Fair Housing / Lending News

NFHA President Testifies Before House Judiciary Committee (Reading the full testimony is strongly recommended for anyone interested Fair Housing issues.) On March 11, Shanna Smith of the National Fair Housing Alliance (NHFA) testified before the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommitte on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, with a presentation titled "Protecting the American Dream: A Look at the Fair Housing Act." The testimony emphasizes that in spite of our efforts, the nation still falls "dramatically short of reaching the actual goals of the Fair Housing Act" which is designed to "eliminate housing discrimination and to promote residential integration." "While people are working together in greater numbers than ever before--many go home each night to racially segregated neighborhoods." Shanna "explores the nature and extent of housing discrimination as it is manifested today, how enforcement action is moving ...

LGBT Developments National Gay and Lesbian Task Force calls on federal lawmakers to amend the FHA. Congressman Joe Sestak announced the submission of his Housing Non-Discrimination Act to amend the FHA so that it includes a prohibition on discrimination of LGBT persons. Congressmen Jerrold Nadler of NY and John Conyers of Michigan have also voiced their support of such a measure . AIG Settlement Subsidiaries of American International Group have agreed to settle over allegations of charging higher broker fees for subprime loans to African American borrowers for a total of $7.1 million. This marks the first case in which a lender has been charged for such fee discrimination. Bachelor Pad Advertisement violates FHA? The Miami Valley Fair Housing Center filed a discrimination suit against The Connor Group for posting a Craigslist advertisement that read: "a great bachelor pad for any single man looking to hook up." It is being alleged that the advertisement discriminates...

The U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department conducted a listening session on Thursday in an effort to gather input on how to design the first-ever national survey of LGBT housing discrimination. The session was hosted at Chicago's city hall and included over a dozen members of the gay community, fair housing advocates and government officials who shared their stories and perspectives on the issue. ( Full Washington Post article here ). One concern expressed the need for testers to "think of a way to make it clear that this is a gay couple and not just two men who really can't afford to do anything than get a single apartment with a single room," said John Knight of the ACLU. This marks one of the first steps by HUD to fulfill their promise made in October of assuring the LGBT community inclusion in HUD programs. ( Full Press Release Here ). In that press release HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan announced, "The evidence is clear that some are denied the oppo...

While the bylaws prohibit anyone from playing organized sports on the grounds of the complex, the condo association is being sued for discriminatory enforcement of condo rules against families with children. See full article here.

Equal Rights Ctr. v. Post Props. 657 F. Supp. 2d 197 (D.D.C. 2009) Decided September 28, 2009 This case stands on the principle that organizational standing is not available when an organization's injury is self-inflicted. Whether we are seeing a more stringent principle being promulgated, a refinement in the law or a case of bad strategy is unclear. Equal Rights Center ("ERC"), an organization devoted to advancing civil rights and fair housing for everyone, brought suit against Post Properties for allegedly failing to bring their buildings into compliance with accessibility provisions in the American Disabilities Act ("ADA") and Fair Housing Act ("FHA"). Post Properties owns and manages more than 21,000 apartment units across five states. According to the Court's description of the facts, ERC, on its own accord, chose to investigate one of Post's buildings to determine whether they were in compliance with accessibility laws. Th...

Retrofitting housing units to comply with accessibility requirements under the FHA for persons with disabilities is expensive. A.G. Spanos Companies, the nation's fifth-largest housing developer, understands this fact quite well after settling for an estimated $7.4 million for non-compliance with FHA building standards. According to the press release, "Under the agreement, the nation’s fifth largest builder of residential real estate will retrofit properties in Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Florida, Kansas, Missouri, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, and Texas at an estimated cost of $7.4 million." The FHA provides that since 1991 new construction of multifamily dwellings with four or more units be required to have accessible ground floor units where there is no elevator and accessibility for all units in buildings with an elevator. This is true for both public and private housing except in rare instances where steep terrain makes accessibility standards impra...