Books and Thesis
A Right to Housing: Foundation for a New Social Agenda, with Michael E. Stone and Chester Hartman, eds., Temple University Press, 2006.
Rebuilding a Low-Income Housing Policy. Temple University Press, 1989.
Critical Perspectives on Housing, with Chester Hartman and Ann Meyerson, eds., Temple University Press, 1986.
Federal Homeownership Policy and Home Finance: A Study of Program Operations and Impacts on the Consumer, Ph.D. Dissertation, M.I.T., 1976.
Academic Journal Articles
“The Role of Nonprofits in Meeting the Housing Challenge in the U.S.” Urban Research and Practice, Vol. 12, No. 1, 2019. pp. 7-37. https://doi.org/10.1080/17535069.2017.1341951
“Affordable Rental Housing in the U.S. For-Profit Sector: Implications of a Case Study of McCormack Baron Salazar.” Housing Policy Debate, Vol. 28, No. 4. 2018. pp. 489-514. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10511482.2017.1417884
“Post-Foreclosure Conveyance of Occupied Homes and Preferential Sales to Nonprofits: Rationales, Policies and Underlying Conflicts.” Housing Policy Debate, Vol. 27, No. 1, 2017. pp. 28-59. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10511482.2016.1143857?journalCode=rhpd20
“Affordable Rental Housing Development in the For-Profit Sector: A Review of the Literature” (with Irene Lew). Cityscape, Vol. 18, No. 3, 2016. pp. 229-262. https://www.huduser.gov/portal/periodicals/cityscpe/vol18num3/index.html
“The Mortgage Crisis: Historical Context and Recent Responses.” (with Dan Immergluck). Journal of Urban Affairs, Vol. 37, No. 1, 2015. pp. 32–37.
“Addressing Restrictive Zoning for Affordable Housing: Experiences in Four States.” (with Abigail Vladeck). Housing Policy Debate, Vol. 24, No. 3, 2014. pp. 594-636.
“The Quadruple Bottom Line and Nonprofit Housing Organizations in the United States.” Housing Studies, Vol. 27, No. 4, 2012. pp. 438-456.
“Challenges for Nonprofit Housing Organizations Created by the Private Housing Market.” Journal of Urban Affairs, Vol. 31, No. 1, 2009. pp. 67-94.
“Nonprofit and For-Profit Developers of Subsidized Rental Housing: Comparative Attributes and Collaborative Opportunities.” Housing Policy Debate, Vol. 19, No. 2, 2008. pp. 323-365.
“Viewing Housing Holistically: The Resident-Focused Component of the Housing-Plus Agenda.” Journal of the American Planning Association, Vol. 74, No. 1, 2008. pp. 100-110.
“Challenges and Dilemmas Facing Community Development Corporations in the U.S.” (with William M. Rohe). Community Development Journal, Vol. 42, No. 1, 2007. pp. 63-78.
“Organizational Changes Among CDCs: Assessing the Impacts and Anticipating and Navigating the Challenges.” (with William M. Rohe). Journal of Urban Affairs, Vol. 26, No. 2, 2004. pp. 197-220.
“Failures, Downsizings and Mergers Among Community Development Corporations.” (with William M. Rohe). Housing Policy Debate, Vol. 14, No. 1-2, 2003. pp. 1-46.
“Housing for Very Low-Income Households: The Record of President Clinton, 1993-2000.” Housing Studies, Vol. 18, No. 4, 2003. pp. 607-635. [An earlier version of this article was released as a Working Paper by the Joint Center for Housing Studies, October 2002, WO2-8.]
“Housing and Family Well-Being.” Housing Studies, Vol. 17, No. 1, 2002. pp. 13-26.“Challenges Confronting Nonprofit Housing Organizations’s Self-Sufficiency Programs.” (with Langley C. Keyes). Housing Policy Debate, Vol. 9, No. 4, 1998. pp. 795-824.
“The Status of Nonprofit Owned Affordable Housing: Short-term Successes and Long-term Challenges.” (with Avis C. Vidal, Alex Schwartz, Langley C. Keyes and Jim Stockard). Journal of the American Planning Association, Vol. 64, No. 1, 1998. pp. 39-51.
“CDCs: Contributions Outweigh Contradictions–A Reply to Randy Stoecker.” Journal of Urban Affairs, Vol. 19, No. 1, 1997. pp. 23-28.
“The Management Challenge: Nonprofit Housing Organizations and their Institutional Support System” (with Alex Schwartz, Avis C. Vidal and Langley C. Keyes). Journal of Urban Affairs, Vol. 18, No. 4, 1996. pp. 389-407.
“Networks and Nonprofits: Opportunities and Challenges in an Era of Federal Devolution.” (with Langley C. Keyes, Alex Schwartz and Avis C. Vidal). Housing Policy Debate, Vol. 7, No. 2, 1996. pp. 201-229.
“Federal Housing Policy and HUD: Past Problems and Future Prospects of a Beleaguered Bureaucracy” (with W. Dennis Keating). Urban Affairs Quarterly (re-named Urban Affairs Review), Vol. 29, No. 1, September 1993. pp. 3-27.
“Federal Constraints and Retrenchment in Housing: The Opportunities and Limits of State and Local Governments.” The Journal of Law and Politics, University of Virginia School of Law, Vol. VIII, No. 4, Summer 1992. pp. 651-701.
“Public Housing Authorities: Determining an Appropriate Role in a National Preservation Strategy.” Housing Policy Debate, Vol. 2, No. 2, 1991. pp. 535-556.
“Dilemmas of Community‑Based Housing.” Policy Studies Journal, Vol. 16, No. 2, Winter 1987‑88. pp. 324‑334.
“Private Owners of Subsidized Housing vs. Public Goals: Conflicting Interests in Resyndication.” Journal of the American Planning Association, Vol. 53, No. 3, Summer 1987. pp. 328-336.
“Community‑Based Housing Programs: Overview, Assessment, and Agenda for the Future.” Journal of Planning Education and Research, Vol. 5, No. 3, Spring 1986. pp. 164‑177.
“Housing for Low Income People: A Preliminary Comparison of Existing and Potential Supply Strategies.” Journal of Urban Affairs, Vol. 7, No. 3, Summer 1985. pp. 1‑18.
“Local Land Policy Overrides: When Are They Appropriate?” (with Kenneth Geiser). Policy Studies Journal, Vol. 12, No. 3, March 1984. pp. 499‑508.
“Barred in Boston: Racial Discrimination in Housing.” (with Judith D. Feins). Journal of the American Planning Association, Vol. 49, No. 3, Summer 1983. pp. 344‑355.
“Book Chapters (selected)
“What May Work about the Mixed-Income Approach: Reflections and Implications for the Future.” Mark L. Joseph and Amy T. Khare, eds. What Works to Promote Inclusive, Equitable Mixed‐Income Communities. National Initiative on Mixed-Income Communities and Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. 2020. pp. 697-722.
“The U.S. Approach to Social Housing.” Katrin B. Anacker, Mai Thi Nguyen, and David P. Varady, eds. The Routledge Handbook of Housing Policy and Planning. 2020. pp. 173-188.
“Organizational Adaptations of Nonprofit Housing Organizations in the U.S.: Insights from the Boston and San Francisco Bay Areas.” (with Larry Rosenthal and Robert J. Wiener). Housing Governance and Finance: Innovations, Partnerships and Comparative Perspectives. Gerard van Bortel, Vincent Gruis, Ben Pluijmers, and Joost Nieuwenhuijzen, eds. Taylor & Francis. 2019. pp. 123-143.
“Housing Policy and the Mortgage Foreclosure Crisis During the Obama Administration.” (with Dan Immergluck). James DeFilippis, ed., Urban Policy in the Time of Obama. University of Minnesota Press. 2016. pp. 79-98.
“Rebuilding a Low-Income Housing Policy.” (reprinted from book with that title). Juliet M. Brodie, Clare Pastore, Ezra Rosser, and Jeffrey Selbin, eds., Poverty Law, Policy, and Practice. Wolters Kluwer Law & Business. 2014. pp. 359-364.
“Beyond the Ladder: New Ideas about Resident Roles in Contemporary Community Development in the United States.” (with Kenneth M. Reardon). Naomi Carmon and Susan F. Fainstein, eds., Policy Planning, and People: Promoting Justice in Urban Development. University of Pennsylvania Press. 2013. pp. 356-381.
“A Right to Housing: Foundation for a New Social Agenda.” (with Michael E. Stone and Chester Hartman, reprinted Editor’s Introduction from book by that name). J. Rosie Tighe and Elizabeth J. Mueller, eds., The Affordable Housing Reader. Routledge. 2012. pp. 53-71.
Comment on: “The Affordability Challenge: Inclusionary Housing and Community Land Trusts in a Federal System.” By Richard P. Voith and Susan M. Wachter. Gregory K. Ingram and Yu-Hung Hong, eds., Value Capture and Land Policies. Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. 2012. pp. 282-284.
“Homeownership as Public Policy in the U.S.” Richard Ronald and Marja Elsinga, eds., Beyond Home Ownership: Housing, Welfare and Society. Routledge, 2012, pp. 130-145, 217.
“Homeownership Risk and Responsibility Before and After the U.S. MortgageCrisis.” Richard Ronald and Marja Elsinga, eds., Beyond Home Ownership: Housing, Welfare and Society. Routledge, 2012, pp. 146-169, 218.
“Promoting Housing Affordability.” Gary Hack, Eugénie L. Birch, Paul H. Sedway, and Mitchell J. Silver, eds. Local Planning: Contemporary Principles and Practice. An ICMA Greenbook, 2009, pp. 377-385.
“Financing Production of Low and Moderate-Income Housing.” Julia Sass Rubin, ed., Community Development Finance. Russell Sage Foundation, 2007, pp. 183-226.
“Housing for Low-Income Households: A Comparison of the Section 235, Nehemiah and Habitat for Humanity Programs.” William M. Rohe and Harry L. Watson, eds., Chasing the American Dream: New Perspectives on Affordable Homeownership.” Cornell University Press, 2007, pp. 41-65.
“Community Development Corporations: Challenges in Supporting a Right to Housing.” Rachel G. Bratt, Michael E. Stone and Chester Hartman, eds., A Right to Housing: Foundation for a New Social Agenda. Temple University Press, 2006, pp. 340-359.
“Housing and Economic Security.” Rachel G. Bratt, Michael E. Stone and Chester Hartman, eds., A Right to Housing: Foundation for a New Social Agenda. Temple University Press, 2006, pp. 399-426.
“Housing: The Foundation of Family Life.” Francine Jacobs, Donald Wertlieb, and Richard M. Lerner, eds., Handbook of Applied Developmental Science: Promoting Positive Child, Adolescent, and Family Development Through Research, Policies, and Programs. Vol. 2, Enhancing the Life Chances of Youth and Families. Sage Publications, Inc. 2003. pp. 445-468.
“From BURP to BHP to DEMO-DISPO: Lessons from Affordable Multifamily Housing Rehabilitation Initiatives in Boston.” Willem van Vliet–,ed., Affordable Housing and Urban Development in the United States. Sage Publications, 1997, pp. 27-51.
“Community-Based Housing Organizations and the Complexity of Community Responsiveness.” W. Dennis Keating, Norman Krumholz and Philip Star, eds., Revitalizing Urban Neighborhoods. University Press of Kansas, 1996, pp. 179-190.
“Community-Based Housing: Strengths of the Strategy amid Dilemmas That Won’t Go Away.” John Emmeus Davis, ed., The Affordable City, Temple University Press, 1994, pp. 122-144.
“Community-Based Housing in Massachusetts: Lessons and Limits of the State’s Support System.” Chester Hartman and Sara Rosenberry, eds. Housing Issues of the 90s, Praeger Publishers, 1989. pp. 277-306.
“The Role of Citizen-Initiated Programs in the Formulation of National Housing Policies.” Jack DeSario and Stuart Langton, eds. Citizen Participation in Public Decision Making, Greenwood Press, 1987. pp. 153-176.
“Public Housing: The Controversy and Contribution.” In Critical Perspectives on Housing, Bratt, Hartman, and Meyerson, eds. Temple University Press, 1986. pp. 335-361.
Newspapers and Magazines (selected)
“The hitch? That small print in SUN mortgage documents.” The Boston Globe. Op-Ed. September 12, 2022. https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/09/12/opinion/hitch-that-small-print-sun-mortgage-documents/
“U.S. Housing Policies Fueled Racial Discrimination.” The Boston Globe. Op-Ed. June 28, 2021. https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/06/28/opinion/us-housing-policies-fueled-racial-discrimination/
“Forecasting an economic tsunami as foreclosures rise and mortgages sink underwater.” The Boston Globe. Op-Ed. April 16, 2020. https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/04/16/opinion/forecasting-an-economic-tsunami-foreclosures-rise-mortgages-sink-underwater/
“HUD Secretary Ben Carson and His Perverse Actions on Fair Housing.” Shelterforce (on-line). April 11, 2018. https://shelterforce.org/2018/04/11/21149/
“A Record of Steady Progress, Patrick and Predecessors Should Be Proud of Chapter 40B Contributions: Despite Gains, Baker Inherits a Host of Housing Issues.” Banker & Tradesman. January 19, 2015. p. 5.
“Defending Progressive State Housing and Land Use Reforms: Lessons from Three State” (with Dennis Keating and Alan Mallach). Shelterforce. Summer 2012, Vol. XXXIV, No. 2.
“Fears of Affordable Housing: Perceptions vs. Reality” (with Jeremy Robitaille). Shelterforce. Summer 2012, Vol. XXIV, No. 2.
“The Road to PETRA.” Shelterforce. Summer 2010, Vol. XXXII, No. 2. pp. 10-11.
“The Impact of Affordable Housing on Property Values: A Review of Key Studies.” Housing Journal. Delaware Housing Coalition, Spring 2010, pp. 44-45.
“Fixing the Homeowner Default Trap.” The Boston Globe. Op-Ed. February 28, 2010.
“Partnerships, Policies and People: Promoting Affordable Housing for Lower Income Households—Observations from the US.” HousingWORKS. Australian Housing Institute, Vol. 6, No. 2, May 2008, pp. 12-16.
“Americans Deserve a Right to Housing.” The Boston Globe. Op-Ed. March 13, 2007.
“Why CDCs Should Advocate for a Right to Housing.” Shelterforce, Vol. XXVIII, No. 4. Winter, 2006. pp. 15-17, 45.
“A Right to Housing Redux,” Journal of Housing and Community Development, Vol. 61, No. 4. November-December 2004, pp. 6-9.
“The CDC School of Hard Knocks: Learning from Adversity.” (with William M. Rohe and Protip Biswas). Shelterforce. Vol. XXV, No. 3, May/June 2003, pp. 8-11.
“Bold Steps Needed for Low-Income Housing,” (with Langley C. Keyes). The Boston Globe. Op-Ed. July 5, 2003.
“The Real Story on Housing.” The Boston Globe. Op-Ed. September 16, 2002.
“The Housing Drought No One is Talking About.” The Boston Globe. Op-Ed. March 12, 2000.
“A Crash Course in Welfare Reform.” The Boston Globe. Op-Ed. July 2, 1998.
“Why Investors are Eying Our Inner Cities.” The Boston Globe. Op-Ed, January 24, 1997.
“A Withering Commitment: Housing Policy in America.” Shelterforce. Vol. XIX, No. 4. July/August 1997, pp. 8-9.
“Clear MHFA for Takeoff.” The Boston Globe. Op-Ed, January 10, 1995.
“Ten Difficult Years for Low and Moderate Income Renters.” Banker and Tradesman. January 18, 1995.
“Abolish HUD?” Shelterforce, Vol. XVII, No. 3. May/June 1995, p. 10.
“U.S. Housing Efforts Bar the Door to the Neediest.” The Boston Globe. Op-Ed, May 9, 1994.
“Mutual Housing: Community-Based Empowerment,” Journal of Housing, Vol. 48, No. 4. July-August 1991, pp. 173-180.
“Massachusetts Is Setting An Example With Public Housing Program.” The Boston Globe. Op-Ed, March 30, 1986.
“The Housing Payments Program: Its Possible Effects on Minorities, Poor.” Journal of Housing, Vol. 40, No. 4, July-August 1983. pp. 108-110.
“Reagan Housing Subsidies for the Rich, But There’s Little for the Poor.” The Boston Globe. Op-Ed, February 24, 1982.
Reports (selected)
Planning for the Extraordinary Requires Close Attention to the Ordinary: 2Life Communities’ Efforts to Protect Low-Income Older Adults During the Pandemic. Joint Center for Housing Studies, Harvard University. September 2022. https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/research/files/harvard_jchs_2life_communities_bratt_2022_0.pdf
HUD/FHA-Insured Homeowners and Properties in End-Stage Default and Foreclosure: National Context and Experiences in Massachusetts. 2020. Series of five Issue Briefs. (1) Introduction and Summary of the Series; (2) The Role of HUD and the FHA: Conflicts in Mandate and Operations, Past and Present; (3) Outcomes of Foreclosure: Literature Review and Experiences in Lowell, Massachusetts; (4) HUD Regulations and Policies Concerning End-Stage Default; (5) HUD and Beyond: Legislation, Litigation, and Innovative Local Efforts to Reduce Foreclosures. Under contract to the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. Released jointly by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and the Joint Center for Housing Studies. https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/research-areas/research-briefs/hudfha-insured-homeowners-and-properties-end-stage-default-and
Minding the Gap and Finding the Resources: Financing Housing and Redevelopment in Sheridan Hollow. 2016. (with Laurie Gould). Under contract to AHP Homeownership Center, Albany, NY.
Affordable Rental Housing Development in the For-Profit Sector: A Case Study of McCormack Baron Salazar. 2016. Joint Center for Housing Studies Working Paper, March 10. http://www.jchs.harvard.edu/research/publications/affordable-rental-housing-development-profit-sector-case-study-mccormack-baron
Coalition for Occupied Homes in Foreclosure (COHIF): An Assessment of the Greater Four Corners Community Stabilization Pilot Project During the First Two Years. 2014. Under contract to the Coalition for Occupied Homes in Foreclosure. Boston, MA. http://www.chapa.org/sites/default/files/COHIF%20Community%20Stabilization%20Pilot%20Assessment%20JUNE%2012%202014%20.pdf
Overcoming Restrictive Zoning for Affordable Housing in Five States: Observations for Massachusetts. 2012. Under contract to the Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association. Boston, MA. http://www.chapa.org/sites/default/files/Bratt-OvercomingRestrictiveZoningpdf.pdf
Community Development Corporations and Other Nonprofit Housing Organizations: Challenges Presented by the Private Housing Market. 2006. Under contract to the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. Cambridge, MA.http://www.lincolninst.edu/pubs/workingpapers.asp
Housing Plus: Strategies, Challenges and Potential of Programs Provided by Members of the Housing Partnership Network. 2006.Under contract to the Housing Partnership Network. Boston, MA.
Women’s Institute for Housing and Economic Development—25 Years of Meeting the Needs of Low-Income Women and Families. 2006. Under contract to the Women’s Institute of Housing and Economic Development. Boston, MA.
The 1965 Massachusetts Special Commission on Low-Income Housing: Looking Back, Looking Forward. 2003 (with Langley C. Keyes). Under contract to the Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association (Boston).
Evolving Challenges for CDCs: The Causes and Impacts of Failures, Downsizings and Mergers. 2003 (with William M. Rohe and Protip Biswas). Under contract to the Fannie Mae Foundation, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
Reflections on Homelessness in America. 2000. Edited booklet of excerpts from papers based on students’ off-campus work with the homeless.
New Perspectives on Self-Sufficiency: Strategies of Nonprofit Housing Organizations. Under contract to the Ford Foundation, (with Langley C. Keyes, 1997.
Housing Policy and Family Self-Sufficiency. Prepared under contract to the Family Impact Seminar, 1995 (Washington, D.C.).
Confronting the Management Challenge: Affordable Housing in the Nonprofit Sector. Prepared under a New School for Social Research contract with the Ford Foundation and several community foundations (with Langley C. Keyes, Alex Schwartz and Avis C. Vidal), 1994 (New York City).
Role of HUD in Housing and Community Development Systems. Prepared under contract to the National Academy of Public Administration, as part of a HUD-funded evaluation, 1994 (Washington, D.C.).
Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation-Sponsored Mutual Housing Associations: Experiences in Baltimore and New York. Prepared under contract to the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation, 1990 (Washington, D.C.).
Final Report of a Study of Racial Discrimination in the Boston Housing Market (with Judith D. Feins and Robert Hollister). Prepared for the City of Boston, under contract to Abt Associates, 1981 (Cambridge, MA).
NOTE: The photograph at the top of this page is of Rollins Square, a 184-unit mixed-income housing development in the South End of Boston, developed by the Planning Office for Urban Affairs, Archdiocese of Boston. Lisa Alberghini, who was the president of that organization from 2003-2019, is a former student of Professor Bratt’s. Professor Bratt does not have any direct connection to the project, but she took the photograph!