FHEO 2005 News Archive

HUD issued guidance allowing housing providers to house evacuees from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita who are under the age of 55 and continue to qualify for the Fair Housing Act’s “housing for older persons” exemption. View the guidance.

A Texas apartment-building owner and its manager have been charged with violating the Fair Housing Act for denying a disabled tenant, an accessible first-floor apartment. Read the press release.|View the charge.

HUD awarded $18.04 million in grants through the Fair Housing Initiatives Program (FHIP). The 104 grants, to organizations in 36 states and the District of Columbia, will fund investigation of housing discrimination complaints and educate the public and the housing industry about the laws against housing discrimination. View the FHIP award listing.

Kim Kendrick was confirmed as the Assistant Secretary of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity on October 7, 2005. She was sworn in by HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson on October 12, 2005.

HUD has charged a Mississippi apartment management group with violating the Fair Housing Act for refusing to rent an apartment to a man with a mental and physical disability. Read the charge.

HUD has charged an apartment owner in the Kansas City, Missouri, area with racial discrimination in refusing to rent to a man because he is African American. Read the charge.

HUD has charged a Milwaukee, Wisconsin, landlord with violating the Fair Housing Act for refusing to rent an apartment to a man who disclosed he was HIV-positive. Read the charge.

HUD has charged Arlington Park Racecourse, LLC, and Churchill Downs, Inc., with violating the Fair Housing Act by restricting racetrack workers with children to housing that consists of overcrowded single-room units with no private bathrooms or air conditioning, while offering workers without the children the option to live in housing that provides these amenities. Read More.

HUD and the Housing Authority of the City of Houston (HACH) signed an agreement to assist people with disabilities. HACH must construct or make 180 of its total housing units accessible within four years. Read More

A landlord in East Moline, Illinois charged in violation of the Fair Housing Act for refusing to rent a house to an individual because of their race. Read More

Property owners in Milwaukee, Wisconsin charged with a second violation of the Fair Housing Act, accused of refusing to rent to families with children. Read More

HUD charged two landlords with violating the Fair Housing Act by discriminating against Hispanic families trying to buy homes in Austin,Texas. Read More

HUD and the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh (HACP) recently executed a Voluntary Compliance Agreement (VCA). As a result, HACP will create 264 fully-accessible units for low-income persons with disabilities in Pittsburgh within the next five years. In addition, the Agreement requires HACP to revise its policies on admissions and occupancy, transfers, and reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities to ensure that they comply with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

As part of a recent HUD settlement, the managers of a Honolulu, Hawaii condominium complex will pay up to $50,000 and improve disability access for residents and others who use wheelchairs. Read more.

Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Chicago and Dallas were among the 13 cities targeted by a new Spanish-language fair housing radio campaign released today to make tenants and their landlords as well as homebuyers, realtors, borrowers, and lenders aware of the Fair Housing Act that prohibits discrimination in housing based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, family status, or disability. Read more.

A Saraland, Alabama, landlord was charged with violating the Fair Housing Act, after an investigation found she had discriminated against tenants, a white female, and her 18-month-old biracial daughter, based on race and color. Read More

The Miami-Dade Housing Agency (MDHA) signed a Voluntary Compliance Agreement (VCA) with HUD after a review of the Housing Authority's properties, programs, and services revealed flaws with the physical accessibility of common areas and individual housing units. The VCA will provide 478 units in new accessible housing for people with disabilities over a period six years. Read VCA.

An Illinois real estate broker and apartment owners, Zellpac, Inc., were charged with violating the Fair Housing Act by refusing to rent an apartment to a woman because she uses a wheelchair. Read More

The Housing Authority of the City of Las Vegas (HACLV) signed a Voluntary Compliance Agreement (VCA) committing to provide over one hundred fully-accessible public housing units for residents with disabilities among other things. View press release.