Future of Fair Housing: Increase Funding

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The Future of Fair Housing - Report of the National Commission on Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity

Forty years after the passage of the Fair Housing Act in 1968, the National Commission on Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity was convened to travel across the country to collect information and hear testimony about the nature and extent of illegal housing discrimination, its connection with government policy and practice, and its effect on our communities. The Commission held hearings in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Boston, and Atlanta.

On December 9, 2008, at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, the Commission reported on its findings.

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Increase Funding for the FHIP program

Funding for the Fair Housing Initiatives Program must be increased. These new funds will allow a significant increase in the presence and effectiveness of a community-based program that can improve the public’s awareness about fair housing rights, develop partnerships with industry leaders in communities, support increased fair housing enforcement, and help build, or rebuild, diverse communities.

First year funding for a reformed FHIP program should be, at a minimum, $52 million. In order to create a strong presence in our nation’s communities, FHIP eventually should support full funding of private fair housing organizations to conduct enforcement activity in each of the 363 Metropolitan Statistical Areas, ^[165] at a cost of approximately $109 million per year.

Additional funding for national educational campaigns and local, regional and national enforcement projects should also increase. Overall, the projected appropriations for an expanded FHIP program over the next six years would increase significantly, including routine increases in the amount provided to organizations for enforcement, for education, and for national media campaigns. And in order to ensure that the fair housing issues in communities are approached holistically, fair housing groups should be permitted to secure funds for both education and enforcement in the same year.

Because disability-based complaints make up the largest percentage of the complaints filed, HUD should encourage fair housing organizations to develop contractual partnerships with disability-based organizations on testing, education and enforcement strategies.

Next Section: Reform FHIP Management

Footnotes

[165] OMB Bulletin 08-01 (November 2007).

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The Future of Fair Housing

Coinciding with the 40th anniversary of the passage of the Fair Housing Act in 1968, NFHA has partnered with the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund to create a national, bipartian fair housing commission to investigate the alarming state of U.S. housing in the wake of the subprime housing debacle.

On December 9, 2008, the commission released its findings and recommendations in this comprehensive report.

Entire report in PDF format

Executive summary in PDF format

I. Housing Discrimination and Segregation Continue

— How We Got Here: The Historical Roots of Housing Segregation

— Despite the Promise of the Fair Housing Act, the Rate of Housing Discrimination Remains High

II. Fair Housing Enforcement at HUD is Failing

— Create a New, Independent Fair Housing Enforcement Agency

III. Fair Housing Enforcement at the Justice Department is Weak

— Strengthen DOJ’s Role in Fair Housing and Fair Lending Enforcement

IV. The Need for Strong Fair Housing Programs

— Increase Funding for the FHIP program

— Reform FHIP Management

— Improve Coordination and Oversight of the Fair Housing Assistance Program

V. Fair Housing and the Foreclosure Crisis

— Incorporate Fair Housing Principles into Foreclosure Relief Implementation

VI. Federal Housing Programs

— Ensure Compliance with the "Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing" Obligation in Federal Housing Programs

VII. Fair Housing Obligations of Federal Grantees

— Strengthen Fair Housing Compliance by Federal Grantees

VIII. Regionalism and Fair Housing Enforcement

— Adopt a Regional Approach to Fair Housing

IX. The President's Fair Housing Council

— Revive the President’s Fair Housing Council

X. Fair Housing Education: A Missing Piece

— Strengthen Fair Housing Education

XI. The Necessity of Fair Housing Research

— Enhance Fair Housing Research at HUD

XII. Conclusion

Appendices

Appendix A: Emerging Fair Housing Issues

Appendix B: International Disapproval of U.S. Fair Housing Policy

Appendix C: Commissioner Correspondence on Foreclosure Relief Implementation

— Letter to Congressional Leaders

— Letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson

Appendix D: Commission Witnesses and Staff

Achieving the Dream for Everyone

The National Fair Housing Alliance stepped up the fight to insure everyone has a chance at achieving the American Dream – owning a home in a safe welcoming neighborhood – during our 20^th annual conference. More than 300 members gathered at our conference in Washington to send a strong message about the importance of fair lending in the home mortgage industry – it’s not only the right thing to do, but when unfairness wins everybody else loses.

Conference panels discussed the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and reviewed fair housing enforcement policies by the United States Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. We examined how predatory subprime lenders marketed shoddy financial products to communities of color triggering the current housing meltdown which has imperiled our entire economy.

The fallout could mean a tightening of credit for home buyers with some decision makers proposing high down payments for a home further curtailing home ownership for millions in the middle class. “Generations of Americans have tapped their home equity to send their children to college to provide for a brighter tomorrow,” said Shanna Smith, president and CEO of the National Fair Housing Alliance. “We can’t allow the future to dim for communities of color.”

HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan, Tulane Professor Melissa V. Harris-Perry and john a. powell of the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity were among our conference speakers.

NFHA also found time during our conference to recognize our success stories. We presented the Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center (GNOFHAC) with the prestigious Chairman’s Award for its contribution to the movement. Our allies in New Orleans were cited for the on-going litigation with St. Bernard Parish, their development of the Road Home Program, a recent forum on fair housing and food justice and for publishing a children’s book, “The Fair Housing Five & the Haunted House.”

For photos of conference highlights please click here.

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