FHEO 2006 News Archive

HUD has charged Erie Insurance Group and five agencies licensed to sell Erie insurance products for providing inferior insurance products to homeowners in African-American neighborhoods than to homeowners in white neighborhoods with similar homes. View the charge.|Read the press release.

HUD charged a New Jersey Cooperative Corporation and its owners, Linwood Avenue Owners, Inc., as well as its property manager with violating the Fair Housing Act for refusing to give a disabled man a handicapped parking space. View the charge.| Read the press release.

The owners of an eight-unit apartment complex in Orange County, Calif., were charged with violating the Fair Housing Act for refusing to rent renovated apartments to Hispanic families. Instead, the owners rented the apartments to Vietnamese families. View the charge.|Read the media advisory.

A RE/MAX real estate agent and homeowner were charged for making a house unavailable to a woman, a principal in the Milwaukee Public School System required to live within city limits, because of her race. View the charge.|Read the media advisory.

HUD charged owners of an apartment building in New Lenox, Illinois, with violating the Fair Housing Act for allegedly forcing a white woman to move out when her African-American boyfriend moved in. View the charge.|Read the media advisory.

HUD Secretary, Alphonso Jackson, reversed a HUD administrative law judge (ALJ) decision dismissing a Fair Housing Act design and construction case in Billings, MT after finding that the property owners violated the Fair Housing Act by designing and constructing a 12-unit, 3-story apartment building and its common use areas in a way that made it inaccessible to people with disabilities. The case was sent back to the HUD ALJ to order the appropriate retrofits to the property and to assess monetary damages, civil penalties, and public interest and injunctive relief. View the order.| Read the press release.

In Kansas City, KS, the Federal District Court issued a consent order in a suit brought by a man, who filed a complaint with HUD alleging the owner of a four-plex located in Roeland Park, Kansas, refused to rent to him based on his race. In addition to paying monetary damages, the property owner must prominently display in all owned rental properties that they are available for rent on a nondiscriminatory basis; include the words “equal housing opportunity provider” in all advertising; and ensure all employees receive fair housing training within 90 days, among other things.

Staff in FHEO's Puerto Rico office worked with everyone involved in the dispute to identify violations, review design solutions, and negotiate a conciliation agreement. As a result, developer Verde Isla Court, Inc., among other things, agreed to guarantee accessible modifications with a $1 million secure bond. Read the press release.

An increase in calls to the toll-free fair housing complaint line, 1-800-669-9777, shows that recent enhancements made to the system have allowed more people to report housing discrimination. The addition of new area codes and extra phone lines helped contribute to the 21 percent increase in discrimination complaints HUD has received this fiscal year, which ends September 30th. Read the press release.

NCRC filed a complaint claiming that Southstar was discriminating against African Americans and Latinos in the policies and practices it used to determine eligibility for some of its mortgage products by prohibiting loans on row homes in Baltimore and homes valued at less than $100,000.00 nationally. Southstar agreed to pay NCRC $500,000 and to discontinue its practice of refusing to make loans on row homes. Read the concilation agreement.

A Worcester, MA landlord has been charged in violation of the Fair Housing Act for allegedly refusing to rent an apartment to a man because he was African-American and had physical disabilities. View the charge.|Read the press release.

On August 21, 2006, the City of Lafayette (Louisiana) Housing Authority (LHA) signed a Voluntary Compliance Agreement (VCA) committing to a number of changes including making 29 public housing units fully-accessible to people with disabilities. View the VCA.|Read more on the LHA VCA.

HUD entered into a Voluntary Compliance Agreement (VCA) with Allied Jewish Apartments (AJA), a Denver housing provider, which will create, in addition to other things, 20 fully accessible units by June 30, 2009. Read more on the VCA.|View the VCA.

HUD charged the owners of Green Acres Mobile Park in Milton-Freewater, OR, for refusing to grant a legally-blind woman a reasonable accommodation and for evicting her in retaliation for her request. View the charge.|Read the media advisory.

Draper and Kramer, Inc., was charged for refusing to rent a one-bedroom apartment to a couple and their infant son because it would exceed their self-imposed occupancy limit. View the charge.| Read the press release.

An Illinois property owner, and her son were charged with violating the Fair Housing Act for refusing to provide an accessible parking space to a tenant with physical disabilities. View the charge. | Read the press release.

Assistant Secretary Kim Kendrick sent a letter to several disability rights organizations as a follow-up to Public Law 109-234, which made $5.2 billion available to the five Gulf States affected by Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma to address any disaster relief, long-term recovery, and restoration of infrastructure needs. The letter urges disability rights groups to reach out to state and local governments to get a fair share of the CDBG funds to assist in developing accessible and affordable housing for low-income communities, particularly the disability community. Read the letter.|View the list of organizations.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) obtained a $40,000 settlement for an African-American woman, who claimed that the owners and manager of Philadelphia Rental Properties violated the Fair Housing Act by refusing to rent her an apartment based on her race, telling her that, "the neighbors would not like it." Read the full story.

On July 18, 2006, HUD issued a Corrective Action Order (CAO) to the Housing Authority of the City of Gainesville, Florida (GHA) to remedy its noncompliance with fair housing laws and regulations. During 2005, HUD found GHA to be in noncompliance with fair housing laws and regulations in several program areas. HUD had issued letters of findings of noncompliance in GHA’s Public Housing and Multifamily Housing programs with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act, and had charged GHA with violating the Fair Housing Act by failing to make a reasonable accommodation for a married couple with disabilities. GHA has not entered into a Voluntary Compliance Agreement (VCA) or undertaken the necessary steps to remedy the noncompliance. Read more about the Corrective Action Order.

HUD Charges South Dakota Landlord with Violating the Fair Housing Act. The charges allege that Paul Hasse, owner and manager of an eight-unit apartment building in Vermillion, South Dakota, refused to rent to families with children and advertised that discriminatory preference several times in a newspaper. Read the advisory|View the charge.

HUD Charges New Jersey Landlord and Two Employees with Fair Housing Act Violations.The charge alleges Cottage Manor Apartments sought to group tenants based on religion, race, color, and national origin. View the charge.|Read the press release.

HUD has charged a Richmond, Missouri, landlord with violating the Fair Housing Act for sexually harassing a female tenant. The investigation shows at least seven female tenants were subjected to offensive sexual behavior. View the charge.| View the press release.

HUD Conciliates Complaint Alleging Familial Status Discrimination. The complaint, filed by a resident of Silver Creek Mobile Estates in San Jose, California, alleged that the property manager subjected her children to overly restrictive rules. Allegedly, the property manager would not allow her children to ride scooters or bikes in the park, but would allow adults to do so. The parties resolved the complaint by entering into a conciliation agreement. In addition to paying the resident $8,000, Silver Creek Mobile Estates also agreed to send its property manager to fair housing training, and communicate the provisions of the conciliation agreement to its employees. Read the conciliation agreement.

HUD has settled a case against Cincinnati-based Fifth Third Bank for alleged lending discrimination. FHEO pursued the case against Cincinnati-based Fifth Third Bank on behalf of an African-American woman, who alleged that she was denied a loan to purchase a house in Newport, KY, solely because of her race. Read the press release.

The HOME model guide, Fair Housing for HOME Participants, is now available in PDF format. The publication, a series of 5 guides, provides technical assistance to HOME participating jurisdictions and their housing partners on the fair housing laws and regulations that apply to HOME Program participants. The series reviews the applicable Federal fair housing requirements, illustrates best practices in promoting fair housing, and highlights responsibilities for ensuring compliance with fair housing requirements. Learn more about HUD's HOME program.

The Spring 2006 issue of our Fair Housing News newsletter is now available. Find out what FHEO has been doing.

• View press release announcing Fair Housing Month 2006.
• View the Virtual Tour of the Pictorial Exhibit: "America's Journey to the Fair Housing Act."
• View the Fair Housing Month opening ceremony.|(with captions)

HUD charged Marlene McGee, manager of the Cannon Valley Apartment complex in Cannon Falls, MN., with violating the Fair Housing Act by making discriminatory statements to a potential black renter. The statements clearly indicated a tenant preference based upon race. Read the press release for more information.