Leo Quigley

Leo Quigley

Predatory Equity and TARP/TALF

For three years now, housing advocates have been sounding the alarm about the rise of "predatory equity" in New York's affordable housing. Their research has identified about 90,000 units acquired by private equity firms in the last four years. Tenant advocates in California have seen similar disturbing trends. Financing for these purchases was often predicated on exceptionally large increases in rental income. In New York, this kind of rent increase is achieved either by turning out long-term tenants with low rents or escaping the rent-stabilization system that limits rent increases to the cost of living and bona fide improvements to the properties. The newly-announced Troubled Assets Relief Program provides a vital tool for reclaiming and preserving these at-risk affordable housing resources.

See, Run for Shelter: Use the federal TARP money to preserve affordable housing on Slate's The Big Money.

Teaching: Policy Analysis

Milano The New School for Management and Urban Policy Laboratory in Issue Analysis (Spring 2009)

Supervising graduate level applied policy analysis exercises for nonprofit and government clients.