Almost every state in the U.S. requires that landlords maintain safe and livable residential units. This is often called a "warranty of habitability." In some places, there are laws that specify exactly what those requirements are; in others, the standards are less defined. Read by author Lara Heard.

In the memoir Staking Our Claim, Pat Morrissy talks about the early days of Shelterforce, organizing for rent control laws in NJ towns, and supporting tenant leaders in their fights for better homes. Anthony Schuman, professor of architecture at NJIT, reads his review of Staking Our Claim.

Read the full review at https://shelterforce.org/2025/12/05/the-house-on-chestnut-street-njs-tenant-activists-in-the-70s/

℗ Music by ComaStudio.

Sometimes disasters open a space for bigger and faster positive change. In Lahaina, Hawai'i, after the devastating fires in 2023, community leaders built on preexisting relationships to approach housing and land in new ways. Autumn Ness, the executive director of the Lahaina Community Land Trust, explains.

Read the piece at https://shelterforce.org/2025/10/08/harnessing-the-shock-of-disaster-to-propel-change/

℗ Music by ComaStudio.

Ross Chapin, an architect, provides a guide to affordable housing design that goes beyond the baseline. This piece appears in Shelterforce's new series—Fit to Live In: Fixing Our Housing Stock—and is read by Lara Heard.

You can read it at https://shelterforce.org/2025/11/25/beyond-basic-health-standards-designing-for-well-being/

℗ Music by ComaStudio.

The Healthy Homes Ordinance is supposed to help fix New Orleans’s deteriorating rental housing stock. But three years in, many “certified habitable” apartments still have leaking roofs, black mold, and dangerous heat. What went wrong? Shelterforce's Shelby R. King reports.

Read the story at https://shelterforce.org/2025/11/24/healthy-homes-or-hollow-promises-in-new-orleans/

℗ Music by ComaStudio.

Across the country, tenants and lawmakers are pushing for better standards around mold, cooling, and more. How did we get here? Franklin Schneider reports.

Read the full story at https://shelterforce.org/2025/11/18/why-habitability-is-a-growing-rallying-cry/

℗ Music by ComaStudio.

Whether your home is safe and suitable for healthy living depends on a variety of factors. Shelterforce puts habitability under the lens to show how problems like inadequate heating, water damage, and pest infestations negatively affect your health and further exacerbate the housing crisis. Shelterforce's Lara Heard explains what you can expect in our new Under the Lens series, Fit to Live In: Fixing Our Housing Stock.

You can read Lara's editor's note here: https://shelterforce.org/2025/11/18/why-does-habitability-matter-health-and-our-housing-stock/

And check out the series here: https://shelterforce.org/series/fit-to-live-in-fixing-our-housing-stock/

℗ Music by ComaStudio.

The OZ program unleashed billions in private capital. Whether it lifts neighborhoods or just investors hinges on who’s steering the money and how well they can navigate the system. Now that Congress has made OZs permanent, the stakes are even higher. Shelterforce's Shelby R. King reports.

Read the full story at https://shelterforce.org/2025/11/14/opportunity-zones-billionaire-handout-or-housing-booster/

℗ Music by ComaStudio.

Joan Pransky was an activist lawyer who fought for and defended both tenants and rent control policies in New Jersey. Michael McKee organized in New York City, founding multiple organizations and helping to defend and strengthen rent regulations at the state level. Shelterforce's Miriam Axel-Lute reads, "The Tenant Movement Has Lost Two Leaders—Michael McKee and Joan Pransky."

Read the piece at https://shelterforce.org/2025/11/14/the-tenant-movement-has-lost-two-leaders-michael-mckee-and-joan-pransky/

℗ Music by ComaStudio.

This Shelterforce webinar caps off our most recent Under the Lens series, “Innovations in Community Ownership.” Shelterforce's Miriam Axel-Lute speaks with folks who are implementing exciting new strategies for funding community ownership—both public and private—and for setting up the kinds of support ecosystems that will let these models thrive long term. Learn about the power of Los Angeles’s Measure ULA, New York City’s take on a shared services model, cooperation between conservationists and affordable housing development in New York’s Hudson Valley, and more.

Read more from our series at: https://shelterforce.org/series/innovations-in-community-ownership/

Webinars like these are free to attend. To help us support more of this work, consider making a tax-deductible donation to Shelterforce. Now through Dec.31, NewsMatch will match your donation. Learn more here: https://shelterforce.org/shelterforce-newsmatch-campaign-2025/