HUD AWARDS MORE THAN $2.7 MILLION IN GRANTS TO COMBAT HOUSING DISCRIMINATION IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today awarded $2.7 million to fair housing organizations to assist people in D.C. who believe they have been victims of housing discrimination.  The five different D.C. organizations include the Equal Rights Center with one grant, the Housing Counseling Services with two grants, the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law with one grant; National Community Reinvestment Coalition with one grant, and the National Fair Housing Alliance with three grants.  (The project summaries of these grants are listed at the end of the news release.) 

"HUD provides the only federal grant support to private fair housing enforcement and education," said HUD Regional Administrator Jane C. W. Vincent. "We count these D.C. fair housing organizations among our partners who help us fight housing discrimination."

The competitive grants are funded through HUD's Fair Housing Initiatives Program (FHIP), and are part of nearly $41.18 million distributed nationwide to 99 fair housing organizations and other nonprofit agencies in 35 states and the District of Columbia. The grants will be used to enforce the Fair Housing Act through investigation and testing of alleged discriminatory practices, and to educate housing providers, local governments and potential victims of housing discrimination about their rights and responsibilities under the Fair Housing Act. HUD had over $70 million in requests for FHIP, but funded only $41 million.

HUD is awarding FHIP grants to the following agencies in the District of Columbia.

FHEO and its partners in the Fair Housing Assistance Program investigate more than 9,300 housing discrimination complaints annually. People who believe they are the victims of housing discrimination should contact HUD at (800) 669-9777 (voice), or (800) 927-9275 (TTY).

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HUD's mission is to create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality affordable homes for all. HUD is working to strengthen the housing market to bolster the economy and protect consumers; meet the need for quality affordable rental homes: utilize housing as a platform for improving quality of life; build inclusive and sustainable communities free from discrimination; and  transform the way HUD does business. More information about HUD and its programs is available on the Internet at www.hud.gov and http://espanol.hud.gov.  You can also follow HUD on twitter @HUDnews, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/HUD, or sign up for news alerts on HUD's News Listserv

Equal Rights Center
Private Enforcement Initiative - Performance Based
Funding Component - $325,000.00
The Equal Rights Center (ERC) will use its grant to benefit individuals protected by all federally
protected classes, locally protected classes in the District of Columbia and locally protected
classes of surrounding areas, with a particular emphasis on disability and national origin. The
ERC will: maintain a comprehensive enforcement log to accept complaints based on federally
and locally protected classes; conduct intakes and investigate, through testing and other methods,
new complaints of housing discrimination alleging violation of federal fair housing laws; refer
meritorious complaints to HUD or the District of Columbia Office of Human Rights or assist
complainants through the HUD/FHAP administrative process; and develop educational and
counseling opportunities in the community through an integrated outreach approach.

Housing Counseling Services
Education and Outreach Initiative - General
Component - $125,000.00
Housing Counseling Services, Inc. (HCS) will use its grants to conduct fair housing outreach and
education activities targeted to low- and moderate- income households and underserved
populations, including the LEP community, minorities, and the disabled; encourage housing
industry professionals, landlords, housing providers, community-based service providers, and
community and faith-based leaders to play a more active role in promoting equal housing
opportunity; curtail housing discrimination; and increase the number of complaints filed with fair
housing enforcement agencies throughout the DC Metropolitan area (including suburban MD
and VA). Under this grant, the organization’s primary goal is to provide public events to educate
consumers on fair housing, financial literacy, credit management, and avoiding high-cost loans
and abusive lending practices that violate the Fair Housing Act.

Housing Counseling Services
Education and Outreach Initiative - Lending
Component - $125,000.00
Housing Counseling Services, Inc. (HCS) will use its grant to conduct outreach, education, and
counseling to identify and report lending discrimination, mortgage rescue scams, mortgage loan,
and mortgage servicing fraud and abuse and identify and analyze patterns of discrimination
related to the lending process. HCS’s activities target low- and moderate-income and
underserved home buyers and homeowners, including the immigrant, disabled, and LEP
communities; encourage housing industry professionals, housing providers, community-based
service providers, and community based leaders to play a more active role in promoting equal
housing opportunity; curtail housing discrimination, avoiding mortgage rescue scams, and
increase the number of complaints filed with fair housing enforcement agencies throughout the
DC Metropolitan area (including suburban MD and VA).

Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
Fair Housing Organization Initiative - Lending
Component - $324,323.00
The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law will use its grant to continue the efforts of
the National Loan Modification Scam Prevention Network. The Loan Modification Scam
Prevention Network will: collect reports of mortgage rescue scams from victims and input them
into the database; continue ongoing litigation against scammers and bring additional lawsuits;
seek successful resolution of lawsuits against scammers for plaintiffs; add new non-governmental organizations and new governmental regulatory and enforcement agencies as partners in the Loan Modification Scam Prevention Network; and attract visitors to the www.preventloanscams.org website.

National Community Reinvestment Coalition
Fair Housing Organization Initiative - Establishing New Organizations
Component - $1,249,885.00
The National Community Reinvestment Coalition will use its grant to work with local
community fair housing/fair lending advocates to plan, setup, and develop South Carolina’s only
statewide, full-service enforcement fair housing center. The proposed South Carolina Fair
Housing Center (SCFHC) will investigate fair housing and lending discrimination in rental,
sales, and other housing related transactions based on color, disability, familial status, national
origin, race, religion, and gender; provide education and outreach and assist bona fide complainants by filing complaints with HUD; and work to remove barriers to fair housing choice by monitoring local and state Analysis of Impediments.

National Fair Housing Alliance
Education and Outreach Initiative - National Media Campaign
Component - $1,499,912.00
The National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) will use its grant to conduct a centralized,
coordinated, interactive media-based campaign to promote fair housing. Discrimination has
become more subtle over the years and the need to educate the public about recognizing
discrimination and knowing their fair housing rights is vital, and many victims believed that
filing some type of complaint would not have been worth it or would not have helped. The
campaign will have several components designed to address these and other issues. Media
products, including products developed for the hearing impaired and deaf community, will be
distributed throughout the U.S. to a broad audience of consumers and to national and local
community based and fair housing organizations, as well as almost 1200 CDBG entitlement
communities.

National Fair Housing Alliance
Private Enforcement Initiative - Lending
Component - $324,999.00
The National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) will use its grant to conduct lending testing in a
metropolitan area and real estate owned property investigations in four states. The NFHA
project’s testing and investigation activities will provide a strategic, systemic approach to
challenging illegal activities surrounding foreclosure issues in African American and Latino
neighborhoods by investigating and examining differences in treatment and services between
Whites and African Americans, Latinos, families with children, people with Limited English
Proficiency, and single female headed households. NFHA will produce a report documenting
disparities and provide best practices and policies that will reduce and eliminate discriminatory
behaviors and distribute it through NFHA’s website and to CDBG recipients, housing counseling
agencies, and fair housing advocates.

National Fair Housing Alliance
Private Enforcement Initiative - Multi-Year
Component -$325,000.00
The National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) will use its grant to conduct rental, sales, lending
and design and construction investigations. NFHA will conduct these tests in multiple
Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) jurisdictions across the country, targeting cities
where no private, nonprofit, full service fair housing centers currently operate. These systemic
investigations will provide CDBG recipients with more knowledge about how discrimination
occurs in their localities so they can design better remedies in their Consolidated Plans for
eliminating barriers to fair housing. NFHA will develop systemic investigation based on initial
testing evidence and bring administrative or legal enforcement actions.