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 NFHA’s Shanna L. Smith Testifies in Support of H.R. 476, the Housing Fairness Act
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On Wednesday, January 20, NFHA President and CEO Shanna L. Smith testified before the House Financial Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity in support of H.R. 476, the Housing Fairness Act. This bill would increase the authorization for the Fair Housing Initiatives Program, which HUD uses to fund fair housing organizations around the country. It would also create a $20 million nationwide enforcement testing program to systemically root out housing and lending discrimination and create a $5 million research program to investigate the causes of segregation and segregation’s economic and social impacts.
Read Shanna’s testimony by clicking here.
Click here to read the testimony of other panelists.
Click here to read Huffington Post Blog "Congress Should Fast Track the Housing Fairness Act" by Gregory D. Squires, Professor of Sociology at George Washington University.
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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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| FOR RENT: NO KIDS!!
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| Lawsuit Alleges Race Discrimination at Astoria Apartment Building
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NEW YORK, NY - On January 5, 2010, the Fair Housing Justice Center (FHJC) announced the filing of a lawsuit in federal court which alleges that the owners and managers of an apartment building located in (Astoria) Queens are engaged in racially discriminatory rental practices in violation of local, state, and federal fair housing laws. The complaint alleges a two-month investigation conducted by the FHJC revealed that African Americans were provided untruthful information about available apartments.
To read the press release, click [here].
For a copy of the filed complaint, click [here].
To view a map of the area that includes demographic data, click [here].
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| OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TO ENSURE INCLUSION OF THE LGBT COMMUNITY IN HUD PROGRAMS
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WASHINGTON - U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan announced a series of proposals to ensure that HUD's core housing programs are open to all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.
"The evidence is clear that some are denied the opportunity to make housing choices in our nation based on who they are and that must end," said Donovan. "President Obama and I are determined that a qualified individual and family will not be denied housing choice based on sexual orientation or gender identity."
Read the press release.
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| UPCOMING EVENTS
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| Join Our Cause!
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 Fair Housing and the Troubled Asset Relief Program: How TARP Funds Could (and Should) Be Used to Improve Our Neighborhoods.
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As America struggles to emerge from its current economic crisis, the requirement to affirmatively further fair housing is as important as ever. Government efforts to jumpstart the economy have involved massive spending on housing and community development. For example, the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), the single largest program in place to address the economic crisis, has recapitalized banks with the intention of restoring their ability to lend and has worked to provide homeowners on the brink of foreclosure with opportunities to modify their loans before it is too late. Because the recession has hit communities of color the hardest, and because the recession began in part because of failed discriminatory mortgage loans made in those communities, any attempts to ease the recession must involve explicit plans to increase residential and economic opportunities for the residents of those neighborhoods.
Click here to read NFHA's latest position paper on TARP and affirmatively furthering fair housing.
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| House Passes Financial Reform legislation
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On December 11, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 4173, the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009 by a vote of 223-202. If signed into law, this bill would be the most substantial overhaul of our nation’sfinancial regulatory system since the Great Depression.
One piece of this legislation is the much-needed Consumer Financial Protection Agency. The CFPA, a new, independent federal agency, is dedicated to protecting Americans from unfair and abusive financial products and services. Of special importance to fair housing advocates is the fact that the new agency will include that Office of Fair Lending and Equal Opportunity. This office will make sure that fair lending concerns remain a top priority with the agency, which has the authority to regulate all home mortgages.
We are now on to the Senate, where a difficult battle awaits civil rights and consumer advocates. Contact your Senators and let them know that you support a strong CFPA.
For more information, please see our Regulatory Reform page.
To read NFHA's CFPA fact sheet, click [here].
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| BRINGING FAIR HOUSING INTO THE 21ST CENTURY: 11 TECHNOLOGY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR HUD
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Housing discrimination practices have evolved as technology has evolved. As the entire federal bureaucracy begins to use new media and share data under the direction of the White House's new Open Government Initiative, the National Fair Housing Alliance, MoveSmart.org, and the Chicago Area Fair Housing Alliance urge HUD's Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO) to combat this by utilizing media and technology more effectively. Technology can be used to advance transparency and accountability of HUD fair housing programs, to increase public participation in decision-making processes concerning regional equity, to better inform the public about housing opportunities, and to strengthen cooperative relationships between HUD and its grantees. For eleven specific recommendations on what HUD can do, please click here.
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 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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