The Fair Housing Act was signed into law with the intention of providing every person living in America the right to fair and equal housing opportunities. While this law has helped protect millions from unlawful discrimination, we also know that there is still work to do in order for the goal of the Fair Housing Act to be fully realized. This leads us to wonder: How far have we come in terms of advancing fair housing over the past 55 years? What barriers still stand in the way? What fair housing trends are we seeing nationwide? If you’ve read The Fair Housing Center’s 2022 State of Fair Housing in Northeast Ohio report, you might also wonder how local and regional fair housing trends compare to national trends. In order to gain insight on national trends, we can look to the National Fair Housing Alliance’s 2022 Fair Housing Trends Report. This annual report provides a high-level overview of the complex world of housing and lending discrimination in the U.S. And while every community has its own set of unique challenges, many of the fair housing issues we are working to address in Northeast Ohio are certainly not limited to this region of the country.
What fair housing trends are we seeing on a national scale?
Housing discrimination is on the rise. The most important takeaway of NFHA’s report is the significant increase in housing discrimination complaints in 2021, despite the fact that there were fewer agencies reporting complaint data. There were 31,216 housing complaints made in 2021, an 8.7 percent increase from 2020. This increase in complaints is especially significant, considering the fact that there were seven fewer agencies that reported data in 2021 than in 2020. If all fair housing agencies had been able to submit their data, the number of reported fair housing complaints would have surely been even higher. Additionally, because we know that housing discrimination often goes undetected and unreported, the data collected for this report represents only a small portion of the millions of incidents of housing discrimination that take place each year.
When we take a look at the breakdown of complaint data by basis, we see that disability discrimination is reported at the highest rate. This is consistent with local trends, and is likely because incidents of disability discrimination are often the most obvious and easily detectable. Often, folks realize they have experienced housing discrimination based on disability after a reasonable accommodation or modification request is denied. Race discrimination was the second most reported types of housing discrimination, making up 18.97 percent of all complaints. Racial discrimination in housing is pervasive, but is often more subtle and difficult to identify, leaving many incidents unreported. That being said, race-based complaints have risen by a rate of more than two percent from the previous year, an indicator, and reminder, that racism is still very much a problem throughout the U.S. In 2021, there was also an increase in complaints that are not explicitly protected classes, but fall under the “other” category of complaints. These include complaints of discrimination based on source of income, sexual orientation, criminal background, age, domestic violence, and retaliation.
There are a number of factors that have contributed to this troubling increase in discrimination complaints, including the COVID-19 pandemic. However, one major contributor was the Trump administration’s unprecedented attacks on fair housing, fair lending, and civil rights. According to the National Fair Housing Alliance, “The Trump administration took a hatchet to previously established fair housing rules designed to expand more equitable opportunities for underserved groups, and it worked vociferously to defund and displace experts at HUD, DOJ, and CFPB — all agencies with responsibility for enforcing our nation’s fair housing and lending laws.” While there is still a long road ahead, the Biden administration is taking steps to set America on a more equitable path, and fair housing advocates remain committed to continuing the work of advancing fair and equitable housing.
The Trump administration took a hatchet to previously established fair housing rules designed to expand more equitable opportunities for underserved groups, and it worked vociferously to defund and displace experts at HUD, DOJ, and CFPB – all agencies with responsibility for enforcing our nation’s fair housing and lending laws.
National Fair Housing Alliance
Notable fair housing cases
In addition to providing complaint data, the 2022 Trends Report outlines a number of recent fair housing cases, giving us a better understanding of the ways that fair housing law can be used to achieve equitable outcomes. Although these are just a few examples of the many types of housing discrimination, the following cases reveal some of the systemic barriers and challenges that millions of Americans face in the housing market.
Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana v. Old National Bank: Redlining
In a complaint against Old National Bank, the Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana (FHCCI) alleged that Old National Bank was engaged in a pattern and practice of illegal and discriminatory residential mortgage lending. FHCCI reached a settlement agreement with Old National Bank in December 2021, to resolve claims of redlining. As a result of the settlement, Old National Bank agreed to implement a major initiative to increase mortgage lending to Black borrowers and majority-Black neighborhoods in Marion County, Indiana. This agreement includes Old National Bank originating at least $20 million in single family purchase loans in majority-Black neighborhoods in the county over three years, among a number of other actions to correct the damage the has resulted from discriminatory lending practices.
Austin v. Miller: Appraisal Discrimination
In April 2022, Fair Housing Advocates of Northern California (FHANC), Tenisha Tate-Austin, and Paul Austin brought a case against a real estate company and an appraiser, alleging race discrimination in appraisals. The Tate-Austins, a Black couple, decided to refinance their mortgage. The appraiser appraised the home at $995,000, which surprised the Tate-Austins since their home had previously been appraised much higher. The couple suspected that race may have played a part in the shockingly low appraisal, so requested a second appraisal and removed any evidence of their racial identity from their home, replacing family photos with pictures of a white friend’s family. Their white friend agreed to be the only person present in the house when the second appraiser came. The second appraiser valued the home at $1,482,500. FHANC and the individual plaintiffs sued the appraisal management company and the appraiser, alleging that race was a motivating factor in the initial appraisal of the home.
National Fair Housing Alliance v. Fannie Mae: Race/National Origin Discrimination
In February 2022, the National Fair Housing Alliance and 20 local fair housing organizations reached a $53 million agreement with Fannie Mae, formally known as the Federal National Mortgage Association. The agreement resolves a race and national origin lawsuit filed by NFHA and the local organizations in which the plaintiffs alleged that Fannie Mae failed to maintain real estate owned properties (REOs) which it owned as a result of foreclosures in communities of color at the same level of quality as it maintained REOs in predominantly white areas. This lawsuit came after a four-year investigation of more than 2,300 Fannie Mae-owned properties in 39 metropolitan areas. The funds will be used to address community needs, support homeownership opportunities for Black and Latino consumers, and for attorneys’ fees.
Recommendations for the future
In a recent presentation, Darlene English, Associate Vice President of Education & Outreach at NFHA commented on the rise in discrimination complaints being processed by local agencies, saying, “Less people are doing more work, and there hasn’t been an increase in FHIP funding for a while,” — and she’s right. Private fair housing organizations, like The Fair Housing Center, process 72.64% of all fair housing complaints, many doing so with limited staff capacity and resources. Luckily, that could soon change. NFHA published recommendations that fair housing enforcement organizations, local and state civil rights agencies, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) should all receive additional funding and resources, in order to better address all types of housing and lending discrimination. Thanks to the recommendations and advocacy from NFHA, fair housing agencies should expect to see an increase in funding for fiscal year 2023.
In conclusion of their recent report, NFHA stressed the need for fair housing organizations across the country to be adequately resourced, saying, “Housing insecurity and discrimination threaten the well-being of millions of families and people in this nation, and it is imperative that the nation’s fair housing enforcement infrastructure is well resourced to meet community needs.”