Tag: private property

Mamdani Housing Czar: ‘White, Middle-Class Homeowners are a Huge Problem’

Cea Weaver, the ‘tenant advocate’ and housing czar of the Zohran Mamdani administration, was in the news a few weeks ago when it was first revealed that she believes in collectivized housing. Now we are learning more about what she believes.

In the clip below, she describes white, middle-class homeowners as a problem. This is the sort of insane ideology you might hear on the campus of Bryn Mawr College, which Weaver attended. The point is that this woman sees home ownership as an obstacle to progress.

The people Mamdani is surrounding himself with are insane and dangerously stupid. Home ownership is one of the most basic ways that average people can build real wealth.

The Washington Free Beacon reports:

‘White, Middle-Class Homeowners Are a Huge Problem’: Mamdani’s Communist Housing Czar Called To ‘Undermine the Institution of Homeownership’

Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s (D., N.Y.) top housing official, Cea Weaver, bemoaned “white, middle-class homeowners” during a 2021 podcast appearance. Her goal as an organizer, Weaver said, is to “undermine the institution of homeownership.”

“White, middle-class homeowners are a huge problem for a renter justice movement,” Weaver said in previously unreported remarks on the Bad Faith podcast in September 2021, hosted by Briahna Joy Gray, a former press secretary for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) who was fired by the Hill after rolling her eyes at the sister of a hostage in Gaza who urged Gray to believe Israeli women whom Hamas had raped. Also on the podcast was activist Arianna Afeni Evans, most famous in the D.C. area for being arrested at a metro station for fare evasion in 2025.

“Unless we can undermine the institution of homeownership and seek to provide stability in other ways, I don’t know—it’s a really difficult organizing situation we find ourselves in.”

During the podcast episode, Weaver laid out a plan to use the government to attack landlords and prevent them from evicting tenants, in addition to fighting against homeownership.

“We need a national movement to pass universal rent control to limit landlords’ ability to endlessly profit on our homes, to give tenants the right to form a tenants’ union where they live, and to really block evictions,” she said. “But rent control is not enough: People need money. We need to tax billionaires and transform that into cash assistance for renters. And we need to chip away at homeownership, and that means—that means Medicare for All, that means, like, a deep investment in real social service programs.”

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NYC Advisor Seeks to End All Homeownership

Socialist NYC Mayor Zohan Mamdani appointed Cea Weaver to lead the city’s Office to Protect Tenants. Weaver believes that homeownership is inherently racist and must be reformed into “a world in which the housing is owned by a collective.” According to Weaver, the US can simply continually print money to support government spending.

The claim that a government can simply print money to support endless spending is one of the most dangerous myths ever sold to the public. When politicians have exhausted every honest means of funding government, they are left with nothing but deception. This line of thinking is precisely why the government shut down at the end of 2025. Politicians believe they can increase spending indefinitely with no regard for the ticking time bomb that is government debt.

Printing money is another form of taxation, albeit a far more destructive form because it is hidden. Inflation will rise when the money supply expands beyond productive output. Governments print to fund their spending and dilute the currency. Politicians have lost all discipline because government continually votes to raise budgets and prolong the problem. The debt crisis has been rapidly snowballing in magnitude; those in power have zero intention of paying it off, but the time will come when the bill is due.

The irony is that those advocating unlimited money creation claim it helps the poor. In reality, it does the opposite. Inflation destroys savings, raises prices beyond reach, and transfers wealth to the elites controlling the money. It widens inequality while pretending to fight it. Hence why Venezuela went from one of the world’s top economies to poverty-ridden nation in a short period of time. These people are extremely dangerous. Voters propel them into power on the basis of lies, and then they have the ability to begin altering policies. Mamdani may be limited to his city but no economy can be viewed in isolation and voters refuse to see the mirage of easy solutions to complex problems.

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Spain Punishes Homeowners: Selling Your Home Can Cost You Up to 40 % in Taxes

For years, Spain has promoted the idea that homeownership is the ultimate safe haven for family savings. What is rarely mentioned is that, when the time comes to sell, the State shows up with a bill that can swallow up to 40 % of the profit.

The hit begins with personal income tax. Capital gains are currently taxed at rates of up to 28 %, among the highest in Europe. But the blow doesn’t end there. Local governments impose the so-called municipal capital gains tax (plusvalía municipal), which taxes the supposed increase in the value of the land—even when the real profit is minimal or highly questionable.

Added to this is a crucial factor that the tax authorities deliberately ignore: inflation. In Spain, the original purchase price is not adjusted to reflect the loss of purchasing power over time. As a result, the State taxes as “profit” what, in many cases, is merely a nominal price increase.

Spain’s approach stands in sharp contrast to that of other countries. In the United States, for example, homeowners can exclude up to $250,000 in capital gains ($500,000 for married couples) on the sale of their primary residence, provided certain conditions are met. In many cases, middle-class families pay nothing at all when selling their homes.

In countries like Germany, capital gains on residential property can be entirely tax-free if the property is held for more than ten years. France offers significant reductions over time, eventually eliminating capital gains tax altogether after long-term ownership. Even Portugal provides rollover relief when proceeds are reinvested in another primary residence.

Spain, by contrast, offers limited and restrictive exemptions, while maintaining high marginal rates and local taxes that stack on top of national ones. The result is a system that discourages mobility, locks families into their homes, and penalizes long-term saving.

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Banning Wall Street From Buying Houses Is Great, But Trump Needs To Do More

While walking through a very Midwest USA mid-tier neighborhood in an outer suburb last summer, a young couple passing by with two young children told me they were admiring all the “beautiful houses.” The father was a union worker and did jobs on the side to earn more. The mother stayed with the small children. They lived in an apartment. 

There are many young American families like this — doing everything right, but still, unless given money from parents for a down payment, priced out of home ownership. Home prices relative to incomes have soared since the market bottomed in 2012, especially since the 2020 Covid panic. From 2022-2023, even as home prices relative to incomes continued to climb higher, mortgage rates doubled and remain at this higher level today. Obviously, mortgage rates have been much higher in the past. But the toxic combination is the high price of homes relative to incomes, paired with these higher mortgage rates. 

That’s why it’s encouraging that President Trump is moving to make homes more affordable. Last week, Trump announced he is “taking steps to ban large institutional investors from buying more single-family homes.” Trump specifically mentioned young Americans struggling with housing affordability and said the administration would launch more proposals in the next several weeks to make housing more affordable. The White House’s proposals need to be hard-hitting and not tinker around the edges of a major problem.

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Trump to Ban ‘Large Institutional Investors’ from Buying Up U.S. Homes

President Donald Trump is moving to ban “large institutional investors” from buying up United States homes meant for Americans, a move that is likely to be welcomed with bipartisan support.

On Wednesday, Trump wrote in a Truth Social post that he would be taking action to prevent corporations from buying single-family American homes — a growing trend that researchers have said has been a drag for first-time homebuyers, neighborhoods, and quality of life.

Trump said Congress ought to codify the ban into law so that a new administration cannot open the door for investors to buy single-family homes in the future.

“For a very long time, buying and owning a home was considered the pinnacle of the American Dream. It was the reward for working hard, and doing the right thing,” Trump wrote in the post, “but now, because of the Record High Inflation caused by Joe Biden and the Democrats in Congress, that American Dream is increasingly out of reach for far too many people, especially younger Americans.”

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Zohran Mamdani Appointee Calls to ‘Seize Private Property’ and Describes Home Ownership as White Supremacy

In a newly resurfaced video from 2018, Zohran Mamdani’s new ‘Tenant Advocate’ appointee in New York City, advocated for seizing private property and implied that home ownership is white supremacy.

She talks about how property is going to be collectivized and says it will mostly affect white people.

Do the people of New York City even realize what a completely insane band of radicals they have just put in power?

The New York Post reports:

Zohran Mamdani’s new NYC tenant advocate called to ‘seize private property,’ blasted homeownership as ‘white supremacy’

Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s newly appointed tenant advocate called to “seize private property” and blasted homeownership as a “weapon of white supremacy” in a series of pro-Communist social media posts.

Cea Weaver, Mamdani’s new director of the city Office to Protect Tenants, made the statements and urged her followers to elect more Communists in several lecturing posts on her now-deleted X account that were unearthed by internet sleuths.

“Seize private property!” she said on June 13, 2018.

“Private property including any kind of ESPECIALLY homeownership is a weapon of white supremacy,” she said then.

Weaver also pushed to “Elect more communists” in December 2017 — when a Harlem street corner was being renamed in honor of former Manhattan Rep. Vito Marcantonio, who was a Communist.

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Zohran Goes to War with Landlords, He Will Possibly Seize Properties

Landlords and property owners in New York City are Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s prime targets.

“If your landlord does not responsibly steward your home, city government will step in,” Zohran said.

Councilwoman Vicki Paladino believes he intends to seize properties. Frivolous complaints will be responded to and taken seriously, as he suggests in the clip below.

In New York City, buildings and other structures can be seized for negligence if they are found to be unsafe or in violation of building and safety codes. The city has strict building and safety codes to protect tenants and the public. If property owners ignore these standards, they risk lawsuits for negligence and unsafe living conditions.

When a building is deemed unsafe, the city may take action to seize it, which can include taking it down or ordering repairs. The city’s legal team will assess the situation and determine the appropriate course of action.

Property owners must comply with building and safety codes to avoid potential legal action and the risk of seizure.

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Distraught Cape Cod widow told ‘forever home’ is one of 13 set to be demolished to make way for new bridge… with neighbors whose properties were spared dreading the thundering traffic

A distraught Cape Cod widow will see her home of more than 24 years demolished to make way for a new bridge.

Joyce Michaud, 80, is among 13 unlucky residents who will have their properties flattened by Massachusetts officials as part of the $2.1 billion project to replace the Sagamore Bridge.

Michaud’s three-bedroom home will bulldozed to make room for workers’ equipment, and will eventually become a basin to catch storm water rolling off the bridge, The Boston Globe reported. 

‘[I thought:] “I’m all set. My kids don’t have to worry. I’m all set”,’ she told The Globe. ‘And now, I’m not.

‘It’s really hard to lose something that you thought was yours.’ 

The residence is being seized through eminent domain, which allows the state to take property for public use. 

An additional 17 properties will be partially acquired. Seven vacant properties will also be seized. 

Meanwhile neighbors who have been spared demolition say they are dreading the onslaught of traffic and noisy works which will take place for the next ten years during construction of the new bridge, which connected Cape Cod to the mainland.

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NYC poised to force landlords to sell private property to non-profits to ensure ‘affordable housing’

The New York City Council has passed what has been called the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act (COPA) that will force private building owners to offer up their property to nonprofits and government entities before they make any private sale, effectively causing massive delays in property sales and other regulatory hurdles in the Big Apple’s housing industry.

In the scenario that it is passed, NYC will have the largest COPA program in the country. The act forces landlords to offer their property to the city as well as nonprofits before the building can be sold on the public market. The lawmaker who sponsored the law, Council Member Sandy Nurse, claims that it will be a win for New Yorkers.

“Corporate interests and big real estate tried their hardest to block the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act with a misinformation and fear-mongering campaign, and they failed,” Nurse said about the law’s passage, per Pix 11. “Today marks the beginning of a new social housing era in New York City… COPA levels the playing field and makes it possible to preserve and create thousands of permanently affordable homes across our city.”

The act dictates that landlords must first tip off the government entities and nonprofits that qualify, and “may not take any action that will result in the sale of such covered property to a person other than” those entities. Then the owner must sit on that property for 25 days as it is up for sale to the nonprofits, which can submit a statement of interest.

If the statement of interest is submitted to the property owner, the nonprofit entity then has 80 days to submit a first offer. Only after rejecting any offer from the nonprofit during those 80 days would the owner then be able to list the property for public sale.

That, however, is not the end of the red tape. If there is an offer from the private market submitted after a building owner refused an offer from a nonprofit, the owner must then inform the nonprofit so that the nonprofit can offer a matching price on identical terms of the private offer and has 15 days to do so.

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Innocent Man Sues for Over $60,000 After Police Blew Up His Business. A Court Says He’s Entitled to Nothing.

The Takings Clause of the 5th Amendment “was designed to bar Government from forcing some people alone to bear public burdens,” the Supreme Court said in Armstrong v. United States, “which, in all fairness and justice, should be borne by the public as a whole.” That was just over 65 years ago.

It is, unfortunately, not living up to that promise.

For the latest example, we can look to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, which ruled last month that an innocent man whose business was destroyed by Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers in pursuit of a fugitive is not entitled to compensation for damages under the Takings Clause. This is despite the law’s pledge that the government provide “just compensation” when it usurps private property for a public use.

In August of 2022, an armed fugitive threw Carlos Pena out of his North Hollywood printing shop and barricaded himself inside it. Over the course of 13 hours, a SWAT team with the LAPD launched more than 30 rounds of tear gas canisters through the walls, door, roof, and windows. After the standoff, police discovered the suspect had managed to escape. But Pena was left with a husk of what his store once was, the inside ravaged and equipment ruined, saddling him with over $60,000 in damages, according to his lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles.

It’s a suit Pena did not want to file, having repeatedly reached out to the government to recoup his losses before going to court. The city ignored him. Pena, meanwhile, was hemorrhaging income, resigned to working out of his garage at a much-reduced capacity with a single printer he purchased after the raid.

The recent ruling on Pena’s claim joins a burgeoning pile of case law wading through this exact scenario. Each decision ultimately grapples with a version of a core question: Does the Takings Clause cease to apply in some sense when property is destroyed via “police power”?

Different circuits have come to varying conclusions. The 9th Circuit, for its part, declined to answer if a categorical exception exists. But the court did conclude that there is no taking “when law enforcement officers destroy private property while acting reasonably in the necessary defense of public safety” (emphasis mine). The judges said that doomed Pena’s claim.

Their decision references a ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, which in 2023 considered a similar case: Police mutilated a woman’s Texas house in pursuit of a fugitive who had locked himself inside her attic. Because law enforcement destroyed Vicki Baker’s home “by necessity during an active emergency,” the court ruled, it did not constitute a taking under the U.S. Constitution.

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