Skip to main content

Longest public housing discrimination lawsuit against CHA reveals that it paid $8.5 million in legal fees:


          
 The Chicano Housing Authority (CHA) has paid out $8.5 million to Professional People for the Public Interest (BPI) in legal fees over the course of 51 years. BPI represented a group of low income Chicago public housing residents. The firm has been locked in litigation with CHA for over 51 years, the longest running housing discrimination lawsuit in American history. The case began in 1966 accusing the CHA of racial discrimination and segregation of housing for public housing recipients.
             The “Gautreaux Case”, which was initiated to fight racial discrimination, in the form of segregation, and the CHA systemic practices of having low-income black residents concentrated in high-rise public housing buildings, for the purpose of preventing them from being able to move to more diverse and opportunity rich neighborhoods. This litigation was never intended to end in a payout for the discriminated residents, but to change the landscape of the CHA itself. The case created the housing choice voucher program, scattered site complexes, and the beginning of desegregating the CHA’s housing concentrations, and grant access to better schools for kids all over the city.
             This January, Rahm Emmanuel and the CEO of the CHA, Eugene Jones reached a settlement with BPI, thus ending decade’s long litigation. Many Chicagoans see this settlement through different lenses, one side rejoicing in the fact that CHA was forced to take steps in making their programs better suited to fit the needs of the residents. The other view is the huge payday for the firm and the attorneys, while many Chicagoans continue to live in old and dilapidated housing. 

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-met-chicago-public-housing-long-lawsuit-fees-20190201-story.html

Comments

  1. ANDRAINO ADAMSOctober 10, 2019 at 10:34 PM

    Good articles, Have you heard of LFDS (Le_Meridian Funding Service, Email: lfdsloans@outlook.com --WhatsApp Contact:+1-9893943740--lfdsloans@lemeridianfds.com) is as USA/UK funding service they grant me loan of $95,000.00 to launch my business and I have been paying them annually for two years now and I still have 2 years left although I enjoy working with them because they are genuine Loan lender who can give you any kind of loan.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

SunTrust $21Million Settlement with DOJ

This past Thursday, Businessweek covered a massive settlement in a federal lawsuit alleging racial discrimination in SunTrust’s lending practices. The suit, filed by the US DOJ, was filed in the U.S. District Court in Richmond, VA, alleging more than 20,000 African-American and Hispanic borrowers were charged more than similarly-situated and qualified non-Hispanic white borrowers, between 2005 and 2009. The suit alleged that minority borrowers in 75 geographic markets from Virginia Beach, VA to San Francisco, CA, paid more in loan fees, or were charged higher interest rates based solely on race or national origin. A consent order filed with the complaint says SunTrust denies any wrongdoing, but agreed to the settlement. "SunTrust strongly believes in the principles of fair lending," company spokesman Mike McCoy in Atlanta said. "We are pleased to have reached a settlement and put this matter behind us." Settlements like this come as a surprise, considering the...
6 comments
Read more

Road to extending Section 8 protection in Cook County Illinois

Yesterday, Cook County Commissioner Jesus Garcia gave an interview on Chicago’s WBEZ radio about the Housing Choice Voucher program. (HCV). The commissioner is working together with housing advocates to amend the Cook County Human Rights Ordinance (CCHRO) to include protections for housing choice voucher holders. The Ordinance currently protects individuals from discrimination on the basis of a person’s source of income (i.e., child support, social security). The CCHRO however specifically exempts from protection persons with “Section 8” Housing Choice Vouchers. Presently, housing providers can and do deny qualified households solely because they have a Housing Choice Voucher. Studies have shown that housing providers often refuse to rent to voucher holders as a pretext for other types of illegal discrimination such as race, familial status, and disability. This keeps African-Americans, Latinos, families, and people with disabilities in poor, segregated, and low opportunity town...
2 comments
Read more

Housing Discrimination Alive and Well in the 21st Century

Some people are in denial that in this day and age, discrimination simply does not exist anymore. Taking things at face value, one can see how an individual may be lulled into a false sense of security – legislation designed to protect minorities, affirmative action, et cetera, exist for the advancement of colored peoples in this nation. However, according to a recent study by the Consumer Action group , all is not fair in home and housing. Consumer Action contacted 5,000 community organizations across the country, compiling information from 549 respondents, who reported “serious issues with housing discrimination.” The survey shows that immigrants, the disabled, and families with children aren’t welcome in some places, and that “immigrants face the greatest hardships in finding legal recourse for housing discrimination.” One reason, Consumer Action claims, may be cultural barriers. Non-English-speaking minorities could be left out in the cold by unfair housing practices. The study ...
4 comments
Read more