May 3, 2016
The Department of Housing and Urban Development has announced $37 million in funding to fight housing discrimination. According to a press release on the HUD official site, the most recent announcement is one of three notices designed to, “support a variety of important fair housing activities, including fair housing testing in the rental and sales market, public education efforts, capacity building, and education and outreach activities.”
The work HUD’s fair housing partners do every day is critical to our efforts to ensure that every family in America has an equal shot at finding the home that is right for them, said HUD’s Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity Gustavo Velasquez, who was quoted in the press release. These grants help to provide the critical financial resources they need to do their work.
Fair housing laws prohibit discrimination against borrowers in any phase of the house hunting process whether that involves renting, buying, borrowing, refinancing, etc. Every year HUD investigates complaints of Fair Housing Act violations, but that isn’t the only effort the agency is involved in to fight such discrimination. That’s one reason for funding initiatives like these. The funding categories, according to the press release, are as follows:
Education and Outreach Initiative grants HUD awards this type of grant “to groups that educate the public and housing providers about their rights and responsibilities under federal law or state and local fair housing laws that are equivalent to the Fair Housing Act.”
Fair Housing Organizations Initiative HUD awards funds in this category “to help build the capacity and effectiveness of non-profit fair housing organizations, particularly organizations that focus on the rights and needs of underserved groups, such as rural and immigrant populations” according to the press release.
Private Enforcement Initiative grants “Total PEI multi-year funding is $29,375,000. However, $22,452,542 has already been reserved for FY 2014 and FY 2015 multi-year grantees, making $6,922,458 available for FY2016 new awardees. This year’s PEI funds also include $975,000 to address lending discrimination”.
This type of funding is provided on a yearly basis, “to support organizations interested in the enforcement of fair housing laws and policies as well as educating the public, housing providers, and local governments about their rights and responsibilities under the Fair Housing Act”.
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http://www.fha.com/fha_loan_limits_widget
Joe Wallace has been specializing in military and personal finance topics since 1995. His work has appeared on Air Force Television News, The Pentagon Channel, ABC and a variety of print and online publications. He is a 13-year Air Force veteran and a member of the Air Force Public Affairs Alumni Association. He was Managing editor for www.valoans.com for (8) years and is currently the Associate Editor for FHANewsblog.com.
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