The elected members of the Homelessness Response System's governing committee voted 4–1 on Friday, with Mayor Keith Wilson opposed, to set a goal of reducing homelessness in Multnomah County 10% by June 2028, the same day the county said a revised by-name list will count about 3,500 fewer people than May's 18,000. Blanchet House said its 75-bed Bethanie's Room has turned away five to 10 women a night since the 200-bed Northrup Shelter closed September 18. The White House announced a pocket rescission of nearly $1 billion in FY2026 spending, including $56 million in HUD housing counseling grants, with the fiscal year ending September 30. Los Angeles Fire Department records show 12,241 homeless-related fires through September 20, about 6% fewer than the same period last year. Seattle had no fresh item in the window, so the Elsewhere section runs Los Angeles and the Bay Area as peers with Cleveland and Wichita as wildcards.
The elected members of the Homelessness Response System's governing committee voted Friday to reduce the number of people homeless in Multnomah County by 10% by June 2028, which the Oregonian reported is the first numerical target of its kind in at least a decade. The package also set goals to cut unsheltered homelessness 8% and move 12,350 people into housing over two years, which deputy director Ryan Deibert said would require housing 27% more people than in the prior two years and maintaining about $35 million in one-time city and county funding. Mayor Keith Wilson cast the lone no vote, calling the goals "a good starting point" that he said did not reflect the urgency of the crisis.
The goals passed 4–1, with Chair Jessica Vega Pederson, Commissioner Shannon Singleton, Gresham Mayor Travis Stovall and Councilor Eric Zimmerman in favor and Wilson opposed; the target and the current estimated total of about 14,500 people are countywide, not city-only.
Multnomah County's Homeless Services Department said it will revise its by-name list so that about 3,500 fewer people are counted as currently homeless, lowering the May figure of 18,000 by nearly 20%. Deputy director Anna Plumb called it "a data clean-up" that does not mean those people were housed; the largest change shortens the inactivity window before someone drops off the list from 90–180 days to 60–90 days, on the advice of the consultant Community Solutions. The county said the new method will be applied retroactively to January 2024 and take effect in the next month or so.
The by-name list launched in April 2025; program manager Lori Kelley said the shorter inactivity window accounts for most of the reduction.
Steve Cook, executive director of Blanchet House, said its 75-bed women's shelter Bethanie's Room has turned away five to 10 women each night since the 200-bed NW Northrup Shelter a quarter-mile away closed last week, and is fielding calls from emergency rooms and first responders with nowhere else to send people. City data cited by KATU showed Northrup accounted for 24% to 31% of all city shelter stays each month between October 2025 and February 2026. Portland Solutions spokesperson Laura Rude said six other city overnight shelters have beds available nightly, that the city holds flex beds, and that it is prepared to expand hours and capacity under emergency weather declarations.
OPB reported the Northrup Shelter closed September 18 after one year of operation.
In a "Straight Talk" interview, Mayor Keith Wilson said the city "had always expected to flex down" after opening 1,500 shelter beds in his first year and that "the measure is how many beds we have empty," stating the city has empty beds nightly. Wilson said a central-city count last week found tent encampments down 93% from 2022 and zero RVs on the Sunday night count. A city spokesperson said six city-run overnight shelters remain open, including two in Old Town with beds generally available.
In a Thursday campaign letter, Mayor Keith Wilson endorsed Commissioner Julia Brim-Edwards for Multnomah County chair, writing she would be "an essential partner for me and my work at the city" on homelessness, mental health, public safety and economic revitalization. Brim-Edwards faces Commissioner Shannon Singleton and former Commissioner Sharon Meieran to succeed Chair Jessica Vega Pederson, who is not seeking another term. Wilson recommended ranking Brim-Edwards first and made no recommendation for other rankings under the county's new ranked-choice system.
Earlier this week Wilson endorsed Olivia Clark, Eric Zimmerman, Steve Novick and Kellie Torres for city council; the general election is November 3.
Citing data from the real estate research site Mover Math, the Columbian reported Camas renters pay a median gross rent of $2,090, $60 above Seattle's $2,030, and the Lake Shore neighborhood $2,241, though both areas have median household incomes above $130,000. Vancouver's median gross rent of $1,702 exceeded Portland's $1,655 while its median household income of $81,338 trailed Portland's roughly $91,000 and Seattle's $123,860. The data showed 48 percent of Vancouver renters and 29 percent of homeowners are cost-burdened.
A household is counted as cost-burdened if it spends more than 30 percent of monthly income on housing; Camas is an incorporated city, and the Lake Shore figure is the unincorporated example.
Los Angeles Fire Department records obtained by ABC7 show 12,241 fires classified as "Homeless or Encampment Related" from January 1 through September 20, about 6% fewer than the same period last year and an average of 47 a day. More than 10,000 were trash fires; the analysis counted 189 vegetation or brush fires, 173 vehicle fires and 153 structure fires, with concentrations along the 10 Freeway corridor and in Skid Row. Mayor Karen Bass's office said in a statement that she has removed more than 140 encampments and that encampment-fire calls are down by more than 800 from this time last year.
ABC7's April analysis of the same LAFD data put the 2025 total at 16,982 homeless-related fires through mid-December, up from 7,165 in 2020.
Campaign finance reports through September 19 show Mayor Karen Bass with $1.5 million in direct contributions and $1 million in city matching funds, and Councilmember Nithya Raman with $1.1 million in contributions and $1.4 million in matching funds, totals of $2.51 million and $2.53 million. Raman reported about $1.9 million cash on hand versus nearly $1.2 million for Bass. The carpenters-sponsored Estamos Con Nithya committee has taken in $6 million, half from hedge fund manager Aaron Sosnick, while the Los Angeles Police Protective League has put nearly $2.8 million into pro-Bass efforts and Airbnb spent $1.75 million on a pro-Bass primary committee.
The city's matching fund program pays $6 in public funds for every $1 from local contributors, up to $257 per qualifying donor; the runoff is November 3.
Oakland crews demolished two tiny homes at an encampment near Peralta and 7th streets during a scheduled closure, structures built by Oakland School for the Arts students almost a decade ago and used by two homeless mothers and their children. City spokesperson Sean Maher said the tow provider could not safely move the trailers with the structures in place, that notices were posted 11 days ahead of a September 21 to October 9 closure window, and that the camp was closed over reports of drug sales and sex work and because it blocked a sidewalk and park entrance. Councilmember Carroll Fife said the site was on her monthly top-five concerns list but that she did not expect the homes to be demolished, and that the camp grew after the city shut a tiny-home shelter a couple of blocks away in the spring.
The city's posted closure operation window for the site runs September 21 to October 9, 2026.
The Richmond Tiny House Village held its grand opening this week with 12 homes for unhoused people ages 18 to 24, who can stay up to two years; the nonprofit Tiny Village Spirit led the project and Hope Solutions will operate it. Organizers said the project cost less than $1 million, with design help from University of San Francisco architecture students and funding partly from crowdfunding. CBS reported that before the village opened, more than 100 unhoused young adults in Contra Costa County had access to 13 units of emergency housing; first residents are expected in the coming weeks.
The Metanoia Project, one of two seasonal shelters in Cuyahoga County, said it cannot afford to open this winter for the first time in nearly 20 years and may shut down entirely by December 31; it sheltered up to 45 people a night from November through April last season at a cost of about $300,000. Executive Director Kai Saga said the ADAMHS Board's loss of $8.5 million in county funding for 2026 and 2027 cost the shelter $90,000 a year, that a $75,000 county grant that covered part of the gap last year may not recur, and that the organization applied for more than 60 grants this year and was mostly denied. County homeless services director LeVine Ross said traditional shelters have about 400 men's beds and a little over 200 women's beds available, while NEOCH's Chris Knestrick said the coalition counted about 170 people living outside in August.
Cuyahoga County officials have called for 8% cuts to departments and programs funded by the health and human services levy.
Wichita's housing department delivered letters Wednesday telling residents of the encampment north of Chapin Park, known as "Narnia" or "Tent City," that they lose access to their campsites after October 12, with clearing to begin October 13. City spokesperson Tyler Schiffelbein said more than 80 people lived there per August data, 20 to 25 remain, 18 residents have been housed since January and 16 of those remaining hold housing vouchers while waiting for a rental unit. KSN reported Councilman Joseph Shepard said he did not believe the city's resources could meet demand at the site.
United Way of the Plains put the camp's population at about 100 in KSN's September 25 report, and KSN reported city data showing police responded to the area 69 times in three years.
PBS NewsHour / Associated Press · 2026-09-26 · on the pocket rescission, including $56 million in HUD housing counseling grants
The White House announced Friday that it is canceling nearly $1 billion in congressionally approved spending through a "pocket rescission," with the package including HUD housing counseling grants alongside HHS refugee services, a Department of Education migrant-student program and a Commerce minority business program. The White House's itemization put the HUD housing counseling line at $56 million and named UnidosUS, the National Urban League and Housing Action Illinois as grantees. The Government Accountability Office has said the pocket-rescission maneuver is illegal; Sen. Susan Collins called it "a usurpation of Congress's appropriations powers."
Congress has 45 days to review a rescission request, but the fiscal year ends September 30 and the House is out of session through the November election.
FHFA · 2026-09-24 · on FHFA's second-quarter foreclosure prevention and refinance data
FHFA reported that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac completed 48,439 foreclosure prevention actions in the second quarter of 2026, bringing the total since conservatorship began in September 2008 to 7,425,684. Foreclosure starts rose 1.9 percent to 25,908 and third-party and foreclosure sales rose 4.1 percent to 3,894, while the Enterprises' serious delinquency rate held at 0.59 percent. Cash-out refinances reached 54.4 percent of refinance activity in June as the average 30-year fixed rate rose to 6.42 percent.
The first-quarter report counted 58,317 foreclosure prevention actions.
Freddie Mac · 2026-09-24 · on August delinquency rates at Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae
Freddie Mac's August volume summary reported its single-family delinquency rate rose to 0.60% from 0.59% in July and its multifamily delinquency rate rose to 0.64% from 0.60%. Single-family refinance purchases were $6.1 billion, 19% of total single-family purchases. Fannie Mae's August summary, released September 25, reported a conventional single-family serious delinquency rate of 0.60%, up 1 basis point, and a multifamily serious delinquency rate of 0.57%, down 5 basis points.
Freddie Mac's multifamily rate counts loans two or more payments past due or in foreclosure; Fannie Mae's multifamily measure is 60 or more days past due.
Ten state attorneys general, from California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee and Washington, filed a response on September 15 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina opposing RealPage's argument that its settlement with the Justice Department moots the states' Sherman Act claims. RealPage had told the court the settlement reached at the end of 2025 resolved the same claims. The states wrote that none of the claims against RealPage, Camden or Pinnacle "have been rendered moot by the agreed-upon Final Judgment entered as a compromise between the United States and RealPage, to which the States are not parties."
The states sued alongside the federal government in the original DOJ antitrust case; the Justice Department settled with RealPage at the end of 2025 without the states joining.
The Department of Homeland Security said in a post on X that mass deportations have lowered rents in Sun Belt cities, listing San Antonio down 4.8 percent, Nashville down 5.3 percent and New Orleans down 8 percent, and telling readers to "support mass deportations" for a lower cost of living. Newsweek reported that DHS did not identify the source or methodology for the figures, and compared them with Zillow data showing New Orleans rent at $1,650, down $100 year-over-year, and San Antonio at $1,600, down $80. Redfin chief economist Daryl Fairweather said reducing immigrant labor supply "tends to raise building costs and slow new home production."
Apartment List's August national report put the median rent at $1,390, down 0.8% from a year earlier.
Smart Cities Dive · 2026-09-25 · on the U.S. Conference of Mayors affordability survey of 113 mayors
A U.S. Conference of Mayors survey found 96% of responding mayors said residents are very or extremely concerned about affordability, with 96% naming housing costs as the biggest concern, followed by groceries (55%) and utilities (40%). Fifty-six percent of mayors reported increased homelessness and evictions, and nearly 93% said the cost of living in their city rose in the past year. The Conference said it launched a national affordability tour on September 25, with a first stop in Albuquerque on October 8.
The Conference of Mayors said the survey was fielded August 18 to September 4 and drew responses from 113 cities; it released the results September 18.
HUD published a notice raising the upfront loan guarantee fee on new Section 184 Indian Housing Loan Guarantee firm commitments, including refinances, from 1.00 to 1.50 percent effective October 1, 2026. The upfront fee for the Section 184 Skilled Workers Demonstration Program rises from zero to 1.00 percent on the same date, and the annual fee stays at zero. HUD said the increase is meant to keep the program self-sustaining, consistent with its other loan guarantee programs.
The notice takes effect October 1, 2026, the first day of FY2027.
2026-12-31 — Date by which the Metanoia Project's board president says the Cleveland shelter organization will shut down if funding does not change (source)