Housing justice advocates from AHF and its housing advocacy arm, Housing Is A Human Right (HHR), are set to run another advocacy ad in the Los Angeles Times this week (Sunday, August 1st) outlining what they see as the root cause of homelessness in Los Angeles and the state of California: decades of political corruption and sweetheart dealing among politicians, developers, the real estate industry and other special interests.

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The latest in a series of housing advocacy ads in the Los Angeles Times by AHF, this one exposes what AHF sees as the root cause of homelessness in Los Angeles and the state of California: decades of political corruption and sweetheart dealing among politicians, developers, the real estate industry and other special interests. (Graphic: AHF)

The full-page ad headlined, ‘The Root Cause of Homelessness … Corruption,’ points out “Political leaders are baffled about how homelessness became so overwhelming. But it isn’t a mystery. Just follow the trail of corruption.”

The ad itemizes and bullet points corruption and legislative giveaways by politicians to developers and real estate interests stretching back four decades that AHF and Housing Is A Human Right believe supercharged homelessness into the humanitarian crisis it is today. Among factors cited are 1985’s statewide Ellis Act, which provides a mechanism for landlords to evict tenants, allowing landlords to take more than 25,000 affordable units off the market in the last decade alone and 1995’s Costa Hawkins Act, through which Big real Estate pressured the California legislature to handcuff rent control measures statewide, resulting in skyrocketing rents.

In addition, the Los Angeles City Council routinely gives zoning exemptions worth multi-millions of dollars to developers for projects with NO affordable housing while politicians at every level continue to take hundreds of millions of dollars from real estate interests and do their bidding nearly every time.

“California and L.A.’s homeless crisis is a direct result of years and years of greed and avarice by developers, Big Real Estate interests, and most of all, politicians looking out for their own self-interest and priming the pump for generous campaign contributions,” said Michael Weinstein, president of AHF. “What will it take to begin to really tackle the homeless crisis once and for all? As our ad says, ‘Stop the Corruption!’”

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