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 hud raises bar on affh compliance for CDBG recipients
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On May 27, 2010, Relman, Dane, & Colfax announced the settlement of a landmark Fair Housing Act complaint filed by Texas Low Income Housing Information Service and Texas Appleseed against the State of Texas. The settlement requires the State of Texas to conduct a new Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice and to document how its and Texas municipalities' expenditures comply with the obligation to "affirmatively further fair housing" ("AFFH"). The Agreement (and the State's submission of a new disaster recovery plan) paves the way for the release of $1.7 billion in Community Development Block Grant funds specifically appropriated for hurricane recovery efforts. HUD had withheld the funds after the Texas Low Income Housing Information Service and Texas Appleseed expressed
concerns about the State's compliance with its planning and civil rights obligations.
In furtherance of its AFFH obligations, the State will:
* Shift an additional $152 million toward housing needs of low-
and moderate-income households
* Provide funding for the replacement of all public housing
units in the City of Galveston and in other municipalities where units
were destroyed, and set aside $100 million to rebuild subsidized housing
in the Counties of Harris, Galveston and Orange
* Fund an $18 million "Impacted Area Buyout" program to permit
low- and moderate-income victims of the hurricanes to move out of areas
of high minority and high poverty concentration, and a "Title Clearance
and Legal Assistance" program to resolve problems with "heir property"
and to make those properties eligible for disaster assistance
* Provide up to $5 million to fund a "Moving to Opportunity"
program under which tenants with portable rental subsidies can relocate
to higher opportunity areas
The Agreement also mandates AFFH and civil rights training for municipal recipients of disaster recovery funds, and requires State agencies and recipients to collect and publicly report data relevant to compliance with the AFFH and other civil rights obligations.
The resolution of the Texas AFFH complaint builds on the success of last year's Westchester settlement. It signals that HUD has raised the bar on AFFH compliance, and that recipients of federal funds have to take their civil rights obligations very seriously.
Click here to view the conciliation agreement.
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| Fair Housing Groups to New York City Landlords: You Won’t Get Away with Refusing to Rent to African American Applicants
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Civil Rights Groups and Justice Department Team Up in Race Discrimination Lawsuit
WASHINGTON, DC –April 21, 2010 – Nearly three years ago, the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) and its member organization Long Island Housing Services (LIHS) investigated two brothers from Queens, N.Y. for refusing to rent an apartment to African Americans. Earlier this week, a federal judge granted them the opportunity to hold the landlords, Emanuil and Vyacheslav Uvaydov, accountable by intervening in a federal lawsuit brought against the pair by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Following their investigation, NFHA and LIHS filed a formal complaint with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which issued an official charge of discrimination in August 2009. The Justice Department filed a lawsuit in the Eastern District of New York alleging discrimination under the federal Fair Housing Act on September 23, 2009. NFHA and LIHS became parties to the lawsuit on April 19, 2010, following Judge Eric Vitaliano’s order granting their motion to intervene.
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| LANDMARK CIVIL RIGHTS AGREEMENT WILL INCREASE HOUSING ACCESSIBLITY ACROSS COUNTRY
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Nation’s Fifth-Largest Housing Developer to Retrofit Record Number of Apartments for People with Disabilities, Create National Accessibility Fund
WASHINGTON, DC – January 13, 2010 – Today, the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) and its member fair housing organizations in Atlanta, Ga., Melbourne, Fla., and Napa and Marin, Calif., announced a landmark agreement with the A.G. Spanos Companies to increase housing accessibility for people with disabilities. Under the agreement, the nation’s fifth largest builder of residential real estate will retrofit properties in Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Kansas, Missouri, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, and Texas at an estimated cost of $7.4 million. The agreement also establishes a $4.2 million national fund to provide retrofitting grants to people with disabilities across the country.
For the National Fair Housing Alliance's full press release, click [here].
For a fact sheet detailing aspects of the settlement and accessibility requirements under the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988, click [here].
For a copy of the Stipulated Judgment in National Fair Housing Alliance, et al. v. A.G. Spanos, et al. click [here].
For a copy of the amended complaint, click [here].
To read a statement by Michael Spanos, Executive Vice President of A.G. Spanos Companies, click [here].
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| THE NFHA NATIONAL HOUSING ACCESSIBILITY FUND
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As part of the settlement of NFHA, et al. v. Spanos, et al., a fund has been created to make modifications to apartments, single family homes and other dwellings to increase accessibility for persons with disabilities. NFHA will not make direct grants to individuals or families. NFHA will provide funding to local advocacy organizations in certain metropolitan areas in the United States. Grants will be available through these organizations to individuals with disabilities or parents/guardians of children with disabilities. The grant program will begin in the summer of 2010 and is expected to run through 2014. The grant funds may be used to make modifications to a residential dwelling to make it accessible or to make it habitable for persons with chemical or other environmental sensitivities. Local organizations will work with NFHA to develop the program guidelines and distribution system for the grants. They will also be responsible for informing the community they serve about the availability of grant funds. More information about target metropolitan areas, guidelines and local advocacy organizations participating in the National Housing Accessibility Fund will appear on NFHA’s website this summer.
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NFHA Annual Meeting, HOT Topics and Legal Update
Monday, July 19, 2010 in New Orleans, LA
No Registration Fee
Click here to Register Now!
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| 2010 Fair Housing Trends Report
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Housing discrimination remained at a near historic level in 2009. “A Step in the Right Direction,” NFHA’s 2010 Fair Housing Trends Report, applauds the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) for their recommitment to addressing violations of the federal Fair Housing Act and for directly confronting the discriminatory practices of municipalities that receive federal funds. Yet annual data on fair housing complaints show a continued trend: in 2009 again, 93 private non-profit fair housing organizations, operating on shoestring budgets, processed nearly twice as many complaints as all government agencies tasked with enforcing the federal Fair Housing Act.
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 UPCOMING EVENTS
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| NFHA's shanna Smith Testifies before the house judiciary committee
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| COLDWELL BANKER COMPANY PAYS $160,000 TO RESOLVE HOUSING DISCRIMINATION LAWSUIT
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Department of Justice Filed Lawsuit after National Fair Housing Alliance Investigation Revealed Race Discrimination
February 3, 2010 – Atlanta real estate firm Coldwell Banker Joe T. Lane Realty, Inc., its successor-owner Coldwell Banker Bullard Realty Company, Inc., and the companies’ former real estate agent Rodney Lee Foreman have agreed to pay $160,000 to settle a race discrimination lawsuit filed by the United States Department of Justice and the National Fair Housing Alliance. The settlement, which awaits approval from a federal court in Atlanta, Ga., is believed to be the largest real estate sales discrimination settlement involving a single agent’s behavior in ten years. [Click here] to read the press release. |
| Predatory Lending
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Helping Consumers Fight Predatory Lending
 NFHA's public education campaign provides consumers with the information they need and the right questions to ask mortgage lenders when they are navigating the loan process.
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