ERASE Racism Releases a New Report on the Federal Government's Attempts to Rollback "Civil Rights" Protections in Housing

Civil rights in America are under attack from the federal government, under President Trump's administration, in a way that has not been seen since before the early 1960s. It's a startling reality that requires a new level of monitoring, vigilance, and activism on the part of all Americans who care about civil rights. ERASE Racism is responding to this urgent need by creating a new initiative for Civil Rights Monitoring. We are kicking off this work with a new report "Civil Rights Rollback: U.S. Government Actions to Reduce Civil Rights in Housing and Public Education" which provides an analysis of the federal government's latest efforts to chip away at civil rights in housing and education.

For those only interested in housing, we have created a shortened version of the report that only includes research on civil rights related to housing. We have also created a Civil Rights Tracker for housing, which is designed to help concerned citizens keep track of numerous government activities that deserve to be addressed with our own relentless activism. 

Please Add Your Voice to Oppose HUD's Latest Assault on Fair Housing

HUD has recently proposed a rule that would allow the federal and local governments to relinquish their responsibilities for addressing existing racial segregation in housing.

In a recent editorial "HUD has become an obstacle to fair housing," Elaine Gross and Thomas Silverstein explain:

"Congress's decision to enshrine the duty to affirmatively further fair housing in the Fair Housing Act makes clear that it is not enough for federal agencies and grantees to only respond to acts of housing discrimination. They must proactively further fair housing by stopping discrimination in all its forms and dismantling the racial segregation in housing that is the natural result of housing discrimination based on race."

Click here to read the full article.

This rule makes clear that HUD and Secretary Ben Carson believe that affirmatively furthering fair housing is not necessary. One need look no further than Newsday's recent "Long Island Divided" series, which documented real estate agents' disparate treatment of homebuyers of color, to see that it is.

You can help us take action against this proposed rule!

By law, this proposed change is open to public comment. Please, express your opposition on the Federal Register by the March 16 deadline.

Elaine Gross submitted a comment, which you can see here.

 Thank you for helping to oppose this major step backward.

Submit a Comment >

ERASE Racism Calls on Local, State, and Federal Governments and the Real Estate Industry to Address Widespread Housing Discrimination on Long Island

Elaine Gross, President of ERASE Racism, called today on municipal, county, state, and federal governments as well as the real estate industry to address the widespread housing discrimination on Long Island. New evidence of that discrimination is documented on a massive scale in a three-year investigation by Newsday published on November 17 in a 36-page report: "Long Island Divided." The investigation conducted a region-wide paired-testing initiative, in consultation with the Fair Housing Justice Center, to measure how real estate agents treated minority clients compared to white ones. The report found "evidence of widespread separate and unequal treatment of minority potential homebuyers and minority communities on Long Island." Black testers experienced disparate treatment 49 percent of the time, compared with 39 percent for Hispanics and 19 percent for Asian testers.

ERASE Racism Opposes Proposed HUD Rule That Would Make It More Difficult to Fight Housing Discrimination in Court

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) proposed on August 19th a rule that would undermine enforcement of the Fair Housing Act (FHA) of 1968, which seeks to combat segregation and discrimination – whether it's intentional or not—through Disparate Impact claims. HUD's new proposed rule, whose 60-day comment period runs until mid-October, would undermine Disparate Impact claims – for example, by allowing municipalities and businesses such as banks, realtors, and management companies, to claim that their policies, practices, and activities were not intended to discriminate, and that, therefore, a plaintiff's claim of discrimination is not valid. The fact that their policies are indeed discriminatory would not matter.

ERASE Racism President Elaine Gross describes the important implications of this ruling in this Newsday Op-Ed article. 

Take Action
HUD is currently accepting and considering comments from the public. Please let HUD know that you support fair housing and oppose to the Administration's proposed rule on disparate impact. Voicing our individual and collective opposition to this proposed rule by HUD can make a difference. In order to submit a comment, visit the Federal eRulemaking Portal. Comments are due on October 18, 2019. 

Click here to read Elaine Gross's submitted comment.

Governor Cuomo and Legislative Leaders Announce Measure Prohibiting Discrimination Against Tenants Based on Source of Income

April 26, 2019: The Governor and legislative leaders have issued a press release to highlight the new ban against housing discrimination based on legal sources of income. Elaine Gross, president of ERASE Racism is quoted in the Press Release. ERASE Racism initiated the statewide campaign for the ban that was later co-led by ERASE Racism and three other organizations. Read the full annoucement here. 

Fair Housing Lawsuit in Commack Settles for $230,000

ERASE Racism and the Fair Housing Justice Center announce the successful settlement of their federal housing discrimination lawsuit, which they filed with seven individual plaintiffs against the owner and management company of a Commack apartment complex. The case stemmed from an investigation, jointly funded by ERASE Racism and the Fair Housing Justice Center (FHJC), of the rental procedures at the Mayfair Garden Apartments, a 107-unit apartment complex located in Commack in the Town of Smithtown, Suffolk County. Using testers, the investigation detected significant discrepancies between the welcoming responses received by white testers and the discriminatory actions endured by African American testers who were seeking to rent apartments.

To read more about the case click here.

A copy of the settlement can be found here. 

A copy of the original complaint can be found here.

ERASE Racism Leads Successful Effort to Strengthen Suffolk County Human Rights Bill

After leading the effort in achieving a strengthened fair housing law in Nassau County, which included source of income as a protected class, which took effect in 2007, ERASE Racism, as an organizer of the Housing for All Coalition, is celebrating yet another victory in the pursuit for racial equity and protection of human rights.

On Tuesday, September 10th, 2014, HR 1620 passed the Suffolk County Legislature by a unanimous vote. Advanced by County Executive Steve Bellone, the bill expands the County's Human Rights Law to provide residents meaningful protection from discrimination in areas including housing, employment, credit, and public accommodations. The changes passed in the bill are a step forward for human rights in Suffolk County, benefitting a myriad of residents, including veterans, immigrants, racial and ethnic minorities, single mothers with children, and seniors.

Read the full press release here.

Read President Elaine Gross's Testimony here. 

ERASE Racism's Fair Housing Lawsuit Settles for $165,000

ERASE Racism, along with four other plaintiffs, successfully reached a settlement in a housing discrimination case filed against a Mineola landlord and property manager. The settlement to resolve the lawsuit ERASE Racism, et al. v. LLR Realty LLC, et al. provides $165,000 in damages, attorney's fees, and costs to plaintiffs regarding the rental of apartments at the 75-unit Town House Apartments. The settlement provides for substantial structural changes to the rental operations at the Mineola apartment building. Accordingly, Defendant LLR Realty LLC agreed to adopt and implement non-discrimination policies to prevent future fair housing law violations at the property.

Read the full press release here.

Background Information About the Case and Initial Press Coverage When It Became Public

On Wednesday, August 28, 2013, ERASE Racism, the Fair Housing Justice Center (“FHJC”) and three African American testers filed a lawsuit in federal district court alleging that the owners and managers of an apartment building in the Village of Mineola discriminates against African American renters.   This lawsuit came about after a 2012 investigation, jointly funded and sponsored by ERASE Racism and FHJC, which included sending several teams of comparably qualified African American and white testers posing as prospective renters to inquire about apartments at the 74-unit Town House Apartments located at 225 First Street in the Village of Mineola, a predominantly white community in Nassau County.  According to the lawsuit, an “Apartment for Rent” sign appeared at the entrance of one of the largest rental buildings in Mineola.  Despite the sign, the complaint alleges that the building superintendent discouraged African Americans from renting apartments by misrepresenting the availability of apartments, not showing available apartments, quoting higher rents, and/or suggesting there could be a wait because other people were ahead of them.

Please read the entire press release here.

A copy of the complaint can be found here . 

News Coverage:  Newsday   News12   CBS    Colorlines 

ERASE Racism Files Housing Discrimination Complaint Against Nassau County

On April 28, 2014, ERASE Racism submitted a civil rights complaint to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), alleging that Nassau County (the County) discriminates against African-Americans and perpetuates racial segregation in the administration of its housing and community development programs.  The Complaint identifies violations committed by the County itself, as well as the County’s failure to enforce federal civil rights requirements on members of the Nassau Urban County Consortium.

Click here to read the press release

Click here to read the HUD Administrative Complaint and Supporting Materials