As a social worker working directly with marginalized individuals in our community, the lower-income, living paycheck to paycheck, we need to remember how the housing market affects our friends, families, and neighbors.
In the article title Assessor Marty Haynes: “It’s A Hot Real Estate Market,.” on April 27, Mr. Haynes says that his office “does not track” if the many purchases of estates in Chattanooga are from out of state entities. With all the evictions that have been increasing exponentially since this COVID-19 pandemic struck, it is dire to realize one of the biggest system failures of our city, outside ownership of rental properties. With a large majority of the rental properties in Chattanooga being owned by outside property management companies and LLCs, it leaves our community members vulnerable to rigorous rental applications and exponentially high rates, regardless of the condition of the properties they are renting.
As a community, we all want Chattanooga to recover from the past year’s economic crisis, but within this, we also want our community members to be successful. A strong Chattanooga is only as successful as our most vulnerable citizens. We must hold these outside buys accountable for their properties and for improving the welfare of our beloved Chattanooga.
Susan L. Yates, BSW