Civil Rights Coalition Denounces HUD’s Abdication of its Fair Housing Obligations
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Washington, D.C.— The following civil and human rights organizations registered their dismay at facts revealed in a whistleblower complaint filed by five employees working at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The groups also pledged their support for the brave employees who have filed this alarming complaint.
We commend these brave and dedicated public servants for calling attention to HUD’s unlawful refusal to fully enforce the Fair Housing Act and other critical civil rights laws. The New York Times article about their whistleblower complaint states the release of internal documents supports their complaint about HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity explicitly impairing its fair housing responsibilities by:
- Setting a policy of refusing to act on any fair housing complaints that the Trump Administration does not favor.
- Stripping authority to act on statutorily required fair housing responsibilities from career HUD officials.
- Undermining fair housing enforcement within the agency.
In his confirmation hearing, HUD Secretary Scott Turner promised he would “commit to upholding the fair housing laws” during an exchange where he was asked whether he would commit to the vigorous enforcement of the nation’s fair housing laws. Under his direction, HUD has not lived up to the promise. Instead, HUD has refused to act on complaints of discrimination; rolled back key fair housing protections; decimated the ranks of staff devoted to fair housing investigation and enforcement; and tried to eliminate funding for organizations dedicated to assisting victims of housing discrimination. Now, having drastically degraded our nation’s fair housing enforcement infrastructure, HUD has the audacity to say it must “deprioritize” disfavored complaints because it lacks the resources for full enforcement. This “deprioritization” conflicts with the federal Fair Housing Act for which Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and so many others fought.
These illegal acts leave many vulnerable people who rely on HUD’s fair housing resources without protection. People HUD has abandoned include: veterans with disabilities seeking to get off the streets and into permanent housing; seniors who need a safe place to live; survivors of domestic violence and/or sexual assault fleeing abuse with their children; people with disabilities who are denied accessible housing; Black and Latino consumers trying to secure a home loan on fair terms; women experiencing sexual harassment by their landlords; and others seeking housing free of discrimination during the escalating fair and affordable housing crisis. Making affordable housing and homeownership opportunities available to all should be a top priority for Sec. Turner, but instead, HUD is affirmatively dismantling its capacity to carry out its statutory responsibility to enforce the Fair Housing Act and other fundamental civil rights laws.
We urge Congress and the HUD Inspector General to vigorously investigate this complaint and to provide the oversight that is so desperately needed to ensure Congress’s intentions are fulfilled and the nation’s fair housing laws are fully enforced.
National Organizations
National Fair Housing Alliance
American Civil Liberties Union
Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund
Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law
Center for Law and Social Policy
Clearinghouse on Women’s Issues
Coalition on Human Needs
Drug Policy Alliance
Empowering Pacific Islander Communities (EPIC)
Equal Justice Society
Equal Rights Advocates
Feminist Majority Foundation
Japanese American Citizens League (JACL)
Jewish Council for Public Affairs
Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
Latino Justice PRLDEF
Legal Defense Fund
Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
NAACP
National Alliance to End Sexual Violence
National Black Justice Collective (NBJC)
National Council of Negro Women (NCNW)
National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development (National CAPACD)
National Council of Asian Pacific Americans (NCAPA)
National Homelessness Law Center
National Housing Law Project
National Low Income Housing Coalition
National Partnership for Women & Families
National Urban League
National Women’s Law Center
People For the American Way
Popular Democracy in Action
Poverty & Race Research Action Council
RESULTS
SAGE
Southern Poverty Law Center
UnidosUS
State/Local Organizations
Arizona
Southwest Fair Housing Council
The Arizona Fair Housing Center
California
CSA San Diego County
Equality California
Fair Housing Council of Orange County
Fair Housing Council of Riverside County, Inc.
Mental Health Advocacy Services
Connecticut
Connecticut Fair Housing Center
District of Columbia
Equal Rights Center
Florida
Fair Housing Center of the Greater Palm Beaches
Housing Opportunities Project for Excellence, Inc. (HOPE, Inc.)
Georgia
Metro Fair Housing Services, Inc.
Savannah-Chatham County Fair Housing Council, Inc.
Idaho
Intermountain Fair Housing Council, Inc.
Illinois
Chicago Area Fair Housing Alliance
Housing Choice Partners
HOPE Fair Housing Center
Illinois Accountability Initiative
Open Communities
South Suburban Housing Center
Indiana
Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana
Louisiana
Louisiana Fair Housing Action Center
Michigan
Fair Housing Center of Southeast & Mid-Michigan
Fair Housing Center of West Michigan
Missouri
St. Louis Fair Housing Equity Center
New Jersey
New Jersey Citizen Action Education Fund
New York
CNY Fair Housing
Fair Housing Justice Center
Housing Opportunities Made Equal, Inc.
Westchester Residential Opportunities, Inc
Nevada
Silver State Fair Housing Council
North Dakota
High Plains Fair Housing Center, Inc.
Ohio
Fair Housing Center for Rights & Research
Fair Housing Contact Service
Fair Housing Resource Center
Housing Opportunities Made Equal of Greater Cincinnati
Miami Valley Fair Housing Center, Inc.
The Fair Housing Center
Tennessee
Fair Housing Council of Metropolitan Memphis
Tennessee Fair Housing Council
Texas
Greater Houston Fair Housing Center Inc.
North Texas Fair Housing Center
Vermont
Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity
Virginia
HOME of Virginia
Washington
Fair Housing Center of Washington
Northwest Fair Housing Alliance
Wisconsin
Metropolitan Milwaukee Fair Housing Council
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The National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) is the country’s only national civil rights organization dedicated solely to eliminating all forms of housing and lending discrimination and ensuring equal opportunities for all people. As the trade association for over 170 fair housing and justice-centered organizations and individuals throughout the U.S. and its territories, NFHA works to dismantle longstanding barriers to equity and build diverse, inclusive, well-resourced communities.