Wealthy Suburbs Accept Low-Income Homes
Craigslist.org, internet advertising and Fair Housing
Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing
In order to receive federal grant funds for housing and community development, all jurisdictions seeking funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) are required to prepare a Consolidated Plan describing needs, resources, strategies, priorities and proposed actions. The Consolidated Plan includes an annual certification by the City that it is taking actions to Affirmatively Further Fair Housing (AFFH). The purpose of these actions is to eliminate discrimination and segregation in housing on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, disability, familial status or national origin, and to expand housing choices for all residents of Napa County. As part of the effort to attain this goal, HUD requires cities to engage in fair housing planning. This process requires: (a) the development of an Analysis of the Impediments to Fair Housing Choice; (b) the development of activities to overcome the effects of the identified impediments; and (c) the development of a system of record keeping to monitor and record the activities undertaken to reduce or overcome the identified impediments to fair housing choice.
For more information from HUD on Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH), please visit:
http://www.hud.gov/offices/fheo/FHLaws/EXO12892.cfm
HUD's explanation of what it intends with Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing:
http://www.hud.gov/offices/fheo/promotingfh.cfm
For various articles on AFFH, please visit the following links:
• Anti-Discrimination Center:
http://www.antibiaslaw.com/westchester-false-claims-case
• To view a 2007 complaint against Westchester County that settled for $62.5 million:
http://antibiaslaw.com/sites/default/files/files/WestchesterFCAcomplaint_0.pdf
• NLIHC: National Low Income Housing Coalition:
http://www.nlihc.org/detail/article.cfm?article_id=6182
• Fair Housing For All Resource Library link:
http://www.fairhousingforall.org/resource-library
• Fair Housing Joint Letter (pdf)
• Kendrick-Bregon Memo (pdf)
• Westchester Synopsis (pdf)
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- Wealthy Suburbs Accept Low-Income Homes -
New York's Westchester County Sets Landmark Agreement With U.S.,
Sending Warning to Local Governments That Get Federal Aid
By NICK TIMIRAOS
August 10, 2009
Westchester County, a mostly affluent suburb outside New York City, agreed Monday to build hundreds of affordable housing units in heavily white communities, part of a settlement that could challenge other U.S. counties to expand housing for minorities.
The settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice and the Department of Housing and Urban Development ended a $180 million federal lawsuit brought by the Anti-Discrimination Center of Metro New York, a nonprofit housing group in New York, over Westchester's responsibility to enforce fair-housing laws.
Westchester, which runs along New York City's northern boundary, will spend more than $50 million over the next seven years to build or acquire 750 homes, including at least 630 in cities with few minorities.
Federal housing officials portrayed the settlement as a warning sign they would step up enforcement on communities that accept federal money for housing redevelopment.
HUD Deputy Secretary Ron Sims, shown in February, said a lawsuit made clear that 'there was a significant amount of racial segregation' in Westchester - Associated Press Photo
"They are now on notice," said HUD Deputy Secretary Ron Sims. "That means suburban areas, we're going to ask that they provide that opportunity for choice so people are able to enjoy what I call the fruits and benefits of an established neighborhood."
In February, U.S. District Judge Denise L. Cote ruled that Westchester had misrepresented its efforts to provide fair housing when it applied for federal funds. The lawsuit challenged the county's implementation of federal housing goals, arguing the county's use of federal community redevelopment funds ran afoul of federal rules because it furthered racial segregation.
County officials said they chose to settle the three-year lawsuit rather than face hefty fines, a protracted legal battle and a potential loss of $30 million a year in federal funds. The county asked the Obama administration to intervene in the case and help broker the settlement after Judge Cote issued her ruling.
County officials defended their affordable-housing practices. They were not forced to admit wrongdoing as part of the settlement. The county has added or rehabilitated some 1,700 affordable-housing units over the past decade.
But Mr. Sims said the lawsuit had made clear that "there was a significant amount of racial segregation" in Westchester. He said studies showed that zip codes could increasingly serve as a predictor of life expectancy and illness. "It's time to remove zip codes as a factor in the quality of life in America," he said.
The settlement, which must still be approved by the county's board of supervisors, marked a significant shift in federal efforts to enforce fair-housing laws, particularly in suburban areas.
There has often been a difference between "what we've had on the book versus what reality is," said Westchester County Executive Andrew Spano.
The agreement represents a "sea change in American policy," he said, because it guarantees access to fair and affordable housing "all over," as opposed to guaranteeing access in certain areas.
The ruling could have a broad reach because some 1,225 local and state government entities accept HUD funds through the Community Development Block Grant program.
The Westchester case could provide a new tool for fair-housing advocates fighting what they allege are discriminatory policies by cities and suburbs nationwide.
"The facts in this case are unique and narrow, but the issues and the ramifications that will come out of this case are common and broad," said Christopher Brancart, a private fair-housing litigator in Pescadero, Calif.
In the past, such advocates have sued the federal government for failing to enforce the fair-housing requirements that come along with community development block grants.
"If HUD's involvement in the settlement means that the federal government is finally going to enforce its own laws requiring cities to address barriers to fair housing, this could be the next real step toward eliminating segregation and housing discrimination in our country," said Kyra Kazantzis, an attorney with the Fair Housing Law Project at the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley in San Jose, Calif.
The Westchester case was apparently the first in the country in which a private plaintiff -- in this case a nonprofit advocacy group -- sued a local government directly for allegedly false claims over how it met the federal requirements.
Mr. Brancart predicted that city and county governments will see the settlement as a warning and will feel more obliged to honor the commitments made when accepting federal grants.
"We remain, residentially, an extremely segregated society," said Craig Gurian, executive director of the Anti-Discrimination Center, which sued under the federal False Claims Act. "We're going to belatedly have to make changes to resolve that problem."
Noting that some past civil-rights decisions failed to live up to expectations, Mr. Gurian said the settlement would require vigilant enforcement if it was to provide long-lasting change. Past efforts to enforce existing fair-housing laws simply weren't "part of the political radar," he said.
While fair-housing statutes have been in place for decades, enforcement of those laws has been "dormant," Mr. Sims said. "It is time for us to enforce our statutes to provide opportunities that are embedded in the statute itself."
Westchester County, with just fewer than 1 million residents, is known for such bedroom-community villages as Scarsdale, Bronxville and Chappaqua, home of former President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Two years ago, the Westchester City of Yonkers settled a housing-segregation lawsuit that had been brought in 1980.
Click here for the New York Times article discussing the settlement:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/11/nyregion/11settle.html
Click here for a New York Times editorial viewpoint:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/11/opinion/11tue3.html
Click here for a Wall Street Journal article on the settlement:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124993778549420475.html
Full background on this case can be seen here:
http://www.antibiaslaw.com/westchester-false-claims-case
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Craigslist.org, internet advertising and Fair Housing
Section 804(c) of the Fair Housing Act makes it illegal “to make, print, or publish, or to cause to be made, printed, or published, any notice or statement with respect to the sale or rental of a dwelling that indicates any preference, limitation, or discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability or familial status.” The Fair Housing Act is not limited to a particular media. If an advertisement for housing contains language that indicates a discriminatory preference or limitation on the prohibited basis, both the person who posted the advertisement on the Website and the Website that publishes the advertisement may be in violation of section 804(c) of the Fair Housing Act.
The Chicago Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Inc. (clccrul) filed a lawsuit against craigslist alleging that since 2005, craigslist has published discriminatory ads in violation of federal Fair Housing Act.
This link explains the suit in detail:
http://www.clccrul.org/projects/the_fair_housing_project/craigslist_lawsuit.htm
The Chicago Lawyers Committee lost the lawsuit based on the Communications Decency Act.
The Judge's opinion can be read here:
http://www.clccrul.org/templates/UserFiles/Documents/St.EveOpinion%2011.14.06.pdf
HUD also issued an opinion about how they view discriminatory content in Internet Advertising and it is still relevant.
The link is here:
http://www.clccrul.org/templates/UserFiles/Documents/FHAct_Application_to_Web_Sites.pdf
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