Fair Housing / Lending News

Some five years after Hurricane Katrina dissipated, its after effects continue to ring out in Louisiana. But the bell tolls louder for some, than others. The Road Home (TRH) program was designed by former Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco, whose mission is “to provide compensation to Louisiana homeowners affected by Hurricanes Katrina or Rita for the damage to their homes.” Claiming themselves to be “the largest single housing recovery program in U.S. history”, The program’s objective is “to provide compensation to Louisiana homeowners affected by Hurricanes Katrina or Rita for the damage to their homes.” TRH came about as a block grant program to assist in the recovery of the region ravaged by hurricane Katrina. These grants were placed in the State of Louisiana for designation. Approximately $11 billion was allocated for TRH, which was developed by the Louisiana Recovery Authority (LRA). The Department of Housing and Urban Development, or, HUD, also helped develop TRH. HUD is also t...

Marie Claire Tran-Leung disagrees. According to Tran-Leung, “Landlords and local housing authorities should stop using arrest records to screen tenants.” She states that doing so does “more harm than good.” Although it is illegal for landlords to discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disabilities, and other protected classes under the Federal Fair Housing Act, most states have also applied protection to other classes. For example, the State of Illinois prohibits discrimination based on ancestry, age, marital status, and sexual orientation. Discrimination against people with arrest records, however, is legal. But should it be? Tran-Leung claims that discrimination based on arrest records “give[s] people a false sense of security against crime, and they deprive disproportionately more racial minorities of needed rental housing for nothing more than an unproven accusation.” Read the full story here . Tran-Leung cites a recent decision by the Illinois Appellate...