D: Equal Opportunity Housing
Ensure equal opportunity in housing Other Information:
Overview: Battling housing discrimination remains a core element of HUD’s mission. In order for all Americans to have an equal
opportunity to buy or rent housing that matches their individual needs, discrimination against minorities and persons with
disabilities must be eliminated in all our communities. Architectural barriers, refusals to rent or sell, denials of financing,
and steering buyers away from certain neighborhoods are some of the forms discrimination now takes. These discriminatory actions
exclude people from the diverse housing opportunities that should be available to them.HUD is committed to ending the practice
of discrimination. To do this, HUD enforces fair housing laws and educates lenders, housing providers, developers, architects,
home seekers, landlords, and tenants about rights and obligations in complying with the laws. Working with state and local
partners – as well as the private sector –the Department is involved in a cooperative effort to increase access to the nation’s
housing stock so that more Americans can obtain housing of their choice. Since 2000, HUD has conducted several key studies
to determine the frequency of discrimination in the housing market and the public’s level of fair housing awareness. HUD’s
multi-year Housing Discrimination Study 2000 (HDS 2000) found that while housing discrimination has decreased overall during
the preceding decade – notably, by 12 percentage points for African American homebuyers – it continues to affect the lives
of millions of Americans. All major minority groups – including African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, Asians and
Pacific Islanders – were found to experience high levels of consistent adverse treatment in at least 21 percent of rental
settings. In July 2005, HUD released its first study of housing discrimination against persons with disabilities. The study,
“Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities: Barriers at Every Step,” examined the Chicago-area rental market and found
that hearing-impaired people experienced consistent adverse treatment 50 percent of the time when using a telephone-operator
relay to search for rental housing. Persons in wheelchairs experienced consistent adverse treatment32 percent of the time
when they visited rental properties. HUD’s 2002 Housing Awareness Study “How Much Do We Know?” indicated that fair housing
education and enforcement had greatly increased awareness, but also found that many Americans still do not recognize unlawful
discrimination when it occurs. For example, 46 percent of people surveyed did not know that it is illegal for real estate
agents to limit a home search to certain neighborhoods based on the race of the home seeker and the racial composition of
the neighborhood. When asked about differential treatment of families with children, an alarming62 percent of those surveyed
were not aware that such different treatment was illegal. In 2001, HUD studied pre-application lending discrimination in two
major metropolitan areas. “All Other Things Being Equal” found that while minorities and whites receive equal treatment in
the majority of cases, there were patterns of unequal treatment that systematically favor whites. For example, African Americans
received less information about the loans and less follow-up than white homebuyers with similar economic histories. In one
city, Hispanic borrowers were quoted a loan amount that was on average $10,000 less than the amount quoted to whites with
identical economic profiles. These differences in treatment, even at the pre-application stage, influence a family’s decision
about what home to choose and the amount of the loan and type of loan they can afford. These studies provide HUD with important
information to fulfill its mission and ensure equal opportunity in housing. Performance Measures: • By the end of FY 2011,
at least 85 percent of open HUD fair housing complaints will be completed within 100 days, excluding recommended cause, pattern
and practice, and systemic complaints, increasing by 5 percentage points annually from the FY 2006 baseline of 60 percent.
• By the end of FY 2011, at least 65 percent of open FHAP fair housing complaints will be completed within 100 days, excluding
recommended cause, pattern and practice, and systemic complaints, increasing by 2 percentage points in FY 2006, and thereafter
by 3 percentage points annually, from the FY 2005 baseline of 48 percent. • To improve the quality and rigor of investigations,
increase the proportion of complaints that use testing as evidence by 6 percentage points from the FY 2006 baseline by FY
2011. • Decrease the percentage of minorities that were found to experience consistent adverse treatment in the rental market
by 2 percentage points by 2011. (This performance measure is contingent upon the availability of funds to measure results
by conducting a Housing Discrimination Study.) • By 2011, HUD will increase public awareness of the Fair Housing Act’s prohibitions
of discrimination against families with children by 6 percentage points from the baseline of 44 percent in 2005. • By 2011,
HUD will increase public awareness of the Fair Housing Act’s prohibitions against racial steering by 4 percentage points from
the baseline of 58 percent in 2005. • Ensure that civil rights limited monitoring reviews are conducted during on-site monitoring
reviews of HUD-funded recipients by responsible HUD program offices, with referral to FHEO for review and appropriate action.
• Through development of a national strategy, FHEO will conduct 280 compliance and monitoring reviews by 2011. • HUD will
take corrective action on all findings resulting from civil rights limited monitoring reviews. • HUD-assisted units made accessible
as a result of Voluntary Compliance Agreements will be verified by FHEO and a database of those accessible units will be maintained
beginning 2007through 2011.
Objective(s):
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