| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
|
Monday, September 23, 2024
Southern Marylaand Hate Bias Reporting Forum is November 16th
Maryland Gets Federal Grant to Support a Project to Document Places Related to the Civil Rights Movement in Baltimore City.
The $50,000 grant is to the Maryland Historical Trust (MHT). Information obtained through the project will be available on the MHT’s online cultural resource information system, Medusa.
Baltimoreans have advocated, organized, and marched for civil rights since the city’s founding – in rowhouses, churches, parks, universities, factories, corner stores, and more, said Gov. Moore in a news release. Our history is our power, and the Moore-Miller Administration is committed to telling the stories of Baltimore City's long tradition of civil rights leadership.
The African American Civil Rights grant program funds preservation projects and sites tied to the struggle of African Americans to gain equal rights.
As a contribution to Maryland’s Year of Civil Rights, the project will document approximately twelve places important to the Civil Rights Movement in Baltimore City for inclusion in the Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties.
Studying and documenting this history, then making the results available for all in the Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties, will help us to better understand how the Civil Rights Movement pushed back against segregated spaces and sought to dismantle discrimination in Baltimore, said Maryland Department of Planning Secretary Rebecca Flora, AICP in a news release.
The project is expected to begin this fall and will additionally involve community outreach and oral histories.
Housing Discrimination Complaints in 2023 Continue to Increase Nationally
The national number of fair housing complaints rose to record numbers for the third year in a row. There were 34,150 fair housing complaints received in 2023, compared to 33,007 complaints in 2022, according to findings in the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA)'s 2024 Fair Housing Trends Report. There also was a sharp increase in the number of harassment complaints which jumped by 470.5% based on color and 114.9% on race.
The source of the data were 86 NFHA member organizations, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)'s 10 regional offices, and 77 state and local government agencies in HUD’s FHAP program. Information also was obtained from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
Most of the millions of housing discrimination incidents each year go unreported because they are difficult to identify or document. All complaints also are not made because individuals might fear facing retaliation or eviction if they file a complaint. Therefore, the total number should be considered an undercount.
Private nonprofit fair housing organizations (FHOs) processed 75.5% of complaints, a 5.6% increase from 2022. These FHOs investigate fair housing complaints, collect data, provide fair housing counseling and education to consumers, and help clients file complaints. Fair Housing Assistance Program (FHAP) agencies processed 19.2% of complaints, HUD 5.1% of complaints, and the DOJ 0.1% of complaints.
As in the previous year, discrimination based on disability accounted for the majority (52.6%) of complaints filed with FHOs, HUD, and FHAP agencies. There were 1,521 complaints of harassment reported, an increase of 66.2%. This is the highest number of harassment complaints reported since NFHA began reporting harassment-specific data in 2006.
HUD Charges Florida Property Owner, Management Company, and Property Manager with Disability Discrimination
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has charged Tallahassee, Florida, housing providers Greenbriar Partners, LLC, Jackson Properties and Financial Services, LLC, and Erwin D. Jackson (the “Respondents”) with violating the Fair Housing Act by failing to grant a tenant with a disability a reasonable accommodation to allow the tenant to live with an emotional support animal. Read the Charge here. The Fair Housing Act (“the Act”) prohibits discrimination because of disability, including the denial of reasonable accommodations. Individuals with disabilities have the right to reasonable accommodations when such accommodations are necessary to afford them equal access to their home, including the use of assistance animals. “The Fair Housing Act requires housing providers to make reasonable accommodations necessary to afford persons with disabilities an equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling,” said Damon Smith, HUD General Counsel. “The Department will take action to ensure housing providers comply with their obligations to provide necessary reasonable accommodations.” HUD’s Charge of Discrimination alleges that the Respondents failed to grant the Complainant’s requested reasonable accommodation for an assistance animal. That denial led to economic loss, lost housing opportunity, and emotional distress. The Charge of Discrimination also alleges that the Respondents violated the Act when they threatened the Complainant with an eviction because of her reasonable accommodation request. HUD's Charge will be heard by a U.S. Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) unless any party to the Charge elects to have the case heard in federal district court. If an ALJ finds after a hearing that a violation of the Act has occurred, they may award damages to the Complainant for harm caused by discrimination. The ALJ may also order injunctive relief and other equitable relief, fines to vindicate the public interest, and punitive damages. |
Friday, September 20, 2024
Disability Rights Maryland's Breaking Barriers Awards Gala is September 26th
|
Thursday, September 19, 2024
OceanFirst Bank Fined Over $15 Million in New Jersey Redlining Settlement
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has made a Conciliation Agreement with OceanFirst Bank (headquartered in Toms River, New Jersey). This Agreement resolves a Secretary-initiated complaint against OceanFirst alleging that the bank engaged in redlining by restricting access to credit and mortgage lending services in majority-Black, Hispanic, and Asian neighborhoods in the New Brunswick, New Jersey area. HUD’s investigation was conducted with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) after a referral from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the bank’s regulator.
“This settlement, and the over $137 million in relief the Justice Department has secured for communities across the country, will help to ensure that future generations of Americans inherit a legacy of home ownership that they have been too often denied,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “Redlining is unlawful, it is harmful, and it is wrong. The Justice Department will continue to hold banks and mortgage companies accountable for redlining and to secure relief for the communities that continue to be harmed by these discriminatory practices.”
“Restrictive barriers to credit and mortgage lending that disproportionately impact communities of color violate fair housing laws,” said Diane M. Shelley, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. “The Fair Housing Act prohibits this type of discrimination, commonly known as redlining, that has left too many Black, Indigenous, and People of Color with little to no access to homeownership and wealth building, and will not be allowed.”
HUD’s complaint alleges that, from 2018 through at least 2022, OceanFirst did not provide mortgage lending services to predominantly Black, Hispanic, and Asian neighborhoods in Middlesex, Monmouth, and Ocean Counties. The complaint also alleges states that OceanFirst acquired and subsequently closed branches and loan production offices in these neighborhoods, which, coupled with its insufficient marketing efforts and fair lending policies, led to OceanFirst not serving the needs of these neighborhoods.
Under the terms of the Agreement, OceanFirst will:
- Invest at least $14 million in a loan subsidy fund to increase access to credit for home mortgage loans, home improvement loans, and home refinance loans in majority-Black, Hispanic and Asian neighborhoods in the New Brunswick area.
- Spend at least $400,000 on professional services for residents in these neighborhoods to increase access to residential mortgage credit and serve the credit needs of those communities through partnerships with at least one community-based or governmental organizations providing services related to credit, financial education, homeownership, and/or foreclosure prevention.
- Spend at least $140,000 annually of the Agreement ($700,000 total) on advertising, outreach, consumer financial education, and credit counseling in these neighborhoods.
- Maintain a full-service branch opened in December 2023 and open a loan production office (LPO) in these neighborhoods. The LPO will have a community room for financial education classes that OceanFirst will provide to the public and community organizations, and include an ATM that will not charge fees to OceanFirst’s customers and maintain lower fees for non-customers than what is available at nearby ATMs.
- Assign or hire at least two full-time loan officers to solicit mortgage applications primarily in majority-Black, Hispanic, and Asian neighborhoods in the New Brunswick area.
- Hire or designate a full-time position of Director of Community Lending.
- Provide at least four outreach programs per year for real estate brokers and agents, developers, and public or private entities in residential real estate-related business in these neighborhoods to inform them of the bank’s products and services.
- Provide at least six consumer education seminars annually targeted and marketed for residents of neighborhoods of color in the New Brunswick area regarding credit counseling, financial literacy, or other related consumer financial education.
- Comply with HUD’s Guidance on Application of the Fair Housing Act to the Advertising of Housing, Credit, and Other Real Estate-Related Transactions through Digital Platforms for all OceanFirst’s advertising and targeting.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)