Fair Housing / Lending News

  A lack of knowledge by housing providers when it comes to LGBTQ housing rights: June is pride Month. A time when comminutes come together and celebrate the freedom to be themselves without discrimination. In housing there is a lack of knowledge by housing providers. The Federal Fair Housing Act protects against discrimination because of Sex (including gender identity and sexual orientation), however many landlords continue to disregard the law or plainly are not aware of the law. Some states and local governments also protect against discrimination because of a person‘s Sex (including gender identity and sexual orientation). Landlords/housing providers can learn more about the laws and obligations under the Fair Housing Act and HUD’s Equal Access Rule with respect to individuals who identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and/or Queer/Questioning (LGBTQ). In 2021, President Biden issued an executive order directing all federal agencies to interpret protections against ...

From redlining to  “pinklining,” a term most people have probably never heard, is hurting women and especially women of color.  The term comes from the 1970's term   redlining . T he term used by governments, agencies, banks and other lenders to deny people of color access to mortgages and credit. Those in charge of public policy and lending practices would draw a redline around certain neighborhoods with high concentrations of minorities and deny them financing and other forms of credit if they lived within those lines. Now, more specifically lenders are using the term "pinklining" ala redlining to identify neighborhoods and deny woman of color the chance to buy homes. Is There a Gender Gap in Home Equity Loans? (investopedia.com)

The Federal Fair Housing Act prohibits landlords from discrimination against tenants with disabilities, and that includes infection with COVID-19. As listed below, many states and local ordinances implemented anti-discrimination laws. Covid -19 infections fall under the disability rules, thus, a potential tenant is protected from disability discrimination. The same rules apply to homeowners’ associations. They cannot force an owner to move because they have COVID-19. https://chicago.suntimes.com/2020/6/19/21296312/evictions-eviction-moratorium-chicago-coronavirus-metropolitan-tenants-organization States Banning Evictions:  Illinois  - Governor Pritzker’s order precludes evictions on residential premises. (EO No. 8 -  https://www2.illinois.gov/IISNews/21288-Gov._Pritzker_Stay_at_Home_Order.pdf )  (EO No. 28 -  https://www2.illinois.gov/Pages/Executive-Orders/ExecutiveOrder2020-30.aspx ) Florida  - issued an order banning writs of possession. ( ...

After a three-year investigation into alleged unequal treatment toward minority homebuyers in Long Island, New York, NY state has announced proposed regulations to combat housing discrimination that would impose certain mandates on brokers, sales people and agents in the real estate industry. The regulations will require real estate brokers to inform prospective home buyers, renters, sellers, and landlords information about the federal Fair Housing Act and the New York State Human Rights Law. The proposed regulations will require real estate brokers to display a notice containing the Human Rights Law protections, with information on how consumers can file complaints.  https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/new-york-bill-would-require-real-estate-27670/

Going Backwards Under This Administration:             HUD proposed a new rule, that according to fair housing advocates would significantly weaken efforts to reduce housing discrimination and segregation in the United States. The rule would largely reverse 2015 regulations designed to ensure that housing agencies and communities receiving [HUD] funding fulfill their obligations under the 1968 Fair Housing Act. HUD originally adopted the AFFH rule in 2015, during the Obama administration, to guide compliance efforts related to the Fair Housing Act. According to Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the new proposed rule also conflates fair housing and affordable housing. It presumes that 1) eliminating various regulatory controls will expand the supply of affordable housing; and 2) expanding the supply of affordable housing will solve fair housing problems. Neither presumption is true. Additionally, the proposal let[s] l...

             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...

A recent report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) found that in North Carolina, Orange and Durham counties have the highest rates of filed housing discrimination complaints. In the past five years, disability and racial discrimination accounted for 47.6% and 32.4% of all housing discrimination complaints, respectively.             Although this may sound like an extreme issue with the community, Jeffrey Dillman and Jack Holtzman, the co-directors of the Fair Housing Project, note that the reason for these percentages could be because the residents of those counties are more aware of their rights compared to residents from other counties. Holtzman noted that the Fair Housing Project believes that those from different counties “may not be as educated about their housing rights or outlets to report discrimination.” He went on to highlight that there are a substantial percentage of individuals through...