Urban Homesteading Assistance Board

Urban Homesteading Assistance Board
AbbreviationUHAB
Formation1974
TypeNon-profit organization
PurposeTenant advocacy and housing group
HeadquartersNew York, New York
Region served
Brooklyn, Manhattan, Bronx, United States
Membership
1,300 HDFCs
President
Andrew Reicher (1981[1] - 2023[2]) Margy Brown (2023 - Present)[2]
Websitewww.uhab.org
Squatting in
the United States
International context
Principles
Programs
Solution frameworks
Housing and justice
Notable squats

The Urban Homesteading Assistance Board (UHAB), formed in 1974, is a city-wide non-profit housing and tenant advocacy group in New York City.[3][4]: 253, 258, 261–264 [5]

UHAB was originally sponsored by the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine.[6] In the late 1970s, they began to contract with the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) to provide classes for tenants for the city's Tenant Interim Lease (TIL) program and Community Management Program (CMP), which allowed the city to turn ownership of buildings to tenants.[7] UHAB had originally proposed the TIL program, which the HPD adopted in 1978.[8]

An analysis in 2015 showed approximately 1,300 existing Housing Development Fund Corporations (HDFC) (a form of limited equity cooperative in NYC), the majority of which had been created in the 1970's and 80's and clustered in low-income areas. They had primarily been created through the CMP, the TIL program, and Third Party Transfer program. UHAB was the main organization helping tenants transition into ownership and occasionally became interim landlords.[9]

In 2002, UHAB purchased 11 squatted buildings from the city for 1 dollar each, helping the homesteaders form HDFCs.[4] Beginning in 2005, as predatory equity became more prevalent in NYC, UHAB worked with other organizations to collect on predatory equity and produce guides to help tenants recognize and respond to it.[10]

  1. ^ Volner, Ian (2022-10-06). "This Non-Profit Wants to Help You Turn Your Building Into a Co-op". Dwell. Retrieved 2023-04-16.
  2. ^ a b Urban Homesteading Assistance Board (January 20, 2023). "Margy Brown Announced as New Executive Director of The Urban Homesteading Assistance Board (UHAB)".
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Holtzman was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference McArdle was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Buckley, Cara (2011-07-16). "In the East Village, Waiting for the Wrecking Ball". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-04-13.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Katz was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Leavitt was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Comerio-1987 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Safri, Mailha (2019). "Mapping Solidarity in the Economy in the United States" (PDF). Presented at UNTFSSE International Conference in Geneva. 29: 26.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Fields was invoked but never defined (see the help page).