receive emergency rental assistance from the government to pay their back rent and remain in their home. The latest eviction moratorium had provided a critical backstop to ensure they stayed in place until that money was received.

But of the $46 billion in emergency rent relief money, only $5.1 billion had been distributed through July, according to the Treasury Department. That means about 89% of the money set aside for renters had yet to be distributed.

Because of that, Pollock expects that some courts will try to take it slow.

"If they are paying attention at all they know most of that [rent relief] hasn't gotten to anyone yet," Pollock said. "Many judges will push back and give tenants a chance. Take a moment to at least ask them, 'Have you applied?' And judges may be telling landlords, 'Before you file to evict, you need to apply for rent relief first.'"

State and local jurisdictions have been introducing legislation and putting in place their own eviction bans to protect renters while the process of distributing rental assistance continues.

States like California and Illinois have extended their state eviction moratoriums. Other states, like Minnesota, Nevada and New York, have put in place laws that protect renters from eviction while they are in the process of applying for emergency rental assistance.

Some communities are creating eviction diversion programs, which encourage mediation between the landlord and tenant before evictions can proceed.

Pollock said struggling renters facing eviction should contact their local legal aid organization, which should be aware of any additional local protections. They should also apply for rent relief. There is a searchable list of rental assistance programs at the U.S. Treasury and another one managed by the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

Landlords relieved the moratorium is over

Landlords and property owners, many of whom continue to work with renters to help them get rent relief, have been frustrated they cannot remove tenants who are unwilling to apply for rental assistance.

"This ruling will allow property owners the benefit of their property and also light a fire under tenants to access ... the Congressionally authorized solution to this problem, which was rent support," said John Vecchione, senior litigation counsel at New Civil Liberties Alliance, an organization aiming to protect constitutional freedoms that has brought several cases against the CDC regarding the eviction moratorium

"This illegal order not only injured thousands of mom-and-pop housing providers, but undermined the actual policy Congress chose to address the COVID-19 rental market disruptions," he said.

The National Apartment Association, an industry group of landlords, has long held that the CDC's eviction moratorium was unlawful and said it was pleased with the U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down the order. But, Bob Pinnegar, the president and CEO of NAA, warned there's a lot of outstanding debt that has built up since the moratorium was put in place.

"Though the moratorium is lifted, it is important to remember that billions in debt remain on renters' records and housing providers' shoulders -- it's past time to focus on the most sustainable path forward of full rental assistance funding and streamlined distribution," said Pinnegar.

Calls for more protections

Advocates for renters and those concerned about the health issues involved with millions of people facing eviction while the pandemic continues, are calling on Congress, states and local governments to put new eviction protections in place for renters.

"All levels of government must now take immediate action to protect the most vulnerable renters and ensure everyone has safe and stable housing during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and beyond," said Ian Thompson, senior legislative advocate at the American Civil Liberties Union.

With millions of people now facing eviction, Thompson also wants states and communities to put in place protections for renters after they've been evicted, including offering them a right to counsel and banning screening policies that reject applicants due to a prior eviction.

"We need this meaningful action to stop mass evictions with devastating racial and gender disparities during the pandemic and beyond," said Thompson.

The Supreme Court decision undermines unprecedented efforts by Congress and the White House to ensure housing stability during the pandemic, said Yentel of the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

"State and local governments are working to improve programs to distribute emergency rental assistance to those in need, but they need more time. The Supreme Court's decision will lead to many renters, predominantly people of color, losing their homes before the assistance can reach them," she said. "The tragic consequences of this decision will reverberate for years."

Some landlords and tenants have had a rocky relationship this past year. Landlords have needed to pay their mortgages and many tenants had a tough time paying rent. Despite all the bumps in the road, things may have smoothened out a bit, and the two adversaries are now working together to get what each of them needs.

On the commercial real estate side, many landlords or property managers have worked out payment arraignments, waived past rent, and have even opted for a percentage in sales instead or a lease extension in lieu of payment.

For example, last year, the brick-and-mortar clothing store, Rue Saint Paul, opened just five weeks before the U.S. went into lockdown.

“The world was just starting to hear about COVID-19, but it was still something that still seemed incredibly far off,” said Kelly Wang. "It was something that was in the back of my mind as something that might impact the business.”

Wang is the owner of the eco-friendly nothing retailer. She thought, then, the worst-case scenario was that the business would close for a few weeks. It ended up closing for four months, and she couldn’t afford the rent for the Brooklyn retail space.

“Because we were so new, we weren’t eligible for any of the government funding programs,” Wang added.

She had been in contact with her landlord, each month through the shutdown. They allowed her to hold off on payment until she reopened. But now, it would be a struggle to pay four months at once, especially since she had almost no revenue coming in all those months. So, she reached back out to her landlord once more to see if there was another agreement they could come to.

“To be honest, I was timid to go to my landlord,” she explained. "I had offered to potentially paying it maybe down the road in a balloon payment and he came back and said let’s just split it.”

For her landlord, it made sense to try and keep her as a tenant instead of trying to find a new tenant during a struggling time in commercial real estate. It also kept another business in the community when several have had to close.

“If we were to have paid our rent in full, we wouldn’t have been able to open our doors in July and get the inventory that we needed to start sales again,” said Wang.

Landlords and tenants are now working together more on the residential property side of things as well.

"It is happening throughout the industry and it doesn’t matter if it is a larger operator or an individual that has a couple of single-family homes,” said Bob Pennigar, president of the National Apartment Association.

Pinnegar says the $25 billion Congress set aside for rent relief has played a major role in residential landlords and tenants working together over the past four months.

“What I am hearing is that property owners are starting to work with the residents to get them to fill out the paperwork and apply for the funds,” Pennigar explained. "Some jurisdictions will allow the property owner to apply for the funds on behalf of the resident.”

Some property owners have turned their offices into rent relief application centers for residents and are guiding them through the complicated process, particularly helpful to lower-income residents who don’t have a computer or internet access.

“In those situations, where we are seeing property owners and residents teaming up to apply for the funds, it is happening faster,” added Pennigar

The money from Congress is only a fraction of the amount of outstanding rent in the U.S., so the landlords and tenants teaming up to apply for rent relief may be a key factor to getting the help before the money runs out.

Posted at 5:27 PM, May 21, 2021

and last updated 2021-05-21 17:44:28-04

This week on the Hear Cincinnati podcast, host Brian Niesz is joined by community reporter Lucy May, senior real-time editor Pat LaFleur and senior manager of enterprise/investigative Meghan Goth to discuss the latest cicada news, a project creating homeownership opportunities, the secret informant in a Cincinnati bribery case and more.

Following the panel, John Matarese joins the podcast to discuss Cincinnati's hot real estate market and the resulting pressure on renters.

Listen to this episode in the podcast player above.

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