Giving Compass' Take:

• In the wake of the Nashville tornado, writes Kriston Capps, residents in more impoverished areas of the city face exploitative efforts of housing developers.

• How have recent policies impacted the influx of developers? What can we do to help support and inform these homeowners?

• Learn more about the impact of tornadoes in the United States.

The storm claimed at least 24 lives across four counties in Middle Tennessee, destroying some 400 homes in Nashville. But even as the first city workers were arriving in affected neighborhoods, real-estate investors were already on the scene in North Nashville, looking to relieve distressed homeowners of their properties, according to Barnett as well as other community members who heard rumors about house offers.

While the details of reported offers are unclear, Barnett’s observation raises an issue that has popped up before during crises in this and other historically black Nashville neighborhoods. A surge of speculation in the wake of the storm would suit the hot Nashville market — residents in this part of the city are used to getting mailers and phone calls with cash offers for their homes.

Now, the pressure on residents is tremendous, thanks in part to a federal program that has singled out this neighborhood for investment. In 2018, North Nashville was designated as an Opportunity Zone, the Trump administration’s place-based tax incentive program designed to lure capital to distressed areas.

Local housing advocates, fearing that homeowners who were affected by the storm might feel like they have few other options, are putting together workshops to offer legal and financial advice to residents in North Nashville, which still lacks electricity. There’s even a hashtag-ready motto for the resistance campaign: “Don’t Sell Out North,” referring to a name that longtime natives use for the neighborhood, Out North.

Right now, the people living in North Nashville are struggling to meet their basic needs. They might not know that help is on the way; in these vulnerable moments, a cash offer from a well-dressed man in a suit might look tempting.

Read the full article about how housing developers threaten Nashville homeowners by Kriston Capps at CityLab.