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Module: Housing (Scarcity + Fair Terms)

Purpose: reduce the monthly squeeze by helping a place do two things at once: make it easier to build homes, and make it harder to profit from scarcity through fees, leverage, and quiet rigging.

The mechanism (plain language)

Housing gets expensive for two reasons that feed each other:

1. We make it too hard, slow, or uncertain to build enough homes.
2. Once homes are scarce, hidden fees, screening traps, eviction pressure, and pricing games get more profitable.

That is why housing fights often go sideways. People argue about supply or fairness when the real answer is both. A normal housing market needs more homes and cleaner rules.

What good looks like

• more homes in the places people actually need to live
• clearer all-in move-in cost before anyone pays an application fee
• fewer junk fees and fewer surprise charges
• screening rules that do not turn one bad month into a long exile
• eviction process that is fair and not used as a cheap threat
• permitting that is fast enough to matter and simple enough to follow

Quick wins (pick 1-3)

Price clarity + fee cleanup

1. Require all-in move-in cost disclosure before any application fee is paid.
2. Standardize fee labels so people can compare listings without guessing.
3. Cap or ban obvious junk fees that do not reflect a real service.
4. Publish typical move-in cost examples for common unit types in your area.

Screening + eviction fairness

5. Seal dismissed or withdrawn eviction filings automatically.
6. Limit screening blacklists to verified judgments, not just filings.
7. Require cure periods or mediation windows before nonpayment cases move forward where the law allows it.
8. Back right-to-counsel or navigator help for low-income tenants in eviction court.

Supply + local throughput

9. Publish a permitting timeline dashboard by project type every month.
10. Set first-review and approval targets and report whether they are being met.
11. Use by-right approval for code-compliant infill so fewer projects get stuck in discretionary limbo.
12. Simplify small infill like ADUs, duplexes, and fourplexes with clear standards.

Concentration + pricing behavior

13. Track ownership concentration locally so people can see whether a few firms dominate large parts of the market.
14. Require disclosure when pricing software is used to set rents or recommendations.
15. Preserve records for pricing inputs and outputs so rules can actually be enforced.
16. Treat housing coordination risk like a market-power issue, not a weird side topic.

Scoreboard metrics (choose 3-5)

• All-in move-in cost for common unit types
• Median fee totals on new leases
• Eviction filings per 1,000 renters
• Share of eviction filings dismissed or withdrawn
• Median days from application to first permit review
• Median days from application to approval
• Permits issued or completions by housing type
• Share of by-right vs. discretionary approvals
• Local ownership concentration for major operators
• Share of listings disclosing pricing software use

Common failure modes

• The whole conversation gets reduced to “build more” or “protect tenants” when the real answer is both.
• A city studies delays forever and never publishes simple timeline data.
• Fee traps get treated like bad manners instead of rule choices.
• Eviction filings are discussed as private disputes even when they function like a public sorting system.
• People pass zoning reform and then act surprised when the next bottleneck is staff, utilities, labor, or materials.
• Everyone talks ideology while renters are still getting hit with fees they cannot see up front.

Bridge language

• “We need more homes and cleaner rules.”
• “This is a scarcity problem and a leverage problem.”
• “If moving is expensive, hidden fees stop being small.”
• “Predictable permitting and fair renting rules are not enemies.”
• “I am not asking for perfection. I am asking for fewer traps and more homes.”

One Ask examples

• “Require all-in move-in cost disclosure before any application fee is paid, and publish compliance data by quarter.”
• “Seal dismissed eviction filings automatically and report dismissal rates publicly.”
• “Publish monthly permitting timelines by project type and cut median review time by 25% within 6 months.”
• “Adopt by-right approval for code-compliant small infill and track approval times publicly.”
• “Require disclosure of pricing-software use in rental listings and preserve records for enforcement review.”

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