A Little Louder

Latest Episodes:

Episode 62: What's wrong at Bexar Creek Apartments? Apr 24, 2024

Show notes

We are joined by Melody Herrera and Aggie Jaramillo to speak about their work alongside tenants of the Bexar Creek Apartments in San Antonio. Residents have described issues with poor water, pests, rodents, and air conditioning that have dated back years, and now things have finally reached an inflection point. We speak about public comment, raising visibility, and what is next. If you'd like to learn more about what's happening at Bexar Creek Apartments, please reach out our Houser in San Antonio Suzanne Baker (suzanne@texashousing.org).

Episode 61: Unmasking Ownership at Problem Properties Feb 29, 2024

Show notes

Over the past six months, Texas Housers has spotlighted the stories of uninhabitable conditions and mass evictions at Cabo San Lucas apartments in Houston and the ensuing barriers tenants faced to remain housed.

Our work led us to investigate who actually owns Cabo San Lucas, yet no one seems to know. While our outreach team worked with tenants in Houston, our research team had coincidentally been at work to find information on property owners who attempt to escape accountability by filing as a "single property LLC".

To tie this all together, Housers research analyst Sidney Beaty joins the podcast to talk about how problem properties utilize these loopholes and what we can do to bring these owners to the light.

Episode 60: Tenant's Rights From Nepal To Denton Jan 26, 2024

Show notes

While most folks in the housing justice community have a strong idea of how tenant's rights and evictions shape our broader world, Andrew Nelson, Associate Professor for Department of Anthropology at University of North Texas offers a unique perspective in how the fight for these essential rights globally affected his advocacy in Denton.

On this episode, we discuss what works across our globe to gain rights, what his team has observed in Denton courts, and what cultural shift will be required to make Texas a tenant-friendly state.

Episode 59: How do we fix what renters are facing in San Antonio? Nov 30, 2023

Show notes

Annually, Texas Housers' team in San Antonio releases its San Antonio District Renter Profiles to deliver a snapshot of how affordable rental housing is distributed across the city, what are the tenant demographics of each city council district, and newly added for this year, how evictions come into play for San Antonio households.

South Texas Regional Director Mia Loseff joins the show to discuss the findings of the renter profiles and how we can improve the lives of low-income tenants not just in SA, but across our state.

Episode 58: How Texas renters live under extreme heat Oct 04, 2023

Show notes

High summer temperatures in the Lone Star State are a regular occurrence. However, in recent years, extreme heat has grown more dangerous, with 2023 being the second hottest summer on record.

With this in mind, Texas is not a state that requires rental units to have air conditioning. And even if a tenant is fortunate enough to have AC, a speedy repair or accommodations are also not codified in law.

This was the main reason behind Texas Housers' latest report 'Renters, Air Conditioning, and Extreme Heat in Texas' and its author, Research Director Ben Martin, joined A Little Louder to discuss the current laws for AC in rental units in Texas and what we feel must change.

Episode 57: Six years past Harvey, recovery troubles remain Aug 31, 2023

Show notes

Hurricane Harvey hit the Texas Coast six years ago this week, back in 2017. And though certain immediate response efforts were swift, the actual recovery has been a long and frustrating process for far too many. Not only are some residents still awaiting funding to make their homes whole again, numerous others have been classified as helped by the Texas General Land Office and have been left behind altogether.

Texas Housers' Southeast Texas Regional Director Julia Orduña joins the show to talk about her work with households recovering from Harvey, how the State wants to take money away from recovery to fund a different program they already had proper funding for, and what we are doing to fix this in 2023.

Did you experience Hurricane Harvey? Tell us your recovery story!

https://bit.ly/HarveySurveyTH

Episode 56: Mass evictions at Cabo San Lucas Aug 18, 2023

Show notes

On this episode of A Little Louder, host Michael Depland is joined by Texas Housers' community navigator Taylor Laredo, Litigation Director at Lone Star Legal Aid Dana Karni, and Texas Legal Services Center staff attorney William Ritter to discuss a Houston property that had planned to evict more than 100 households at once, with many not receiving the basic documents such as a notice to vacate in a proper manner or – in some cases – at all.

We explore what we witnessed while visiting the Cabo San Lucas Apartments, what occured at the eviction hearings, and what we must do to prevent these mass evictions in the future.

Episode 55: 2023 Texas Legislature Mega Wrap Up And What Comes Next Jun 30, 2023

Show notes

Communications Director Michael Depland and Research Director Ben Martin team up for one last trip to the Texas Legislature. On this supersized episode, they break down the victories, losses, and in between from what happened at the Capitol this year, and what we have to look for on the horizon.

You can read our full report that details Low-Income Housing at the 2023 Texas Legislature on our blog.

Episode 54: Highway Expansion and Stop TxDOT I-45 in Houston May 31, 2023

Show notes

Since the innovation of major highways in the mid-20th century, there has been a legacy of erasure and erosion of Black and Brown neighborhoods. Nearly 70 years later, communities of color are still fighting those battles in areas like Houston, where the efforts of Stop TxDOT I-45 aim to give these neighborhoods agency and choice regarding the future of their homes.

On this episode of A Little Louder, Michael Depland is joined by former (and forever) Houser Sophie Dulberg, Ally Smither from Stop TxDOT I-45, and Kendra London from Our Afrikan Family to talk about the history of fighting this expansion, where things currently stand, and what the affected neighborhoods want for their communities.

You can learn more about Stop TxDOT I-45 here, Air Alliance Houston here, and Our Afrikan Family here.

Episode 53: Midway Update at the 88th Session Apr 18, 2023

Show notes

In this halftime report from the 88th Session of the Texas Legislature, or maybe a little later in the game, Texas Housers' research director Ben Martin joins the show to provide updates on bills regarding eviction preemption, funding for renters, and other tenant protections. Also, Ben and Michael discuss how renters can make themselves seen as equally as homeowners at the State Capitol.

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