April 13, 2011
As we’ve mentioned elsewhere in this blog, the FHA and HUD have strict anti-discrimination requirements built in to the FHA loan process. The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in any part of the real estate process, and while the borrower is often the first line of defense in terms of reporting and identifying discriminatory housing practices, the FHA anti-discrimination system works.
But no system is perfect, and the FHA/HUD continuously look for new ways to strengthen the system in order to provide equal credit and housing access to all applicants. The only thing that should determine whether an applicant can buy a home with an FHA-insured mortgage is whether or not the borrower meets FHA and lender qualifications for the loan.
That’s one reason why HUD recently announced a $41million initiative to fund more than 100 fair housing groups and non-profits nationwide, according to HUD press release 11-055, “…to educate the public and combat housing and lending discrimination. Many of the groups will use the grants to address discrimination against immigrants, Latinos, non-native English speakers and minority communities.”
In the last few years, discrimination based on national origin has become a problem in some communities. The FHA and HUD have taken a more aggressive stance against national origin discrimination in housing and lending practices, including making the issue a spotlight feature of National Fair Housing Month during April.
According to the FHA, “The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in rental, sales or home lending transactions based on a person’s national origin. This includes discrimination based on a person’s ancestry, country of birth outside the United States, and the language they speak. National origin discrimination often involves immigrants or non-English speaking individuals, but can also involve native-born U. S. citizens based on their family ancestry.”
Some of the $41 million in grants will go to organizations such as The Fair Housing Council of Riverside County, California which plans to conduct tests “for discrimination in the sale and rental of housing units in the area of national origin”. The money will also be used to investigate existing complaints. The FHA/HUD press release says, “The Equal Rights Center in Washington, DC, will investigate 240 new complaints of housing discrimination alleging violation of federal fair housing laws with an emphasis on national origin”.
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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