Low-income Montana residents are getting help accessing legal aid online.

In some cases, updates to automated legal forms could help residents facing eviction stay in their homes, and also assist people who need help with family law issues.

Montana Legal Services Association will use the $275,000 technology assistance grant to overhaul and redesign its most-used automated, online legal forms.

MLSA's Community Legal Education Coordinator Linden Howard-Murphy said the information from those forms will be integrated into the state's court systems.

"We know that not everyone can afford a lawyer, and we also know that navigating the court system on your own can be extremely overwhelming," said Howard-Murphy. "One of the cornerstones of our work here at MLSA is empowering Montanans with the tools they need to handle their civil legal problems pro se. Pro se means without a lawyer."

MLSA data show there is only one legal aid attorney for every 8,900 Montanans who need civil legal help. Howard-Murphy said upgrading the online forms will help improve those numbers.

Ron Flagg - president of the Washington, D.C.-based Legal Services Corporation, which awarded the grant - said streamlining the online help low-income Montanans can access could be the difference between staying in their home and being evicted.

"And if you're living on the edge, that means you're one medical expense, one fender-bender from not being able to pay your rent," said Flagg. "And having legal assistance available in those cases is a game changer."

The Legal Services Corporation funds 130 nonprofit legal aid programs nationwide.

Residents in a South Bend mobile home community oppose a management rule banning standard window air conditioners.

According to the management's website, Countryside Village imposed the policy to "maintain the appearance and standards of the community." The dangerously hot weather can pose health risks but one lawmaker questions if the rule is masking another purpose: to force lower-income dwellers out of the community.

Sen. David Niezgodski, D-South Bend, has asked Attorney General Todd Rokita to step in.

"I asked for his assistance to try to put, if nothing else, a stay with the owners of Countryside Village from requesting that tenants there that have window air conditioners to not have those removed in the dead heat of the summer," Niezgodski explained.

The 2024 State of Fair Housing Indiana Report said state health department records show there were almost 1,100 registered mobile home communities across Indiana as of 2023, with an estimated 89,000 total housing lots. Of those homes, 69% are owner-occupied and 31% are renter-occupied mobile manufactured home units.

The report also showed in land-leased communities, resident homeowners are subjected to the rules and regulations of the park owner and their designated property managers. The air conditioning ban points to a larger argument of landlord and tenant rights under Indiana housing law.

Niezgodski acknowledged legislation in 2020 supported the ban, despite a gubernatorial veto removing local government intervention in cases which would increase tenant rights and protections. He has spoken with two other legislators about changes to the measure.

"The legislation that was passed was never intended for these types of things to happen," Niezgodski stressed. "What I hope is that we can collectively come together and figure out a way that brings attention to this and helps to alleviate something from happening in this matter again."

Niezgodski applauded community support through several donations of internal air conditioning units without visible outside parts to the residents but he remains concerned the potential existed for people to lose their homes or be placed, in his words, "in an untenable situation" due to the extreme heat because of a lack of cool air.


get more stories like this via email

Minimum wage workers in Colorado have to work two full-time jobs, or 82 hours per week, to afford a one-bedroom apartment, according to a new report from the National Low-Income Housing Coalition.

There are just 26 affordable housing units in Colorado for every 100 low-income households but almost all new housing comes with price tags only top earners and investors can pay.

Cathy Alderman, chief communications and public policy officer at the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, said the report underscored the need to build more low- and middle-income housing.

"And not just building housing that is luxury, or market rate, and oftentimes out of reach even for households that are receiving more than the minimum wage," Alderman stressed.

The report cited decades of disinvestment in public-housing initiatives as the primary driver of the nation's current shortage of more than 7 million affordable housing units. There is not a single state or major metropolitan area with enough housing for its lowest-income workers. Colorado's most expensive areas include Summit, Eagle and Pitkin counties, and Metro Denver. But moderate- to low-income tenants still cannot afford the rent in the state's least expensive areas.

Alderman noted the Trump administration is pushing to cut the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's overall budget by 44%, including programs developing affordable housing.

"And a cut to programs that provide rental-assistance funding for lower-income households, which is oftentimes the only way that low-wage earners can make up the difference between their wages and the cost of housing," Alderman added.

Colorado's minimum wage is $14.81 per hour, and it's $18.81 in Denver but the report calculated full-time workers need to earn at least $36.79 per hour to afford a modest, two-bedroom apartment. Alderman argued to prevent more people from entering the cycle of homelessness, the state needs to find ways to double down on its affordable housing investments.

"Even in an environment like Colorado where the minimum wage is far outpacing the federal minimum wage, and we know that wages continue to rise, they simply can't keep up with the cost of housing," Alderman stated.

By Marilyn Odendahl for The Indiana Citizen.
Broadcast version by Joe Ulery for Indiana News Service reporting for the Indiana Citizen-Free Press Indiana-Public News Service Collaboration.

Just as a new report is highlighting that two-thirds of Indiana's largest occupations are paying less than what workers need to cover rent, Gov. Mike Braun has indicated he sees housing as key to the state's economic health.

Braun spoke with reporters on Thursday at Huntington University following the ceremonial signing of Senate Enrolled Act 306, which allows taxpayers to transfer film and media production tax credits. The Republican governor was asked about the recent call by housing advocates to create a commission to examine and propose solutions to address the state's housing affordability crisis.

"Housing has been a chronic issue," Braun said. "We're not going to get economic development if we don't have enough housing as we build the workforce."

The "Out of Reach - Indiana 2025" report, published by Prosperity Indiana and the National Low Income Housing Coalition, found Hoosier workers need to earn $22.18 per hour to afford a "modest two-bedroom apartment" at the fair market rental rate of $1,153 per month in Indiana. That "housing wage" enables renters to spend no more than 30% of their household income on housing and utilities and avoid having to make the difficult choices to forego basic needs like food and medical care in order to afford a place to live, according to the report.

However in Indiana, the current average renter wage is $18.05 an hour, which, as the report notes, is $4.13 less than the state's housing wage for an apartment with two bedrooms. The disparity between paychecks and rent is especially acute since the state's median renter household income of $43,672 is the lowest in the Midwest, but its housing costs are "typical for the region."

Moreover, the report found that 76% of Hoosiers working in the top 20 occupations in Indiana - 810,610 employees - are making a median hourly wage that is less than the wage needed to afford a two-bedroom apartment. These workers include waiters and waitresses, nursing assistants, child-care workers, stockers and order fillers, and customer service representatives.

That gap appears to be getting wider. According to the report, 14 of Indiana's "top 20 most common occupations" pay median wages below the state's 2025 housing wage. This is an increase from nine occupations in 2022.

The state's affordability crisis is even worse for workers making the minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. The report noted that Hoosiers working at minimum wage must have 3.1 full-time jobs, the equivalent of working 122 hours per week, to afford a two-bedroom apartment.

Andrew Bradley, senior director of policy and strategy for Prosperity Indiana, said the report underscores the need for federal, state and local policymakers to be "laser-focused" on making housing more affordable across Indiana. Also, he renewed the call for Braun to convene a housing commission to help address these issues.

"Given Indiana's growing housing crisis, Prosperity Indiana and the Hoosier Housing Needs Coalition strongly urge Gov. Braun to use his leadership and entrepreneurial know-how to create and convene a Commission on Housing Safety, Stability, and Affordability, and by doing so, cement himself as Indiana's first Housing Governor," Bradley told The Indiana Citizen. "While there are resources available to increase the supply and affordability of housing in Indiana, they are currently scattered through public agencies and segments of the private sector that don't often coordinate. Only a governor has the bully pulpit and convening power to bring together the right stakeholders to align existing resources, eliminate barriers, and drive the improved housing outcomes that Hoosiers and their communities need to thrive."

The idea for the governor to appoint a housing commission was first presented to Braun's predecessor, Gov. Eric Holcomb. Although Holcomb did not assemble such a group, housing advocates have not given up on their proposal. They are trying to convince Braun to take action.

In June, Prosperity Indiana and the Hoosier Housing Needs Coalition delivered a letter to the current governor urging him to create a Commission on Housing Safety, Stability and Affordability to address the state's "shortage of safe, healthy, and affordable homes accessible to the most vulnerable Hoosiers." The letter was signed by 665 organizations and individuals, including housing providers and developers, homeless prevention specialists, community service agencies and faith-based groups, from around Indiana.

Asked on Thursday about the advocates' call for a housing commission, Braun did not dismiss the idea.

"I will always seek advice, whether it's through a commission or just gathering the input like I've done in government and in the business world," Braun said. "That's what makes you successful."

In the letter, the organizations and individuals said a commission was needed because the "incremental steps" taken by policymakers have not been enough to address the state's housing affordability crisis. A commission, they said, could foster cooperation between government agencies, courts and nonprofits to help bolster housing resources, clean up the "patchwork of codes for health and safety standards," coordinate administrative and court rules, and recommend new legislation.

The letter did note the positive impact on Indiana's housing supply through the funding of the Residential Housing Infrastructure Assistance Program (RIF) and the Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative (READI).

However, the advocates said, Indiana still has a housing crisis. For every 100 "extreme low-income Hoosier households," the state only has 38 affordable rental homes available, the second-lowest rate in the Midwest. Also, the advocates said, 74% of these households spend more than half of their income on housing expenses, the highest rate in the Midwest.

Lauren Murfree, policy analyst for the Indiana Community Action Poverty Institute, said the lack of affordable housing is detrimental to Hoosiers' economic viability. Without stable housing, she said, working Hoosiers are having trouble obtaining and retaining employment.

"If our goal is to provide an economically stable and sustainable state, housing solutions are key, and the creation of a housing commission would provide the governor with the ability to gather experts together to help ground solutions in evidenced-based approaches," Murfree said. "We are excited that the governor has recently expressed openness and willingness to engage with the topic of housing and look forward to outreach and engagement from his staff on this topic so that we can work together toward addressing our housing crisis."


Marilyn Odendahl wrote this article for The Indiana Citizen.


get more stories like this via email