Welcome to this Fair Housing Maryland Blog edition of Fair Housing E-News! This newsletter is produced by the GBCHRB as a public service. More info/resources: http://www.gbchrb.org. To read this issue of Fair Housing E-News, click here: fhnews10dec.pdf. Just a few of the December headlines are:

Over 60% of Hispanics Say Discrimination Is a Major Problem.
Read the October 28, 2010 Times article.

Baltimore City Again Sues Wells Fargo For "Racist, Predatory Lending Practices." As reported in The Baltimore Sun on October 23, 2010.

Maryland-Based Innershore Enterprises / Marlow 6 Theater To Pay $20,000 For Disability Discrimination As Concession Manager Fired for HIV Condition.
Read the November 22, 2010 Press Release.

Three Men Charged in Albuquerque, N.M., with Federal Hate Crimes Related to Assault of Disabled Navajo Man. Read the November 12, 2010 DOJ Press Release.

Justice Department Reaches Agreement with Hilton Worldwide Over ADA Violations at Hilton Hotels and Major Hotel Chains Owned by Hilton.
Read the DOJ November 10, 2010 Press Release.

Justice Department Makes the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design Available Online. Read the November 10, 2010 Press Release. www.ada.gov/2010ADAstandards_index.htm.

HUD Charges Vicksburg, Mississippi Rental Property Manager & Owner With Race Discrimination. Read the HUD charge.

BALTIMORE CITY SUES WELLS FARGO FOR "RACIST, PREDATORY LENDING PRACTICES"

As reported in The Baltimore Sun on October 23, 2010, the City is suing Wells Fargo for a third time for causing increased foreclosures through its discriminatory practices. Previous suits have been dismissed, and Wells Fargo denies all allegations. The Sun article continues:

"The latest complaint, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court, contains 14 new paragraphs that purport to address concerns that led Judge J. Frederick Motz to dismiss the case twice before — namely a lack of evidence that the mortgage lender was responsible for housing vacancies and millions of dollars in associated damages. In the second dismissal, Motz asked the city to show why the properties would not "have been vacant in any event." The new filing attempts to explain this through a general description of the ways in which lending to those who can't afford the loan leads to foreclosure."

SURVEY FINDS DISCRIMINATION PREVALENT AGAINST HISPANICS

According to the survey results discussed in The New York Times article on October 28, 2010:

"More than 6 in 10 Latinos in the United States say discrimination is a “major problem” for them, a significant increase in the last three years, according to a survey of Latino attitudes by the Pew Hispanic Center, a nonpartisan research group. In 2007, the center reported, 54 percent of Latinos said discrimination was a major problem. That year, nearly half of Latinos — 46 percent — cited language as the primary cause for that discrimination. In the new survey, 36 percent — the largest number — said that immigration status was the leading cause."