Fair Housing Training May 22-June 23

Free Fair Housing Training Offered by Economic Action Maryland

Too many renters still face discrimination - often without knowing it. Renters have rights! Economic Action Maryland is offering free, online training to educate tenants about their fair housing rights, and what to do if they have faced discrimination. 

Check out the schedule below. Can’t make it at that time? A recording of the training will be available to all training registrants: info@econaction.org.

Know Your Rights: Fair Housing 101 - This workshop reviews the basics of Fair Housing laws, including the protected classes in Maryland, examples of housing discrimination, and what to do if you think you’ve experienced illegal housing discrimination. Offered twice! Friday May 26, 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. and Friday June 9, 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.

Know Your Rights: Disability and Housing - As many as 20% of all Marylanders have a disability. The Fair Housing Act not only protects people with disabilities from housing discrimination, it also affords them additional housing rights. Learn about your right to accommodations and modifications, how to advocate for yourself, and what to do if your housing provider denies your request. Offered twice! Friday June 2, 10:00a - 11:00 a.m. and Friday June 16, 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.

Know Your Rights: HOME Act - In 2020, Maryland expanded its fair housing laws by passing the HOME Act, which adds "source of income" as a protected class. This extends fair housing rights to people with government assistance like section 8 vouchers and eviction prevention funds, as well as others with non-wage income. Learn about your newest fair housing rights and how to report discrimination. Friday June 23, 10:00 a.m - 11:00 a.m.

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P.S. If you aren’t already a member, we would love to have you join! Members give us power and strength. You can join as an individual or organizational member. If you can’t join as a member, consider a one-time or sustaining donation. We’re up against highly paid Annapolis lobbyists and your support enables us to be in Annapolis and win these fights for economic rights.

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Economic Action Maryland

2209 Maryland Ave  | Baltimore, Maryland 21218

(410) 220-0494 | info@econaction.org

 National Study Finds Persistent Bias Against Non-White Renters

It also showed that landlords are less likely to reply to applicants with Black and Latino names. 

A recent National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) study found that landlords are less likely to respond to applicants with African American and Latino sounding names when renting properties. This contributes to rising residential segregation. In the largest study of rental discrimination, fictitious renters with names associated with White, African American, or Hispanic identities, were used. The research tracked over 25,000 interactions between those people and 8,476 property managers in 50 of the largest U.S. cities. Renters with White-sounding name received a 60% response rate, compared to a 54% and 57% response rate for those with African American and Hispanic identities. Other research have documented similar trends in the buyer’s market. 

Research has found that appraisers consistently undervalue homes in Black and Latino neighborhoods. In the NBER analysis, it was found that a lack of a response to a renter of color decreased the likelihood that someone of that ethnic group would live in a property by around 17%. The most discrimination for Black renters was identified in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Louisville. Latinos in Louisville, Houston, and Providence, Rhode Island, faced the strongest constraints, according to a recent analysis by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. 

Read the research report Racial Discrimination and Housing Outcomes in the United States Rental Market. 

Article source: Read the Bloomberg article

Tue, Jul 23, 2019 at 3:26 PM

FAIR HOUSING NEWS

HUD Press Release: HUD Settlement regarding California Rental Discrimination

Dear Colleague,

WASHINGTON- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced today that it has approved a $10,000 Conciliation Agreement between a California fair housing group, CADO Real Estate Group and LCG Harrington, LLC, the agents and mortgage company for Boardwalk Townhomes in Corona, California. This agreement settles allegations that Boardwalk Townhomes discriminated against African American home seekers. Read the Agreement.  

The Fair Housing Act makes it unlawful to impose different terms or conditions on the sale of a dwelling based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, or disability.

“A person’s race should never be a factor in determining whether they have the opportunity to obtain the housing of their choice,” said Anna María Farías, HUD’s Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. “Today’s settlement represents HUD’s ongoing commitment to ensuring that individuals in positions to affect access to housing meet their obligation to comply with the Fair Housing Act.”

The case came to HUD’s attention when The Fair Housing Council of Riverside County (FHCRC), a HUD Fair Housing Initiatives Program agency, filed a complaint alleging that fair housing tests it conducted showed that real estate agents for CADO Real Estate Group treated testers posing as African-American home seekers less favorably than testers posing as white home seekers. Specifically, FHCRC alleged that its tests showed that African-American testers were told that there were no homes available when there were and were required to meet tougher pre-qualification requirements than white testers. CADO Real Estate Group, LCG Harrington, LLC, and their agents deny having engaged in any discriminatory behavior.   

Under the terms of the agreement, CADO Real Estate Group will pay $10,000 to FHCRC, and its agents will attend fair housing training.

People who believe they have experienced discrimination may file a complaint by contacting HUD's Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity at (800) 669-9777 (voice) or (800) 927-9275 (TTY). Housing discrimination complaints may also be filed by going to hud.gov/fair housing, or by downloading HUD's free housing discrimination mobile application, which can be accessed through Apple and Android devices. 

HUD's mission is to create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality affordable homes for all. More information about HUD and its programs is available on the Internet at www.hud.gov and http://espanol.hud.gov. You can also connect with HUD on social media  or sign up for news alerts on HUD's Email List.

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