Author: Gabriella Chiarenza
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Debt-related license suspensions put the brakes on employment
Debt-related driver’s license suspensions can keep people out of the workforce and make it hard for businesses to find and keep the employees they need. Research and practical interventions are helping to change that.
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Affording homeownership now is hard for many. These approaches may help.
In this explainer, learn more about some of the factors recently complicating affordable US homeownership and discover how some communities and organizations are helping to extend affordable homeownership to more families.
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Coalition draws on local benefits cliff lessons to inform national approach
Dozens of experiments across the country aim to mitigate workers’ benefits cliffs as their incomes rise and assistance lessens. A coalition of 13 of these pilots now plans to share what they have learned and practiced with policymakers, employers, and funders.
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Built to fail? Contracts for deeds often sell a homeownership illusion
Contract for deed homeownership agreements can appeal to lower-priced home buyers who believe they are unable to qualify for or secure a mortgage. But CFDs often lack consumer protections and can cost unsuspecting buyers their home and their investment in it.
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Manufacturing affordable homeownership, one unit at a time
Manufactured housing offers a uniquely affordable homeownership onramp at a time when aspiring buyers can’t afford pricier site-built homes. Even with perception and financing challenges to surmount, some are finding creative ways to extend this homeownership option to more buyers.
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National Disability Institute and city partners push for an inclusive economy accessible to all
People with disabilities are more likely to be unbanked and underemployed. The National Disability Institute has a plan and the right partners—including the Cleveland Fed—to change this pattern and make the economy more accessible for everyone.
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Why are Native homebuyers ending up with more expensive loans?
Financing manufactured homes can cost Native borrowers on reservations twice as much as off-reservation white borrowers. A risky type of loan fuels the cost gap.
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Investing from within: Native CDFIs help their people find home
Native CDFIs use creative approaches to help their neighbors navigate homeownership in Indian Country, making notable progress even at their smaller scale. But they can’t do it alone. Learn how other lenders can join NCDFIs to connect Native homebuyers with the loans they seek.
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Losing the family home, with ripples down the bloodline
Heirs’ property situations can strain family relationships and put billions of dollars of wealth at stake. Read one woman’s story and learn how she’s now working to help others preserve their family ties, homes, and financial stability.
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Numbers aren’t the whole story: Why community partnership matters
Numbers can only tell you so much. To truly understand how people experience the economy, you have to reach out and start a conversation with them. A partnership between the Fed and the Urban Institute shows how community-engaged research approaches are catching on for good in major institutions.