FAIR HOUSING ACT OF 1968 Civil Rights Act of 1968 Title VIII Yolanda Ho Yun Su Kang Miyoung Oh PBAF 560 April 26, 2012

Fair Housing Act of 1968April 26, 2012 Background 1866: Civil Rights Act 1950s: Racial and class segregation - African American migration - FHA(Federal Housing Association) - HOLC(Home Owners Loan Corporation) - Redlining 1960s: Government takes steps to create Fair Housing - President Kennedy issues Executive Order Civil Rights Act(VI) Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. ( ) : Civil Rights Act signed into law, including the Fair Housing Act (Title VIII)

Fair Housing Act of 1968April 26, 2012 Fair Housing Act of 1968 (Civil Rights Act of 1968 Title VIII) Prohibited discrimination concerning the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race, religion, national origin, sex Created system for addressing housing discrimination complaints through HUD, which investigates and attempts to reach conciliation If no agreement is possible, case is referred onto the Department of Justice Covered 80% of the nation’s 70 million housing units

Fair Housing Act of 1968April 26, 2012 Stakeholders - Supporters President Lyndon B. Johnson Martin Luther King, Jr. Senators Edward Brooke (first African-American elected to Senate) and Edward Kennedy Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach, considered Fair Housing Act to be “absolutely essential” to wipe out racial ghettos NAACP GI Forum National Committee Against Discrimination In Housing

Fair Housing Act of 1968April 26, 2012 Stakeholders - Opponents National Association of Homebuilders National Association of Real Estate Boards Real estate agents and homeowners concerned with property values Members of Congress – opposed integration and fair housing on the basis of individual rights

Fair Housing Act of 1968April 26, 2012 Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 Expand prohibition of discrimination based on disability or family status Required accessible units and reasonable accommodation for disabled Increased civil penalties and allowed for punitive damage awards New enforcement procedures within HUD - complaints could be made through various agencies

Fair Housing Act of 1968April 26, 2012 Policy Successes Fair Housing Act of 1968April 26, 2012 Successfully diminished explicitly racist and discriminatory housing practices on a national level Created a formalized complaint process at no cost to the complainant Provided funds for legal fees for those unable to pay Department of Justice (DOJ) granted the power to bring lawsuits under the Act

Fair Housing Act of 1968April 26, 2012 Policy Failures Fair Housing Act of 1968April 26, 2012 Did not end racial segregation in cities Lacked enforcement powers, permitting HUD to only investigate and seek conciliation Exempted single-family houses that were not sold by a realtor as well as multi-family dwellings with fewer than four units Failed to address larger patterns of segregation or produce more integrated neighborhoods Problems with enforcement by HUD

Fair Housing Act of 1968April 26, 2012Fair Housing Act of 1968April 26, 2012 Though not perfect, it provided an important foundation to be supported by later legislation Enforcement mechanisms critical for implementation Federal level regulation for fair housing is necessary, but insufficient Lessons Learned

Fair Housing Act of 1968April 26, 2012 Fair Housing Today Fair Housing Act of 1968April 26, 2012

Fair Housing Act of 1968April 26, 2012Fair Housing Act of 1968April 26, 2012 Fair Housing Today FY Year Number of complaints Bases of HUD and FHAP Complaints (FY 2007-FY 2010)

Fair Housing Act of 1968April 26, 2012Fair Housing Act of 1968April 26, 2012 Fair Housing Today

Fair Housing Act of 1968April 26, 2012 Impediments to Fair Housing is Continuing Housing market discrimination 1)Price discrimination 2)Exclusion 3)Steering; inspecting homes with clients, recommending homes to clients from the multiple listing service, editorializing 4)By by altering the perceived desirability of particular neighborhoods  House-owners fear a decrease in property value if they rented space to African-American Current Situation

Fair Housing Act of 1968April 26, 2012 Retiring the city-suburb disparity No longer a clear city-suburban dichotomy 1)the suburbs are becoming more polarized between high-and low-income neighborhoods. 2)three out of four people living in neighborhoods of concentrated poverty were black or Latino 3)The suburbs themselves are segregating into the “favored quarter” suburbs and poorer, resource constrained suburbs  As a result, segregation by race is giving way to segregation by income Current Situation

Fair Housing Act of 1968April 26, 2012 Predatory Lending and foreclosure crisis Most affected by the current foreclosure wave are minority homebuyers  Minorities were particularly vulnerable to predatory lending practices.  In 2006, 52.44% of African Americans received loans that were subprime, compared to 22.2% of white non- Hispanic families. As recovering from the financial and mortgage crises, minorities still continue to bear a disproportionate share of the economic harm. Current Situation

Fair Housing Act of 1968April 26, 2012 Thank you