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SEATTLE – Zillow’s HBCU Housing Hackathon, which drew more than 150 students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), awarded top prizes to teams that innovated to help at-risk renters and struggling first-time home buyers.
The top three finishers in the hackathon, created in collaboration with the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) , Black Tech Ventures (BTV) and Amplify 4 Good, won over the judges with projects that offer solutions to barriers in the housing journey.
A team of four Morehouse College students won first place and $20,000 for its program that uses machine learning to predict increases in rent and utility costs at a particular address over time, offering renters early warning about looming affordability challenges. Zillow also will donate $25,000 to Morehouse College’s computer science program as part of the first-place prize.
“It’s awesome to conceptualize a project that could help a lot of people and not only win this hackathon and receive prizes that are great for my team, but also help earn a donation for our college,” said Paul Lockett, member of team Househouse and senior computer science student at Morehouse College. “Coming into this, we had a plan, we executed on it and we are so happy we had this amazing opportunity to work and learn with Zillow.”
The event brought together 49 teams representing 17 HBCUs. Six teams advanced to the final round and had five minutes to present their ideas virtually, using live demonstrations and presentation decks, to a panel of judges made up of Zillow and tech industry leaders.
“We are incredibly impressed with the ingenuity, passion and leadership the students showed at Zillow’s HBCU Housing Hackathon,” said Aldona Clottey, Zillow vice president of Corporate Social Responsibility and one of the judges. “It was inspiring to see everyone dig into this challenge and bring their perspective on solutions to some of the problems people face when it comes to renting, buying or selling a home. These students showed us that our future is in great hands and we are proud to support them and the institutions that serve them.”
The first-place team from Morehouse, Househouse, included Kendall Camp, Grant Commodore, Joshua Curry and Paul Lockett. Their “Reliby” application addresses financial uncertainty for long-term renters and provides users with a “stability score” to illuminate dramatic increases in living expenses that might come months or years in the future.
“Computer science departments at HBCUs specialize in developing technically competent students with a sense of mission and purpose that drives them to innovate,” said Alfred R. Watkins, Ph.D., academic program director for computer science at Morehouse College. “The success of the winning team from Morehouse is an indication the college is working hard to attract, nurture, support, educate and challenge young students to become the tech-savvy leaders this world needs today.”
Zillow HBCU Hackathon Runners-Up
The other hackathon prize winners were Team SU of Southern University and A&M College, and Aht Aht of Philander Smith College.
Team SU won second place and a $12,000 prize for its “ZPlan” to provide Zillow users — primarily those who aspire to become homeowners but might lack financial literacy and understanding of the home-buying process — with tailored help, such as tips for home buying or renting and suggested listings based on housing location data.
“This was by far one of the most intriguing hackathons I have ever participated in, and the competition was off the charts,” said Rason Irvin, member of Team SU and computer science student at Southern University and A&M College. “My team and I were able to accomplish a lot in our short amount of time and grow skills that will carry over into our everyday lives. Having peers performing at a high level and in the same domain proves to me that the ‘odd man out’ feeling I have felt in previous roles will hopefully be a thing of the past as the top diversity talent makes their way into tech.”
Team SU also included Nicolas Hardin and Dominique McCraney.
Aht Aht won third place and $6,000 for its “ZInvest” idea, an investment tool designed to lessen the burden of high housing costs and help level the playing field in real estate investing through tokenization. The team conceptualized a marketplace where one can invest in real estate at a lower price point using blockchain technology.
Aht Aht included Vanessa Agbugba, Samuel Alake, Lashaun McKenzie and Sam Davis Omekara.
The remaining semifinalist teams include:
Judges of the semifinal round included Rhonda Allen, chief executive officer, /dev/color; David Beitel, Zillow chief technology officer; Loni Mahanta, Zillow vice president, government relations; Tiffany Taylor, chief people & impact officer, GSV Ventures; and special student judge Richard Clay, Bowie State University Class Of 2022.
All students from the top three teams also will receive new laptops, textbook gift cards and AfroTech World 2021 conference tickets, and all eligible hackathon participants interested in a role at Zillow will have an opportunity to interview for an internship.
The hackathon’s final pitch round was judged by Zillow and tech industry leaders that included Eric Bailey, vice president of Experience Design at Zillow; Aldona Clottey, Zillow vice president of Corporate Social Responsibility; Stan Humphries, Ph.D., chief analytics officer at Zillow; Jaisa Minor, head of partnerships at HBCU.vc; Damien Peters, founder of Wealth Noir; and Chad Womack, Ph.D., senior director of National STEM Programs and Initiatives at UNCF.
About the United Negro College Fund
The United Negro College Fund (UNCF) is the nation’s largest and most effective minority education organization. To serve youth, the community and the nation, UNCF supports students’ education and development through scholarships and other programs, strengthens its 37 member colleges and universities, and advocates for the importance of minority education and college readiness. UNCF institutions and other historically black colleges and universities are highly effective, awarding 20% of African American baccalaureate degrees. UNCF annually awards $100 million in scholarships and administers more than 400 programs, including scholarship, internship and fellowship, mentoring, summer enrichment, and curriculum and faculty development programs. Today, UNCF supports more than 60,000 students at more than 1,100 colleges and universities across the country. Its logo features the UNCF torch of leadership in education and its widely recognized trademark, “A mind is a terrible thing to waste.”® Learn more atUNCF.org, or for continuous news and updates, follow UNCF on Twitter, @UNCF.
About Black Tech Ventures
The mission of Black Tech Ventures (BTV) is to empower African American tech innovators and startup entrepreneurs, and to foster a culture of entrepreneurship at historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). At BTV, we believe innovation and an entrepreneurial mindset are essential for success in the innovation and tech economy.
About Zillow Group
Zillow Group Inc. (NASDAQ: Z and ZG) is reimagining real estate to make it easier to unlock life’s next chapter.
As the most visited real estate website in the U.S., Zillow® and its affiliates offer customers an on-demand experience for selling, buying, renting or financing with transparency and nearly seamless end-to-end service. Zillow Offers® buys and sells homes directly in dozens of markets across the country, allowing sellers control over their timeline. Zillow Home Loans™, our affiliate lender, provides our customers with an easy option to get pre-approved and secure financing for their next home purchase. Zillow recently launched Zillow Homes, Inc., a licensed brokerage entity, to streamline Zillow Offers transactions.
Zillow Group’s affiliates and subsidiaries include Zillow®, Zillow Offers®, Zillow Premier Agent®, Zillow Home Loans™, Zillow Closing Services™, Zillow Homes Inc., Trulia®, Out East®, StreetEasy®, and HotPads®. Zillow Home Loans LLC is an Equal Housing Lender, NMLS #10287 (http://www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org).
Author Who Detailed Plight Of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Says Government Must Fill Gap For Minorities, Middle Class To Access Mortgages.
The question: With the mortgage forbearance program winding down and housing inventory hitting a 40-year low, where is the housing market headed amid dynamics of the COVID-19 pandemic?
Shades of 2008? When the U.S. housing market collapsed in the Great Recession in 2008, Congress created the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to regulate the mortgage industry. The FHFA placed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into a conservatorship, which led to Fannie and Freddie sending large payments to the U.S. Treasury.
Expert’s take: “This isn’t a crisis of oversupply like in 2008,” says Tim Pagliara (www.capwealthgroup.com), ForbesBooks author of Another Big Lie: How The Government Stole Billions From The American Dream Of Home Ownership. And Got Caught! “It is a crisis due to shortage. We are short 6.8 million single-family housing units while we have static demand for 1 million-plus new homes every year.
“Because of delays in the recapitalization of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac of their release from conservatorship, the availability of credit has been constricted. As a result, minority home ownership among Blacks and Hispanics has not kept pace. Black home ownership is at a 50-year low.”
Pagliara points out the foreclosure crisis following the ‘08 housing crash was largely due to the fact that millions of homeowners were underwater – i.e., their remaining mortgage balance was greater than their home’s value. Real estate and mortgage experts today say homeowners now are generally likely to have more home equity than those in ‘08.
But will a large sector of would-be buyers be left out without the government giving Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac more help?
“Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac need capital so they can serve their mission of providing long-term fixed-interest housing for the underserved and the middle class,” Pagliara says. “They are the bedrock of the American middle class, the strongest engines of economic equality this country has ever invented.”
Pagliara’s takeaways about the housing market:
Budget constraints are going to force the Biden administration to be creative. “By finishing the recapitalization of Fannie and Freddie and the release of their conservatorship,” Pagilara says, “the government can generate over $50 billion in proceeds, which can be placed in a housing trust to assist communities and first-time homebuyers.”
As the Federal Reserve System tapers later this year, Pagilara says economic activity will need to accelerate – especially the housing market. “A strong housing market has a multiplier effect on many things throughout the economy,” Pagliara says. “Everything from paint to appliance sales benefit.”
Big real estate investors and asset management firms are factors driving up home prices and making home ownership less accessible to average Americans. One result, Pagliara says, is too many renters who should be owning. “If you can rent a home in a neighborhood where people own, you should be able to purchase that home,” he says.
About Tim Pagliara
Tim Pagliara (www.capwealthgroup.com) is ForbesBooks author of Another Big Lie: How The Government Stole Billions From The American Dream Of Home Ownership. And Got Caught! Pagliara is founder, chairman, and chief investment officer of CapWealth, an independent, SEC-registered investment advisory firm near Nashville, Tenn. He was named by Forbes as the No. 1 financial advisor in Tennessee in 2020. In 2014, Pagliara founded Investors Unite, an organization representing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shareholders after the U.S. Treasury Department placed the government-sponsored enterprises into conservatorship. In 2018, Pagliara was named Tennessee’s top financial advisor by both Forbes and Barron’s. He’s appeared in Barron’s Top 1,200 Financial Advisors in six of the past seven years.
Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia
House and Senate Democrats are looking to the White House to immediately act to stop evictions after the federal moratorium expired on July 31.
But President Joe Biden said a recent Supreme Court ruling means the administration cannot unilaterally extend the moratorium.
For his part, the President has called on state and local governments to resolve the problem.
The White House said the American Rescue Plan provided $47 billion in rental assistance earlier this year, but states and localities have used just $3 billion.
“We as a country have never had a national infrastructure or national policy preventing avoidable evictions,” American Rescue Plan Coordinator Gene Sperling responded in a White House briefing on Monday, August 2.
“State and local governments must do more to help,” Sperling asserted.
It’s not currently known just how many Americans face eviction, but leaders in the House and Senate have urged the White House to act.
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) said she believes about 11 million families are affected.
“As they have called upon the American people to mask up, to be vaccinated and to take other public health precautions, it is critical, in recognition of this urgency, that they extend the eviction moratorium,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) stated in an August 2 letter to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Putting people on the streets contributes to the spread of the virus,” Pelosi wrote.
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki stated that the administration had taken further action to prevent Americans from experiencing eviction.
Psaki said nearly 33 percent of the country wouldn’t face eviction through August.
“Thanks to the bipartisan COVID relief act Congress passed in December 2020 and the American Rescue Plan the Biden administration enacted in March, state and local governments long ago received emergency rental assistance – a $46.5 billion plan to protect millions of Americans facing deep rental debt and potential eviction during the pandemic,” Psaki continued.
Some cities and states have “demonstrated their ability to release these funds efficiently to tenants and landlords in need,” Psaki further insisted.
“But even though funds began to be distributed in February by the Biden administration, too many states and cities have been too slow to act,” she determined.
Psaki continued:
“There is no excuse for any state or locality not to promptly deploy the resources that Congress appropriated to meet the critical need of so many Americans.
“This assistance provides the funding to pay landlords current and back rent so tenants can remain in their homes or apartments, not be evicted.
“No one in America should be evicted when federal funds are available, in the hands of state and local government, to pay back rent due.”
While Congresswoman Pelosi has asked President Biden to act, Psaki said he would have strongly supported a decision by the CDC to extend the eviction moratorium.
“Unfortunately, the Supreme Court declared on June 29 that the CDC could not grant such an extension without clear and specific congressional authorization via new legislation,” Psaki said.
Because of the spread of the Delta variant, President Biden asked the CDC to consider executive action. The White House said he raised the prospect of a new, 30-day eviction moratorium focused on counties with high or substantial case rates.
Psaki said the temporary measure would spur states and localities to ramp up emergency rental assistance programs to full spend – allowing every landlord to collect the rent they are owed and ensuring no eligible family gets evicted.
“To date, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky and her team have been unable to find legal authority for a new, targeted eviction moratorium,” Psaki stated.
“Our team is redoubling efforts to identify all available legal authorities to provide necessary protections.”
MILWAUKEE – The County Board of Supervisors today adopted [17-0-1, Staskunas abstention] a proposal authored by Supervisor Ryan Clancy establishing a “Right to Counsel” for all Milwaukee County residents facing eviction or foreclosure, and funding a pilot program for a year and a half to provide no-cost legal representation.
“This is a big, significant measure. But it’s part of a larger investment which includes both continued rent assistance and investment further upstream in human needs,” said Supervisor Clancy. “I’m confident that the data that we collect during this pilot program will compel us to continue and expand this support beyond these first 18 months.”
The measure had broad community support, with United Way of Greater Milwaukee and Waukesha County pledging at least $1.5 million over five years to bolster the effort, and with individual or organizational advocacy and support of Legal Action Wisconsin, Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee, Milwaukee Democratic Socialists of America, Milwaukee Autonomous Tenants Union, The Peoples Revolution, American Civil Liberties Union andStreet Angels Inc.
“With the end of the federal eviction moratorium looming, it was essential that we pass this key legislation today,” said Supervisor Clancy. “Although a monumental undertaking such as this will take time to become fully staffed, I am confident that the dedicated folks in charge of implementing this will do so with all the speed they can muster.”
56,420 evictions were filed in the City of Milwaukee from 2016 to 2020 according to the Track Milwaukee Evictions Project. Legal Action of Wisconsin’s Eviction Defense Project data shows 90 percent of eviction cases in Milwaukee County are dismissed or delayed when a tenant has legal representation.
Statement of Common Council members: Alderwoman Chantia Lewis, Alderwoman Milele A. Coggs and Alderman Russell W. Stamper, II
We are pleased to announce that the Common Council today unanimously approved legislation that will pave the way for a city-owned home to be sold and turned into emergency housing for residents and families in need.
The property – located in the 6th Aldermanic District – will be sold to the not-for-profit Foundations for Freedom, Inc., which will use a forgivable loan from the city to renovate the residence and have it ready for those in need of emergency housing.
The property is the second project approved by the Council as part of an emergency housing program that was created by a 2020 city budget amendment (Alderwoman Lewis was the primary sponsor of the amendment, and it was co-sponsored by Alderman Stamper and Alderwoman Coggs).
The pandemic and the resulting economic disaster have exacerbated the effects of poverty, our housing shortage, and domestic arrangements that can quickly become unbearable, unsafe and sometimes even violent. We are pleased to be able to provide families with basic housing and shelter, as we are also seeing an increasing number of families facing homelessness because of lead hazards, domestic violence, and other tragic circumstances and crises.
Importantly, this new property will give our fellow citizens the dignity and support they deserve during their time of need.
Combatting Gender Inequality
(Washington, D.C.) — Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge withdrew a Trump-era rule that would allow federally funded single-sex shelters to discriminate against tenants based on gender identity. Proposed last July, the rule would have rolled back transgender protections included in HUD’s 2016 Equal Access rule, which mandated access to shelter based on a person’s self-expressed gender identity. HUD submitted the withdrawal this week on Thursday. The following is a statement from Diane Glauber, director of the Fair Housing and Community Development Project at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law:
“HUD’s withdrawal of this discriminatory Trump-era rule is critical to reaffirm our national commitment to gender equity, tenant’s rights, and ensuring that no person is denied housing access or essential services because of their identity. The proposed 2020 shelter rule would have allowed for federally-sanctioned and funded discrimination against transgender and gender non-conforming communities who are facing inordinately high rates of homelessness and an increased risk of displacement.
“Our federal institutions must do everything within their authority to ensure that all people can live healthy lives and have access to a safe and affordable place to live, free from the threat of insecurity.”