TALLAHASSEE – The real estate bubble may have burst earlier this year, but affordable housing is increasingly difficult to find in Florida. With the median income no longer providing access to the median-priced home, many professionals feel shut out of the market. What was a big-city trend has now made its way into most areas of the country, including Florida. 

On April 4, Florida State University College of Law and the Environmental and Land Use Section of The Florida Bar will host a panel of experts on affordable housing policy. During the forum, “Florida’s Affordable Housing Challenges: Causes, Consequences and Policies,” the panel will discuss causes and consequences of this trend, as well as possible actions the state and local governments can take to confront the problem. The forum will be held in the law school, Room 103, with a reception to follow in Room R103. 

Panelists include:

• Henry H. Fishkind, Fishkind & Associates 
• Penny Herman, Penny Herman Realty 
• Wellington H. Meffert II, Florida Housing Finance Corporation 
• Jaimie Ross, 1000 Friends of Florida 
• Shaw P. Stiller, Department of Community Affairs

David L. Powell, adjunct professor at the law school and attorney at Hopping Green & Sams, will serve as moderator. J.B. Ruhl, the Matthews & Hawkins Professor of Property, will give the introduction. Florida Bar CLE Credit is available.

To reserve a seat at this event, please contact Meghan McQuellon, Environmental and Land Use Law Program administrator, at 850.644.7781, or mmcquellon@law.fsu.edu. 

U.S. News & World Report in 2006 ranked Florida State University College of Law's Environmental Law Program 14th strongest in the nation. This is the fourth of the past six years that the school was ranked in the top 20 for environmental law.