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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (April 20, 2016)
Page 8 The Skanner April 20, 2016 FAIR HOUSING 48 Years After the Fair Housing Act, We Still Have Work to Do I n early September, public policy experts, housing ad- vocates, civil rights leaders, academicians and others came together for three days to listen, learn and craft a way forward to advance housing rights and opportunities. Con- vened by HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportu- nity, the conference held Sep- tember 1-3 celebrated major milestones in the fight for fair housing, recalled noteworthy achievements and itemized all that still remains to be accom- plished. As co-sponsor of the 1968 Fair Housing Act (FHA), Wal- ter Mondale, former vice pres- ident and Minnesota Senator, termed the Act’s passage as “one of the great miracles in modern history.” His open- ing keynote address also spoke to contemporary challenges to dismantle residential segre- gation and governmental pol- icies that deny equal housing. “The Fair Housing Act has unfinished business,” noted Mondale. “When high-in- come Black families cannot qualify for applied loans and are steered away from White suburbs, the goals of the Fair Housing Act are not fulfilled.” “When the federal and state governments will pay to build new suburban highways, Charlene Crowell NNPA Columnist streets, sewers, school and parks but then allow these communities to exclude af- fordable housing, the goals of the Fair Housing Act are not fulfilled,” continued Mondale. “When we build most new sub- sidized housing in poor Black and Latino neighborhoods, the goals of the Fair Housing Act “ providers are complying with federal fair housing laws, has resulted in more than $13 mil- lion in damages and civil pen- alties awarded since 1991. “One investigation found that a nationwide mortgage lend- er has systematically charged higher interest rates to His- panic and African American borrowers,” noted Lynch. “An- other revealed that city offi- cials, law enforcement and a local housing authority in Los Angeles County had engaged in a targeted campaign to dis- courage African-Americans from moving to and living in the area by enforcing the tain loan officers or certain brokers who they know will charge more.” Later this month, new mort- gage data will be released as part of the annual Home Mort- gage Disclosure Act report. One of the few resources that details mortgage lending by race and ethnicity, the most recent report — for 2013 — showed low levels of lending for borrowers of color. Fur- ther, when mortgage loans were approved for Black and Latino consumers, the vast ma- jority were backed by govern- ment-insured programs from FHA, VA or USDA — and very One investigation found that a nationwide mortgage lend- er has systematically charged higher interest rates to Hispanic and African-American borrowers are not fulfilled.” Many of Mondale’s concerns were echoed by other present- ers. For example, according to Attorney General Loretta Lynch, in just the last three years, Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division filed more than 100 lawsuits, includ- ing 69 pattern or practices law- suits, to combat housing and lending discrimination. Hous- ing testing, a key tool used to determine whether housing Housing Choice Voucher pro- gram in a prejudicial manner.” In another conference ses- sion, Steven Rosenbaum, head of housing and civil enforce- ment at the Justice Depart- ment’s civil rights division, warned of more redlining cases. “Based on what is on my docket right now, stayed tuned,” said Rosenbaum. “There are still lenders who seem to think it is OK to steer minority borrowers to cer- few from the private sector. The private sector exclusion means more hard-earned mon- ey is taken out of the pockets from borrowers of color as government-backed mortgag- es are more expensive. In the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision that upheld the use of disparate impact studies as a tool to fight for fair housing and a new HUD rule, Attorney General Lynch offered the gathering and HUD Justice’s full support. “[I] am proud to support the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s new rule on Affirmatively Fur- thering Fair Housing (AFFH), which is a crucial step toward ending historic patterns of segregation and removing dis- parities based on race, color, religion, sex, familiar status, national origin and disability,” said Lynch. The new rule, announced this past July, clarifies and sim- plifies existing fair housing obligations. Also voicing support for HUD’s new rule was Wade Henderson, President and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition of more than 200 na- tional organizations. “We need HUD to continue its AFFH enforcement efforts . . . To send a strong signal to jurisdictions that it’s serious about compliance on this is- sue,” said Henderson. “And HUD needs all of us to engage with local governments in the coming few years to hold them accountable, and to also push to see that HUD itself has the capacity it needs to do its job in the right way.” May we also find the will and the way to continue the jour- ney for justice.
