– “All New Yorkers deserve fair and equal access to housing” –
Fair housing is the right to choose housing free from 
unlawful discrimination. Fair housing laws, which can be found on the federal, state and local level, all aim to protect people from discrimination in various housing transactions. The history of fair housing has been contentious and the current state of this policy issue remains so. Regardless of what side one is on in this debate, everyone can agree that housing plays a fundamental role in defining a person’s quality of life and even their future success.
– Fair Housing in History–
The concept of fair housing, or the regulation of private housing is one of the most controversial proposals that came out of the 1960’s. At the core, this policy issue affects a major asset of most American families and “triggers both racial and class-based fears of neighborhood deterioration.” Originally, President Kennedy promised on his campaign to sign an executive order against housing discrimination but backed away from it after northern Democrats warned him of the repercussions from white middle class families. Later on, when the Act was passed, George Romney, Secretary of the Housing and Urban Development was one of the strongest advocates of this law and began an initiative named “Open Communities” which attempted to withhold grants from communities that violated the FHA. When President Richard Nixon started to receive complaints from his white supporters in the South and North, he abruptly stopped the initiative. According to a ProPublica investigation, a whole line of presidents have failed to use the billions it gives out in housing grants to create integrated neighborhoods.
When the Fair Housing Act was initially created, a majority of proponents wanted to see blacks and whites living in integrated communities. The race riots of the 1960’s proved to many that black Americans were suffering. Secretary Romney, from his own personal experience as Governor of Michigan during the violent Detroit Riots of 1967 believed that integrated communities were key to reversing decades of discriminatory federal housing policy that left black Americans in poor, suffering cities. Critics of fair housing say that the rule amounts to government outreach in what should be a free housing market. The arguments for and against fair housing has remained relatively the same for the past five decades.
– The Future of Fair Housing Enforcement –
Much of the debate that currently surrounds Fair Housing appears to be going in two directions. The Obama administration promised to reform the broken system with the President himself repeating the slogan that one’s ZIP code should not determine one’s future. However, multiple lawsuits against counties that have failed to live up to its fair housing obligations continue to receive federal housing dollars. With the new Trump administration, advocates of housing equality fear that their progress will be neglected with a new HUD secretary who claimed that the furthering of fair housing regulations was equivalent to “what you see in communist countries.” A decrease in funding for HUD, which is likely to pass with a Republican Congress and President, will impact the ability of housing rights organizations to investigate and bring to court many fair housing cases.
The Fair Housing Justice Center in New York City is a nonprofit organization that brings the majority of housing discrimination cases. CNY Fair Housing is another nonprofit housing rights organization that serves Central and Northern New York. Because of the cuts in federal funding and the general culture of intolerant and prejudicial behavior that seems to be rising in the country, many housing rights organizations that serve New Yorkers, including NYCHA residents, are afraid that fair housing efforts will begin to be scaled back.
Since the beginning of Congress’s session, multiple bills have already been introduced to gut fair housing enforcement. Congressman Paul Gosar introduced the Local Zoning Decisions Protection Act of 2017 which would dismantle a HUD database allowing communities to examine racial and socioeconomic disparities in their neighborhoods. If laws like these are coupled with massive budget cuts to HUD, the ability of fair housing enforcement officials to combat discrimination drastically decreases. Although fair housing has historically been a low priority for both Democrat and Republican administrations, the coming years can very well determine the future of fair housing.
NYCHA is committed to ensuring equal housing opportunities for all residents and applicants. The housing authority has a detailed plan on their response to housing discrimination.
New York City is also committed to prohibiting discrimination in private and public housing, land, and commercial spaces. The NYC Commission on Human Rights and the NYC Department of Housing Preservation & Development (HPD) held their 5th Annual Fair Housing Symposium on April 27th, 2017, to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the NYC Fair Housing Law.
