The Housing Center recently released two research reports with findings that the region continues to see historic highs in housing discrimination complaints filed. The State of Fair Housing in Northeast Ohio: April 2013 found a 32% increase in the number of complaints filed in the last 5 years (2008-2012) compared with the previous time period (2003-2007). The Housing Center estimates that there are at least 33,690 instances of housing discrimination annually in the region against African Americans, Hispanics/Latinos, and Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the rental and sales markets, meaning that the vast majority of cases are never reported to a government agency.
The Racial and Ethnics Disparities in Ohio Mortgage Lending report looked at discrimination in the home lending market. Of particular note, in the Cleveland Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), upper‐income African American applicants were denied at a higher rate than low‐income White applicants (28.47% compared to 19.12%). According to Fair Housing Research Associate, Krissie Wells, “This statistic signals a return to the discrimination in mortgage lending industry that we haven’t seen in recent years since the housing crash.”
Read the full reports, and other publications by the Housing Center, on our Publications page.