Zapata noted that the project was motivated by the council’s desire to obtain better, more detailed data on rental properties in the city. “It’s tied to the current political climate,” he said, “Housing is currently a big issue in Providence, and there is a drive for more transparency and a desire to hold bad landlords accountable.”
“Our project, in a nutshell,” said Zapata, “is to compare Providence to four other cities in the U.S. that we selected and compare how they’ve structured their registries, and determine what Providence can learn from them.”
The city council has also been holding hearings on rent stabilization, a controversial topic, and many residents showed up to speak out passionately for and against it.
“The people who spoke in favor of rent stabilization,” said Hayes, “are very frustrated with the cost of living in the city of Providence and the lack of available units within their price range. One thing that stood out to me was a woman who said she has a full-time job yet still can't afford rent, which is really disheartening.”
“Landlords, on the other hand,” she said, “complained that the cost of maintaining properties is already high, and if rates were capped, they wouldn’t be able to cover their costs, making the situation worse.”
“It isn’t our team’s job to advocate for one side or the other,” said Zapata, “We’re here to make sure the city council has access to the best possible data as they deliberate.”
“We want the Providence City Council to have a database that will be maintained by the Department of Inspections and Standards that will collect detailed information from landlords about things like rental prices, planned rent increases and the costs of upkeep,” said Williams.
The group studied the registries of four other cities with demographics comparable to Providence and found one city had a registry that best matched Providence’s needs.
“We used a comparative matrix based on certain criteria for each city,” said Williams. “And then we had a section specifically for Providence on what we’d hope a rental registry could accomplish based on these evaluative criteria.
Zapata said, “The main thing I got out of the Policy in Action project is project management skills, because it is literally a capstone project. It’s not just a class; we were working on the same kind of project as we might in a job.”
“What's unique about the PIA,” Hayes said, “is that while we got guidance from our professors, it’s really kind of hands off in terms of how we communicate with our partner organizations. I have really appreciated that because it’s gearing me towards a career where I might be the only policy person on a team.” “It was really enriching and is connected to my future career goals in social justice work,” she added.
Williams said she found the project a good opportunity to apply what she had learned in her coursework. “A lot of our project has been very much built on the skills we have developed through our coursework. Everything from our management class to our policy analysis class from last semester, and even some aspects of our electives,” she said. “And it was really exciting for me, because I am passionate about working in the community.
“One thing I've learned from this project is the power of having connections,” said Zapata. “One day, I was having breakfast at Brickway on Wickenden, and I ended up running into Brett Smiley, the mayor of Providence. I decided to take advantage of the opportunity to tell him about our project and ask him his thoughts on it.”
“He was fairly critical of the idea,” said Zapata, “but it helped us know how to gear our presentation…It’s one thing to research what the mayor’s position is, but it's another to actually have a conversation with him directly about why he doesn't think something is going to work.”
“Having those ins with people and having the ability to go up and introduce yourself to someone and give them your pitch is something I think will serve me well from this project,” said Zapata.
Protecting Rhode Islanders from Predatory Lending Practices (Economic Progress Institute)
Team members Bilena Dabalen, Qutaiba Deah Enaya and Emma Vega worked with the Director of Research and Fiscal Policy at the Economic Progress Institute (EPI), Alan Krinsky, to tackle the problem of predatory lending in Rhode Island. EPI is a non-partisan, non-profit research and advocacy organization that advocates for policies that improve economic security and opportunity for Rhode Islanders.
Last year, EPI achieved a major legislative victory when Governor Dan McKee signed a bill into law that restricts payday lenders from charging annual percentage rates (APRs) above 36%. Previously, the typical APR charged by payday lenders in Rhode Island was an astounding 261%. The victory was a long time in the making; EPI — formerly known as The Poverty Institute — first introduced the bill 15 years ago.
While the passage of the bill marked major progress in protecting Rhode Island’s most economically vulnerable from predatory lenders, there is a loophole lenders can use to circumvent the new restrictions, and EPI is working to close it.
“There is a federal statute called the 1980 Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act (DIDMCA),” Dabalen explained, “It allows banks outside of Rhode Island to export their interest rates. This opens the door to what are called ‘rent a bank’ schemes.”
In short, non-bank payday lenders can evade Rhode Island’s interest rate limit by partnering with a bank from a more lenient state and importing their higher interest rate.
“We know this is happening in Rhode Island because of previous research by EPI,” said Dabalen, “and they have introduced new legislation that would close this loophole. Our team’s objective was to gather as much information as possible about this practice to support closing the loophole,” she said.
The team’s main task was to create a survey to be sent to Rhode Islanders to gather information that would support passage of the new law. Both Dabalen and Vega agreed that the process took longer and was much more involved than they initially anticipated. “We had to decide not only what questions to ask,” said Dabalen, “but also how to ask them in a way that is neutral and ethical.” In designing the survey, the team needed to be especially mindful of the shame associated with payday lending, which can make people reluctant to answer questions.
There were also many stakeholders whose concerns needed to be addressed. “It was a lengthy process in part because we were trying to meet the needs of so many different organizations,” said Vega. “We consulted with a number of local stakeholder organizations, including Progresso Latino, Dorcas International and the United Way of Rhode Island.”
The group also worked with the School of Public Health’s Survey, Qualitative and Applied Data Research Core (SQuAD) to design the survey. “They helped us organize the survey,” said Dabalen, “to create a storyline for the person taking the survey.”
“There were so many different organizations with their own set of concerns, said Vega, “It was definitely a struggle, but in the end, it was important to recognize we couldn’t tailor the survey to every organization’s needs.”
Vega nevertheless called the process of meeting with and addressing the concerns of the many stakeholders in the area “super rewarding,” and noted that the final survey was better for the effort.
