Upcoming Calendar

April 8-9 - John Marshall Law School "Investigating and Resolving Fair Housing Cases" (Chicago, IL).


April 9 - Howard County Housing Fair - Howard County Housing will host the “Come Home to Howard County” Housing Fair on Saturday, April 9 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Long Reach High School, 6101 Old Dobbin Lane in Columbia. The event is free and open to the public. For registration: http://www.howardcountyhousing.com/2010/12/the-5th-annual-howard-county-housing-fair/.

April 11 - BNI's 2nd Annual Fair Housing & Landlord Tenant Boot Camp.

April 8 - Third Annual Veterans' Legal Assistance Conference - 8:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m. University of Maryland School of Law, 500 W. Baltimore Street, Baltimore 21202.


April 14 - 10th Annual Frederick County Fair Housing Conference. Location: The City of Frederick Municipal Annex Building located at 140 West Patrick Street. Sponsored by the Frederick County Fair Housing Commission and the Frederick County Association of Realtors. Info: Eileen Barnhard, Community Development Housing Financial Specialist for the City of Frederick at 301.600.2842 or ebarnhard@cityoffrederick.com.


April 26 - Baltimore County Human Relations Commission Fair Housing Conference, Randallstown, Maryland. Info: 410-887-5917.


June 4-7 - National Fair Housing Alliance National Conference (Washington, DC)


July 21-23 - Listening and Spoken Language Symposium - Thhe AG Bell 2011 Listening & Spoken Language Symposium will be held at the Omni Shoreham in Washington, D.C.


September 9-10 - John Marshall Law School 2011 National Conference (Chicago, IL).

Paralyzed Veterans Sues Hunt Corporation for Housing Discrimination, Maryland Complexes Included

The real estate developer has been accused of Fair Housing Act violations in Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina apartment complexes. The suit was filed by the Paralyzed Veterans of America and the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) against the HHHunt Corporation, and is based on the joint investigation by Paralyzed Veterans and NFHA of several of HHHunt's properties in North Carolina and South Carolina, and properties in Maryland and Virginia. The Fair Housing Act's design and construction accessibility requirements require that apartment and condominium complexes contain seven basic accessibility features so that they are useable by people with disabilities. The Maryland complex is Abberly Crest in Lexington Park.

The lawsuit alleges that since at least 2002, the HHHunt Corporation has engaged in a continuous pattern or practice of discrimination by designing and constructing multifamily dwellings, and common- and public-use areas, without those required accessibility features. Cited problems included: "primary entry doors with thresholds that are too high; large steps blocking routes to entry doors; hazardously steep sidewalk slopes; accessible parking without the required access aisle for people with mobility impairments to leave or enter their parked vehicles; and kitchens and bathrooms with insufficient maneuvering space for wheelchair users at sinks and toilets."

Read the March 15, 2011 article: http://www.nationalfairhousing.org/.

Racial Profiling Alleged in Illinois

The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (http://icirr.org/) has requested the DOJ to investigate racial profiling at the McHenry County, Illinois, sheriff's office. The Northwest Herald reports that the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights asked the civil division of the U.S. Department of Justice for an investigation. The group wants to know if the department is incorrectly listing the race of Latinos on tickets. Coalition director Joshua Hoyt says more Latinos are stopped and are being systematically misclassified. An attorney for the sheriff's office said, "Racial profiling, such as pulling people over because they are Latino, is a serious accusation." (http://icirr.org/en/node/5322)

The ICIRR recently "celebrated with religious, civil rights and immigrant leaders the defeat of 10 anti-immigrant bills recently introduced in the Illinois Senate and House of Representatives. Due to Congressional failure to pass immigration reform, many states, including Illinois, have introduced legislation that would impact the lives of immigrants. Participants thanked State Rep. Greg Harris, who is the Chair of the Human Services Committee and responsible for stopping these bills to pass his committee. “By blocking these hate bills we are affirming that Illinois is home,” said State Representative Greg Harris (D-13). 'We are showing that our state is not Arizona and that Illinoisans don’t buy in the politics of hate.'"

The ICIRR is "dedicated to promoting the rights of immigrants and refugees to full and equal participation in the civic, cultural, social, and political life of our diverse society. In partnership with its member organizations, ICIRR educates and organizes immigrant and refugee communities to assert their rights; promotes citizenship and civic participation; monitors, analyzes, and advocates on immigrant-related issues; and, informs the general public about the contributions of immigrants and refugees."

Read the March 31, 2011 Northwest Herald article: http://www.nwherald.com/2011/03/31/group-seeks-racial-profiling-investigation/a4kqz32/.

Higher Discriminatory Rents for Tenants with Health/Therapy Dogs

A North Dakota federal judge has refused to throw out a lawsuit claiming discrimination against a Fargo property manager. Fair Housing of the Dakotas, a nonprofit advocacy group (which was closed in 2010-2011 because of lack of funding), accuses Goldmark Property Management of a "pattern of discrimination" in charging tenants higher rents and assessing fees. Fair Housing says Goldmark illegally charged tenants extra for keeping dogs they needed for their health or therapy. It seems pretty clear this is a reasonable accommodation. Read the April 1, 2011 Greenfield Reporter article: http://www.greenfieldreporter.com/view/story/cff8e58d72954c77a8b85d0625f49899/ND--Housing-Lawsuit/.

Great Place for Fair Housing News

The National Fair Housing Advocate's website has some breaking news, legal research, tools, links, etc. It's worth a view: http://www.fairhousing.com/.

Free Consumer Law Webinars Offered

The National Community Law Center (NCLC) is broadcasting free webinars on a variety of subjects interesting to consumers. While most are through its elder rights initiative —the National Elder Rights Training Project of the National Legal Resource Center sponsored by the Administration on Aging, others include auto fraud, domestic violence survivors, and others, such as:

• Foreclosure Prevention.
• Debt Collection.
• The Protection of Exempt Benefits.
• Bankruptcy.
• Effective Health Care Planning.
• Cars and Working Families: Cash for Clunkers.
• Credit Reporting and Repair for Domestic Violence Survivors.

Check it out: http://www.nclc.org/conferences-training/webinars.html.

New Edition of "Fair Housing E-News"

Just posted a new edition of Fair Housing E-News. Just a couple of the headlines:

PrimeLending Resolve Allegations of Lending Discrimination. Settlement Provides $2 Million to African-American Borrowers Who Paid Higher Interest Rates...between 2006 and 2009... http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2010/December/10-crt-1406.html

Census Finds Maryland's Minority Population Is Now 45% . The recently released 2010 decennial U. S. Census data showed Hispanics, African Americans and Asians are growing... HUD Proposes New Rule For Equal Housing Regardless Of Sexual Orientation Or Gender Identity. View the proposed rule. The rule would: (1) Prohibit lenders from using sexual orientation or gender identity to determine a borrower’s eligibility for FHA mortgage financing; (2) Clarify that all otherwise eligible families, regardless of marital status, sexual orientation...

HUD Conducting The First National Study Of Housing Discrimination Against LGBT Community. Every ten years, HUD does a study of the impact of housing discrimination on the basis of race and color. LGBT individuals and families...

Obama Administration, Treasury, & HUD Release February Housing Scorecard.

Census Finds Gay Parenting More Prevalent in the South. The data show, child rearing among same-sex couples is more common in the South than in any other region of the country, according... Read the January 19, 2011 Times article.

Census Finds Maryland's Minority Population Is Now 45%. The recently released 2010 decennial U. S. Census data showed Hispanics, African Americans and Asians are growing... Read the article.

New State-by-State Analysis of Food Hardship Shows One in Seven Respondents in Maryland Reported in First Half of 2010 Inability to Afford Enough Food...

NY To Require Homeowners Facing Foreclosure To Be Represented by a Lawyer

New York State would be the first state to assure that all homeowners facing foreclosure be represented by a lawyer. While criminal defendents are guaranteed legal representation, a homeowner confronted with foreclosure is on his/her own. The problem affects a large number of people. In over 50% of active NY foreclosure cases the homeowner does not have a lawyer. This is "an uneven playing field," according to the chief judge of New York Jonathan Lippman. Read the article in the February 16, 2011 New York Times (page B1).

Trying to Find Accessible Rental Housing? See Our Guide to Internet Housing Sites.

The GBCHRB has just released a guide to internet sites that feature rental housing listings. To access it, go to: http://www.gbchrb.org/internethousingguide.htm.

Census Finds Maryland is More Diverse

According to the U. S. Census, Maryland's population grew far more diverse, while growth slowed dramatically in the Baltimore area. Baltimore lost 4.6% of its population, more than any other major city or county in the State. All of Maryland's growth was because of increasing minority populations: Hispanics doubled and the number of non-Hispanic whites declined. Non-Hispanic whites now make up less than 55% of Maryland's 5.8 million people, compared to 65% in 2000. Read the Baltimore Sun article: .

HUD Study Finds Lowest-Income Renters Hurting

In a report to Congress, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) found that “worst case housing needs” grew by nearly 1.2 million households, or more than 20 percent, from 2007 to 2009 and by 42 percent since 2001. “Worst case housing needs” are defined as low-income households who paid more than half their monthly income for rent, lived in severely substandard housing, or both. The study, Worst Case Housing Needs 2009: A Report to Congress, is part of a series of reports to measure the scale of critical housing problems facing low-income un-assisted American renting households. The findings are from HUD's American Housing Survey conducted between May-September, 2009. The report found the increased numbers of worst case needs and the recent recession and related joblessness are strongly related. Read the February 1, 2011 HUD press release: .

New York to Use Computer Program to Identify Possibly Illegal Real Estate Activities

Under the system, devised by the mayor’s Financial Crime Task Force, a computer program will search the public property database for “digital fingerprints,” or red flags, of possibly illegal real estate activities. Such "red flags" could be multiple changes in title ownership, or flipping; the transfer of titles at below-market prices; and the sale of properties at prices beneath the minimum amount required for tax filings. The task force will give the flagged addresses to district attorney’s offices, the Police Department, and the Department of Investigation. The program is modeled after an initiative used by the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network to sift through data for evidence of money laundering. Property owners’ characteristics, like their age and immigration status, will also be taken into account in identifying potentially troubled properties. Officials said those who committed mortgage fraud often preyed on elderly and immigrant property owners because of their increased vulnerabilities and talk them into taking out fraudulent mortgages they do not need or transfer their properties using forged or false documents." (New York Times, February 3, 2011:A22, )

Unions to Force Chase to Modify More Mortgages by Selling Investments

Leaders of two large New York City unions said they would have their pension funds sell their stocks and bonds in JPMorgan Chase if it did not help more homeowners avoid foreclosure. The declarations were part of a campaign by New York Communities for Change to force the bank to modify more mortgages. The group’s executive director said Chase was targeted because it had many mortgages in New York but refused a majority of requests for long-term mortgage modifications. The campaign soon will include elected and union officials and religious and community leaders urging other investors to divest their Chase assets, and staging protests outside the bank’s Manhattan headquarters. (New York Times, Published: February 9, 2011, )

DOJ Forms Group To Fight Post-9/11 Discriminatory Backlash

Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez has directed the U. S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division National Origin Working Group to work to combat violations of civil rights laws against Arab, Muslim, Sikh, and South-Asian Americans, and those thought or treated as members of these, by starting the Initiative to Combat Post-9/11 Discriminatory Backlash. Among a lot of tools and information the site has copies in various languages of the Civil Rights Division brochure "Federal Protections Against National Origin Discrimination" which provides more information about the laws the Division enforces, namely: Arabic, Cambodian, Chinese, French, Haitian Creole, Hmong, Hindi, Korean, Laotian, Punjabi, Russian, Tagalog, Urdu, and Vietnamese. Go to the DOJ page.

Incidentally, for those of us who didn't know before, including me, Tagalog is, according to Wikipedia: "pronounced /təˈɡɑːlɒɡ/ in English, and is an Austronesian language spoken as a first language by a third of the population of the Philippines and as a second language by most of the rest. It is the first language of the Philippine region IV (Calabarzon and Mimaropa) and of Metro Manila. Its standardized form, commonly called Filipino, is the national language and one of two official languages of the Philippines. It is related to - though not readily intelligible with - other Austronesian languages such as Malay–Indonesian, Javanese, and Hawaiian."

Disability Housing Act Signed

On January 4, 2011 President Obama signed into law S. 1481, the Frank Melville Supportive Housing Investment Act of 2010. The law makes improvements in the Section 811 program and promotes integrated housing opportunities for people with disabilities. It will create 3,500 - 5,000 new affordable and accessible units every year. For more information read a summary of the passing of the law.

8 Signs of Predatory Lending

The Center for Responsible Lending has an informative "What to watch out for when you’re shopping for a home loan." Just go to: http://www.responsiblelending.org/mortgage-lending/tools-resources/8-signs-of-predatory-lending.html In short the 8 are:

(1) Big Fees

“Points” or “discount points” are the lender’s fee for making the loan. A charge of three points - 3% or less of the loan amount - is a good deal, including such necessities as an appraisal and title insurance. Get your credit score in advance and research typical fees in the area.

(2) Penalties For Paying Off Early

A “prepayment penalty” requires you to pay a steep fee before refinancing. The penalty period can last several years and cost thousands of dollars.


(3) Inflated Interest Rates From Brokers

Brokers can make more money if they raise the interest rate above the lender’s actual charge. Ask if your broker will be paid a “yield-spread premium” – a financial reward lenders pay for inflated interest rates.


(4) Steering And Targeting

Predatory lenders often target senior citizens and people of color to place them in unnecessarily expensive loans. Don’t respond to ads that say bad credit doesn’t matter, and be very wary of lenders or brokers who contact you or those who try to rush you into decisions.


(5) Adjustable Interest Rates That "Explode"

Beware of adjustable-rate loans that can rise significantly, especially if it isn’t possible for the interest rate to go lower, only higher. Make sure you understand the worst-case scenario for future payments. And don’t count on a future refinance to rescue you from an unaffordable loan.


(6) Promises To Fix Problems With Future Refinances

Predatory lenders are notorious for selling bad deals by promising that they will refinance the loan later. If a loan stretches you too much now or in the future, just say no.


(7) Repeated Refinances That Drain You

Repeated refinances mean you lose more money in points and fees every time. Don’t be tempted by cash now when you might end up owing even more on your house, losing valuable equity, and paying more than necessary. Just say no.


(8) Not Counting Taxes And Insurance

Know in advance whether your monthly mortgage payment will include the costs of property taxes and insurance (i.e., whether the lender has established an escrow account for these costs). Unscrupulous lenders make house payments seem artificially low by not counting all costs - which you will be required to pay.

Second International Research Conference on Community Inclusion of Individuals with Psychiatric Disabilities Will Be September 19 - 21

The Temple University Collaborative on Community Inclusion of Individuals with Psychiatric Disabilities is seeking proposals for presentations at its conference which takes place from September 19 – 21, 2011 in Philadelphia, PA. Presentations and posters should be on current research findings and practices that address the individual supports needed to promote full community inclusion of individuals with psychiatric disabilities. Deadline for all submissions is January 31, 2011. For any additional questions related to the conference, contact Andrea Bilger abilger@temple.edu, or 215.204.3006. For more information on community inclusion, please see http://www.upennrrtc.org or the new website (http://www.tucollaborative.org).

CIA Honors Civil Rights Heroes

The celebrations of the life and legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. were bolstered by the CIA's strong participation this year. At a CIA gathering on the Civil Rights Movement, Director Leon Panetta spoke eloquently about the progress our country has made. Read the CIA press release. One quote from the CNN story is worth remembering for all of us: "Director Leon Panetta told the intelligence officers it is just as important today that all Americans follow the message of King, that 'unless we provide equality to all, regardless of race, regardless of color or creed or gender or disability or sexual orientation, that none of us truly can be free.' Panetta called on everyone to rededicate themselves to the American dream King fought and died for, "an America of, by and for all people.'" Read the CNN.com article.