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111-758: In 2022, about 2.3 million out of the 5.2 million households receiving rental assistance used Section 8 vouchers. While landlord participation is voluntary, some states and municipalities have laws preventing income-based discrimination. Voucher amounts vary depending on city or county, size of unit, and other factors. Voucher recipients typically have 2 to 4 months to secure housing that meets HUD standards; otherwise, they lose their vouchers and must reapply. Wait lists for vouchers can be very long, ranging from 10 to 20 years, with many local programs closed to new applicants. Voucher amounts are based on Fair Market Rents (FMRs) set by HUD. The recently introduced Small Area Fair Market Rents (SAFMRs) program refines these calculations to

222-462: A contract lawsuit , the lessor could collect the rental value of the premises from the saloon lessee ( tenant ) who had violated a lease. Usable value is not the same as rental value, but is equivalent, and has been used in a condemnation proceeding. Rental value can also be used in a divorce , separation , or annulment action for equitable distribution , in those states lacking Community property laws. Fair Market Rent in

333-422: A comparable non-minority." Consumer advocate groups conducted studies and found that many minority borrowers who were eligible for affordable, traditional loans were often steered toward incredibly high-priced subprime loans that they would never be able to repay. The Fair Housing Act forbids discrimination based on disability status. That means a landlord cannot reject someone for housing for being disabled, and

444-446: A complaint with FHEO at no charge. FHEO funds and has working agreements with many state and local governmental agencies where "substantially equivalent" fair housing laws are in place. Under these agreements, FHEO refers complaints to the state or locality where the alleged incident occurred, and those agencies investigate and process the case instead of FHEO. This is known as FHEO's Fair Housing Assistance Program (or " FHAP "). There

555-404: A daily basis may transition to more accepting neighborhoods. After Brown v. Board of Education , many white families took advantage of the growing highway system and suburbanization to leave cities to avoid integrated schools, which became known as White flight . White flight was facilitated by FHA policies such as race-restricted deeds and zoning, as well as by blockbusting . This led to what

666-508: A growing trend toward discrimination in the housing market against those who identify themselves as gay , lesbian , or transgender . Since housing discrimination based on sexual orientation was not explicitly cited in the Fair Housing Act , as of 2007, it was banned in only 17 states. In all states, same-sex couples are frequently unable to apply to public housing as a family unit, thus decreasing their chances at being accepted into

777-735: A heat map of crime created by Richard Janikowski and Phyllis Betts who is reported to have said they were "[...] amazed – and deflated – to see how perfectly the two data sets fit together." Janikowski and Betts later disavowed any connection between housing vouchers and increases in crime in the area in a later letter to the editor of the Atlantic. Rosin failed to mention that there was a consistent decrease and increase in crime from inner cities to inner-ring suburbs across most metropolitan areas due to shifting populations. Anrig argues that economic factors are more likely responsible for Memphis's increase in crime, as male unemployment almost doubled between

888-517: A higher school dropout rate. Schools are often segregated due to the effects of housing discrimination and residential segregation, in turn hindering students' educational performance. Schools with a high proportion of disadvantaged students, such as schools in segregated areas, have worse educational outcomes that are compounded by other disparities, such as differences in parental education, local crime, access to healthcare, and extracurricular opportunities. These differences and their impacts are known as

999-406: A home or being shown fewer, lower-quality units. A meta-analysis of housing discrimination by race/ethnicity published in 2020 found that discrimination is still prevalent but has declined in recent decades. Sociologists have found that housing discrimination also extends to roommate selection. Contrary to common misconception , the correlation between racial makeup and house price has risen over

1110-708: A house or an apartment because of gender identity." On January 30, 2012, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan announced new regulations that would require all housing providers that receive HUD funding to prevent housing discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity . These regulations went into effect on March 5, 2012. Ethnic and racial minorities are impacted the most by housing discrimination. Exclusionary discrimination against African Americans most often occurs in rental markets and sales markets. Families are vulnerable to exclusion, but African American women are especially overrepresented as victims, especially single African American mothers. This discriminatory exclusion

1221-404: A landlord is able to accept for rent of a unit to a Section 8 voucher recipient. FMRs are gross rental rates and dictate the maximum rental rate to be agreed upon in a lease document. The calculation of FMRs is based on a standard quality rent from the five year American Community Survey , as well as a recent mover adjustment, which is the relationship between the standard quality for five years and

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1332-555: A lawsuit with the National Fair Housing Alliance, Facebook agreed to create a separate portal for housing, employment, and credit (HEC) advertising with limited targeting options by September 2019, and to provide a public archive of all HEC advertising. Less than two weeks later, HUD filed a lawsuit against Facebook, formally accusing the company of facilitating housing discrimination. Housing discrimination focuses more on race, but recent studies have shown

1443-547: A measure of housing discrimination. HUD's disparate impact rule was strengthened in 2013 and upheld in a court case in 2015. However, in 2020, HUD issued its final disparate impact rule, which shifted the burden of proof of discrimination to the victims of housing discrimination. In 1968, the Kerner Commission report was released, which called for investment in housing to reduce residential segregation. The federal government has passed other initiatives in addition to

1554-421: A more recent U.S. Census Bureau study in 2002, the average white person living in a metropolitan area lives in a neighborhood that is 80 percent white and seven percent black, while the average African American lives in a neighborhood that is 33 percent white and more than 51 percent black. As of 2000, 75 percent of all African Americans lived in highly segregated communities, making them the most segregated group in

1665-766: A particular area who receive a voucher from the jurisdiction in which they live may use the voucher anywhere in the country, but nonresidents of the jurisdiction must live in the jurisdiction that issues the voucher to them for 12 months before they can move to a different area. In many localities, the PHA waiting lists for Section 8 vouchers may be thousands of households long, waits of three to six years to obtain vouchers are common, and many lists are closed to new applicants. Wait lists are often briefly opened (often for just five days), which may occur as little as once every seven years. To manage excess demand, PHAs often create preference policies that place specific categories of applicants at

1776-596: A particular community. As an example, the 2012 FMR for 1 bedroom housing in San Francisco is $ 1,522 and in New York is $ 1,280, while in many other places it is less than $ 500. The landlord cannot charge a Section 8 tenant more than a reasonable rent and cannot accept payments outside the contract. Landlords, although required to meet fair housing laws, are not required to participate in the Section 8 program. As

1887-559: A realtor or landlord, and their treatment by the landlord or agent is compared. Paired tests have found that realtors show white families more apartments and households than Black or Latino families. There have been a number of solutions proposed to finally end the threat of housing discrimination and eliminate any legal loopholes in which it may operate. So far fair housing enforcement of federal legislation concerning housing discrimination has faced challenges. The main burden of enforcement falls on federal financial regulatory institutions, like

1998-503: A resident with a disability is entitled to reasonable accommodations . It defines a person with a disability as "Any person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities; has a record of such impairment; or is regarded as having such an impairment." The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 also forbids discrimination against people with disabilities by public entities or programs, such as public housing . Research has shown that there

2109-460: A result of housing discrimination, as housing discrimination acts as a barrier to homeownership. Other scholars have argued that African American homeowners and renters were exploited for profit as they often paid higher prices for their houses and apartments than those in surrounding white neighborhoods. This "race tax" has contributed to wealth disparities as it hindered wealth accumulation. Homeowners may learn management and home repair skills, and

2220-539: A result, some landlords will not accept a Section 8 tenant. This can be attributed to such factors as: Depending on state laws, refusing to rent to a tenant solely for the reason that they have Section 8 may be illegal. Landlords can use only general means of disqualifying a tenant (credit, criminal history, past evictions , etc.). It also may be illegal to post "No Section 8" advertisements. However, other landlords willingly accept Section 8 tenants, due to: Whether voucher- or project-based, all subsidized units must meet

2331-483: A single price. The producer lacks knowledge concerning the relationship between an individual’s willingness-to-pay and quantity. This means the producer cannot price discriminate according to the consumer’s demand marginality. In this example the buyer has achieved a beneficial rent. If the seller were to discover the buyers willingness-to-pay at different quantities, the seller could maximize their profit by selling quantities at different prices. In most situations this

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2442-563: A sociologist who has studied housing discrimination, argues that it is something perhaps most concretely evidenced by its effects: concentrated poverty . People who suffer from housing discrimination often live in lower-quality housing. Housing inequalities often reflect the unequal distribution of income. Poor areas suffer from educational disparities, and a poor education translates into earnings disparities. Those who earn less can only afford lower-quality housing. Segregation, health risks, and wealth disparities all relate to poverty. According to

2553-799: A study in the Journal of Economics, homeownership rates for Asian American and Hispanic minorities are negatively impacted by an immigrant status. Thus, their homeownership rates are lower than other demographic groups even when factors like income are accounted for. Perhaps the most unmistakable consequence of housing discrimination is residential segregation . Housing discrimination helps reinforce residential segregation through mortgage discrimination , redlining, and predatory lending practices. Racial avoidance and threats of violence also result in racial segregation. Housing discrimination can also impact minority preferences over time, as individuals or families experiencing harassment and intimidation at their home on

2664-481: A system of administrative law judges to hear cases brought to them by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and to levy fines. Because of the relationship between housing discrimination cases and private agencies, the federal government passed the two initiatives. The Fair Housing Assistance Program of 1984 was passed to assist public agencies with processing complaints, and

2775-427: A voucher find and lease a unit (either in a specified complex or in the private sector) and pay a portion of the rent. Most households pay 30% of their adjusted income for Section 8 housing. Adjusted income is a household's gross (total) income minus deductions for dependents under 18 years of age, full-time students, disabled persons, or an elderly household, and certain disability assistance and medical expenses. There

2886-523: A way to stop the spread of African Americans into white neighborhoods. In 1926, racially restrictive covenants were upheld by the Supreme Court case Corrigan v. Buckley . After this ruling, these covenants became popular across the country as a way to guarantee white, homogeneous neighborhoods. In Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co. in 1926, the Supreme Court also upheld exclusionary zoning . Fifteen state courts obeyed ordinances that enforced

2997-500: Is achieved by slightly lowering the price as more products are bought. In this example the seller achieves a beneficial rent. Economic theories suggest that a free market would correct itself of rents. Considering the producer surplus example, if the gradual discounting of prices also attracted more consumers, the producer would have to re-evaluate their strategy. Often, consumers have different willingness’-to-pay for goods. Following this assumption, profit would not be maximized because

3108-549: Is also a network of private, non-profit fair housing advocacy organizations throughout the country. Some are funded by FHEO's Fair Housing Initiatives Program (or " FHIP "), and some operate with private donations or grants from other sources. However, victims of housing discrimination need not go through HUD or any other governmental agency to pursue their rights. The Fair Housing Act confers jurisdiction to hear cases on federal district courts. The United States Department of Justice also has jurisdiction to file cases on behalf of

3219-422: Is an asset test in addition to earned income. Over a certain amount, HUD will add income even if the Section 8 tenant does not receive any interest income from, for example, a bank account. HUD calls this "imputed income from assets" and, in the case of a bank account, HUD establishes a standard "Passbook Savings Rate" to calculate the imputed income from the asset. By increasing the amount of a tenant's total income,

3330-413: Is because of stereotypes concerning race and single women. The presence of children in a minority family at times is what warrants the discrimination. African Americans are also the victims in most non-exclusionary cases, with African American women still overrepresented. Non-exclusionary forms of discrimination such as racial slurs and intimidation affect many minority victims. Some racial minorities suffer

3441-518: Is determined by Congressional funding. Since its inception, some Section 8 programs have been phased out and new ones created, although Congress has always renewed existing subsidies. The 2008 Consolidated Appropriations Act (Public Law 110-161) enacted December 26, 2007, allocated $ 75 million in funding for the HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) voucher program, authorized under section 8(o)(19) of

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3552-423: Is discrimination against those who use wheelchairs and those who are deaf in the rental housing market. This study found that many landlords and housing providers are not fully aware of their obligations to provide accessible housing or of the accessibility of their properties. A 2010 HUD study found evidence of housing discrimination against those with mental disabilities. The researchers of these studies emphasized

3663-455: Is known as urban decay , and the achievement gap between inner-city and suburban schools widened. According to the U.S. Census of Population in 1990, 25.3 percent of all Anglo-Americans in the U.S. lived in central city areas. The percentage of African Americans living in inner cities was 56.9 percent, and the percentage of inner city Hispanics was 51.5 percent. Asian Americans living in central cities totaled 46.3 percent. According to

3774-570: Is less wealth to hand down. Sociologist Douglas Massey argues that housing discrimination is a moving target. As federal legislation concerning anti-housing discrimination policies become more effective, new forms of housing discrimination have emerged to perpetuate residential segregation, and in turn, poverty. The Urban Institute and other policy experts have called for more paired testing research in order to expose current housing discrimination. Paired testing research would involve sending two separate applicants who are similar except for race to

3885-472: Is limited to a specific apartment complex ( public housing agencies (PHAs) may reserve up to 20% of its vouchers as such)—or "tenant-based", where the tenant is free to choose a unit in the private sector, is not limited to specific complexes, and may reside anywhere in the United States (or Puerto Rico) where a PHA operates a Section 8 program. Under the voucher program, individuals or families with

3996-756: Is now limited. John Yinger argued that discriminatory housing practices in the housing market have led to segregation, citing examples such as realtors opting to place public housing in crowded inner city minority neighborhoods instead of neighborhoods with an Anglo majority due to "public and political pressure." Other housing phenomena that Yinger argues encourage segregation are those of sorting and bidding , in which bidders perceived to be higher-class win out on cheaper per-square-foot, larger homes farther away from inner cities. Quasi-experimental audit studies , in which equally qualified individuals of different races both participate in housing searches, have found strong evidence of racial housing discrimination in

4107-403: Is one of the United States' largest federal civil rights agencies. It has a staff of more than 600 people located in 54 offices around the United States. As of June 2014, the head of FHEO is Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity Gustavo Velasquez , whose appointment was confirmed on June 19, 2014. Individuals who believe they have experienced housing discrimination can file

4218-408: Is optimized to favor demographics that are the most likely to interact with an ad, even if they are not explicitly specified by the advertiser. After an investigation by ProPublica , Facebook removed the ability for housing advertisers to target ads based on a user's "affinity" to a specific culture or ethnicity, a behavior that is calculated based on the user's interactions on the service. However, it

4329-407: Is seeking to rent or buy housing, while non-exclusionary refers to discriminatory treatment within one's current housing. Certain policies that do not explicitly discriminate have also been found to cause housing discrimination in the United States. Disparate impact is a facially neutral housing policy that negatively impacts minorities or other protected groups of people. The Supreme Court upheld

4440-413: Is the fair market value of property while rented out in a lease . More generally, it may be the consideration paid under the lease for the right to occupy, or the royalties or return received by a lessor ( landlord ) under a license to real property . In the science and art of appraisal , it is the amount that would be paid for rental of similar real property in the same condition and in

4551-506: Is to foster self-sufficiency for those who are on subsidies and disability and other assistance. Howard Husock , vice president for policy research at the conservative Manhattan Institute , heavily criticized Section 8 in a 2003 book on housing policy as a vehicle for exporting inner city social problems to the suburbs. Hanna Rosin , an American journalist, has argued that Section 8 has led to crime being more evenly spread out across U.S. metropolitan areas , without any net decrease. This

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4662-694: The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990). In certain circumstances, the law allows limited exceptions for discrimination based on sex, religion, or familial status. The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development is the federal executive department with the statutory authority to administer and enforce the Fair Housing Act. The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development has delegated fair housing enforcement and compliance activities to HUD's Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO) and HUD's Office of General Counsel. FHEO

4773-407: The Fair Housing Act of 1968 . The Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974 and Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 helped with discrimination in mortgage lending and lenders' problems with credit needs. The Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 was passed to give the federal government the power to enforce the original Fair Housing Act to correct past problems with enforcement. The amendment established

4884-560: The Federal Reserve Board , and the HUD. The enforcement provisions of the Fair Housing Act of 1968 were limited, and even though the act was amended in 1988, there are still problems with enforcement since housing discrimination often happens one-on-one and is not very visible, even in audits. The Fair Housing Amendment Act of 1988 did make a system of administrative law judges to hear housing discrimination cases to help against

4995-591: The achievement gap. A study conducted by the Century Foundation in Montgomery County, Md., showed that students from a low-income background enrolled in affluent schools did better than students in higher-poverty schools. Criminal activity, including gang life and drug abuse, is also more prevalent in poorer areas. The rate of teenage pregnancy has been shown to increase in these areas as well. Urban, low-income schools are often contributors to

5106-496: The assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. The Fair Housing Act introduced meaningful federal enforcement mechanisms. It outlawed: When the Fair Housing Act was first enacted, it prohibited discrimination only on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. In 1988, disability and familial status (the presence or anticipated presence of children under 18 in a household) were added (further codified in

5217-461: The market or model is in equilibrium and it is advantages for an individual to take part in trading activities rather than not participate, considering profit or utility can be achieved. Two separate but ideally identical exchange scenarios may occur but may have completely different values calculated. This is explained by two classic examples, a consumer achieves a surplus or profit when buying goods if they are able to buy all quantities at

5328-645: The urban heat island effect. The differences in temperature contribute to health disparities and premature heat-related deaths. Neighborhood effects are also seen due to housing discrimination and residential segregation. The housing inequality that comes with living in lower-quality housing means that neighborhood amenities are lacking. Education policy is intrinsically connected to housing policy as integration of schools requires integration of neighborhoods. Educational inequalities exist between wealthier and poorer areas. Poorer areas typically offer worse education, leading to educational and employment disadvantages and

5439-473: The zip code level in major metropolitan areas. Federal housing assistance programs started during the Great Depression . In the 1960s and 1970s, the federal government created subsidy programs to increase the production of low-income housing and to help families pay their rent. In 1965, the Section 236 Leased Housing Program amended the U.S. Housing Act. This subsidy program, the predecessor to

5550-468: The 1970s, when studies showed that the worst housing problem afflicting low-income people was no longer substandard housing, but the high percentage of income spent on housing, Congress passed the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 , further amending the U.S. Housing Act of 1937 to create the Section 8 Program. In the Section 8 Program, tenants pay about 30 percent of their income for rent, while

5661-648: The Department of Housing and Urban Development the power of enforcement, but the enforcement mechanisms were weak. The Fair Housing Act has been strengthened since its adoption in 1968, but enforcement continues to be a concern among housing advocates. According to a 2010 evaluation of Analysis of Impediments (AI) reports done by the Government Accountability Office, enforcement is particularly inconsistent across local jurisdictions. There have been calls for HUD to use disparate impact as

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5772-612: The Department of Justice show that municipalities and other local government entities violated the Fair Housing Act of 1968 when they denied African Americans housing, permits, and zoning changes, or steered them toward neighborhoods with a predominantly minority population. A study conducted by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) found that, "The greatest share of discrimination for Hispanic and African American home seekers can still be attributed to being told units are unavailable when they are available to non-Hispanic whites and being shown and told about less units than

5883-470: The FHA, developers established deed restrictions to maintain white neighborhoods. The GI bill allowed many veterans to become homeowners, leading to a housing boom. However, this bill did not support Black veterans in the same way because mortgages and loans were not provided by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs but by private mortgage lenders who often discriminated through redlining. Levittown

5994-591: The Fair Housing Act that also outlaw housing discrimination based on the source of funding, particularly to combat landlords who openly refuse to serve tenants using Section 8 vouchers. Housing vouchers have been promoted as a way to provide affordable housing for low-income households and promote housing choice. However, studies have found that using vouchers is a difficult and discouraging process as many landlords refuse vouchers. The United States Census has shown that ethnic and racial minorities living in concentrated, high-poverty areas had actually increased following

6105-478: The Fair Housing Initiatives program of 1986 supported private and public fair housing agencies in their activities, such as auditing. Between 1990 and 2001, these two programs have resulted in over one thousand housing discrimination lawsuits and over $ 155 million in financial recovery. However, the lawsuits and financial recoveries generated from fair housing discrimination cases only scratches

6216-467: The HQS, thus ensuring that the family has a healthy and safe place to live. This improvement in the landlord's private property is an important byproduct of this program, both for the individual families and for the larger goal of community development. Applicants may apply for a Section 8 housing voucher at any county or city housing authority office. Although rules vary across housing authorities, residents of

6327-751: The South, more subtle discriminatory practices were implemented in the North. Between 1900 and 1920, there was growth in the African American population, many of whom migrated to the North as part of the Great Migration . This led to a reaction by whites in Northern cities, fueling housing discrimination and residential segregation, which had previously not been as visible. Institutional tools such as zoning and racially restricted covenants were used as

6438-464: The Summer of 2001 that examines the effects of housing placement specialists on the Section 8 voucher program. Marr finds that housing placement specialists function as an intermediary between tenants and landlords that help increase the mobility of Section 8 voucher recipients. Tight rental markets can pose a challenge to Section 8 voucher recipients. Marr finds, through observations and interviews, that

6549-636: The US context is the amount of money that a given property would command, if it were open for leasing at the moment. Fair market rent is an important concept both in the Housing and Urban Development 's ability to determine how much of the rent is covered by the government for those tenants who are part of Section 8 , as well as by other governmental institutions. Fair market rent is sometimes used by appraisal districts to determine tax rates. U.S. HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R) publishes Fair Market Rents and Income Limits (respectively,

6660-551: The United States Housing Act of 1937. This new program combines HUD Housing Choice Voucher rental assistance for homeless veterans with case management and clinical service support which is provided by the Veterans Affairs administration at its own medical centers and also in the community. The main Section 8 program involves the voucher program. A voucher may be either "project-based"—where its use

6771-543: The United States where there is a pattern and practice of discrimination or where HUD has found discrimination in a case and either party elects to go to federal court instead of continuing in the HUD administrative process. The Fair Housing Act applies to landlords renting or leasing space in their primary residence only if the residence contains living quarters occupied or intended to be occupied by three or more other families living independently of each other, such as an owner-occupied rooming house. The Fair Housing Act gave

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6882-690: The United States. In a comprehensive study by the HUD in 2000, paired-tests (in which two applicants of different races but the same economic status and credit scores apply to rent or buy a house) were used to determine whether or not statistics about segregation truly pointed to housing discrimination. This study reported that although adverse treatment of racial and ethnic minorities has decreased over time, roughly 25 percent of white applicants were still favored above those who were African-American or Hispanic. About 17 percent of African American applicants and 20 percent of Hispanic applicants were subjected to adverse treatment, including receiving less information about

6993-608: The agreement with the private landlord, housing authorities agreed to perform regular building maintenance and leasing functions for Section 236 tenants, and annually reviewed the tenant's income for program eligibility and rent calculations. The Housing and Urban Development Act of 1970 introduced the federal Experimental Housing Allowance Program (EHAP) and the Community Development Corporation and authorized larger outlays for housing subsidy programs and rent supplements for moderate-income households. In

7104-465: The amount of imputed income from assets may affect a tenant's assigned portion of rent. The PHA pays the landlord the remainder of the rent. Each year, the federal government looks at the rents being charged for privately owned apartments in different communities, as well as the costs of utilities (heat, electricity, etc.) in those communities. The Fair Market Rents (FMRs) are amounts (rents plus utilities) for medium-quality apartments of different sizes in

7215-418: The basis for how much program administrators will subsidize housing units, and the maximum incomes that tenants may not exceed in order to qualify for subsidized housing) on an annual basis. These figures vary throughout the country based on a number of determining factors, such as local economic conditions and housing demand. Fair housing Housing discrimination in the United States refers to

7326-543: The chance to leave, families still received modest academic and psychological benefits. In fact, according to a paper prepared for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Office of Policy Development and Research rather than an increasing crime, those who use housing vouchers are more likely to move into areas where crime is increasing. Matthew Marr published a study of the Los Angeles housing market in

7437-557: The children of homeowners are less likely to drop out of high school or to have children as teenagers. Additionally, credit constraints limit homeownership for people with low income. Housing discrimination that keeps families from affordable loans and nicer areas with increasing property values keep victims from accumulating wealth. Residential segregation also leads to generational wealth disparities. Children often inherit wealth from their parents, and if parents were forced into poor-quality housing because of housing discrimination, then there

7548-459: The concentration of voucher recipients in a given metropolitan area. While the program was originally intended to be mandatory for several metropolitan areas immediately, the requirement for the use of SAFRMs was delayed to October 1, 2019. SAFMRs can now be found through the HUD database . The implementation of this program follows a demonstration project coordinated by HUD in 2010. The project included

7659-499: The covenants were later made illegal in 1948, they were still allowed to be in private deeds. The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) was responsible for much of the housing discrimination in the US due to explicit racially discriminatory policies. The FHA believed allowing Black Americans to live in white neighborhood would decrease the property value. This justification, however, was disproven as Black Americans were willing to pay higher prices to live in those neighborhoods. The FHA

7770-587: The decades long practice of holding housing providers liable for housing discrimination under a disparate impact theory in 2015. Following the Supreme Court decision, HUD issued an opinion from their Office of General Counsel concluding that blanket prohibitions against tenants with criminal convictions would constitute disparate impact housing discrimination because some people are psychologically more likely to be criminals. Disparate impact remains controversial among industry and business professionals because some feel that their freedom in implementing policies and rules

7881-528: The denial of housing to African American and other minority groups in white-zoned areas. In the 1917 Supreme Court case Buchanan v. Warley , the court ruled that a Louisville, Kentucky ordinance prohibiting blacks from owning or occupying buildings in a majority-white neighborhood, and vice versa, was unconstitutional. Following this decision, however, nineteen states began legally supporting " covenants ," or agreements, between property owners to not rent or sell any homes to racial or ethnic minorities. Although

7992-482: The end of redlining and more explicitly discriminatory practices, "predatory inclusion" began. Housing and Urban Development and Federal Housing Authority officials encouraged the spread of homeownership among low-income African Americans. There was an emphasis on a "public-private partnership," and the private sector was seen as the way to end the housing crisis. However, the terms of mortgages and loans were at much worse rates than those for white households. Furthermore,

8103-525: The federal government as well as local governments continued to be directly responsible for housing discrimination through redlining and race-restricted covenants until the Civil Rights Act of 1968 . This Act included legislation known as the Fair Housing Act , which made it unlawful for a landlord to discriminate against or prefer a potential tenant based on their race, color, religion, gender, or national origin, when advertising or negotiating

8214-776: The following Public Housing Authorities (PHAs): The Housing Authority of the County of Cook (IL), the City of Long Beach (CA) Housing Authority, the Chattanooga (TN) Housing Authority, the Town of Mamaroneck (NY) Housing Authority, and the Housing Authority of Laredo (TX). An early report states that the effects of this program need to be analyzed over a long period of time before determining results. Vincent Reina, Arthur Acolin, and Raphael W. Bostic published an early examination of

8325-641: The historical and current barriers, policies, and biases that prevent equitable access to housing. Housing discrimination became more pronounced after the abolition of slavery in 1865, typically as part of Jim Crow laws that enforced racial segregation . The federal government didn't begin to take action against these laws until 1917, when the Supreme Court struck down ordinances prohibiting African-Americans from occupying or owning buildings in majority-white neighborhoods in Buchanan v. Warley . However,

8436-446: The houses were often in poor conditions. Mortgage banks were unregulated and sought out individuals determined as high risk because their mortgages would be backed by the FHA. Thus, loan defaults and foreclosures created profit for mortgage banks at the expense of African American homeowners. There are two types of housing discrimination : exclusionary and non-exclusionary. Exclusionary refers to limiting one's access to housing while one

8547-790: The illegal actions. Other examples of federal legislation may include increased federal legislation enforcement, scattered-site housing, or state and local enforcement on a more concentrated level. Better methods of enforcement in addition to new policies are proposed to be a help. In 2010 the Justice Department under President Barack Obama made a new fair-lending unit. Inclusionary remedies to truly enforce integration are also proposed. Inclusionary housing refers to making sure that areas are integrated, and inclusionary housing increases chances for racial minorities to gain and sustain employment. Recently Montgomery County, Md., passed an ordinance to require new housing developments to consist of

8658-533: The implementation of the program. There is a provision for disabled people who have a Section 8 subsidized dwelling to have their rent frozen for a specified time if they are working part-time below a certain income level. This is called the Earned Income Disallowance or Earned Income Disregard (EID) and is stipulated under US 24 CFR 5.617, "Self-sufficiency incentives for persons with disabilities—Disallowance of increase in annual income". This

8769-523: The landlord. FMRs can be found using HUD's Database . The Small Area Fair Market Rents Program (SAFMRP) was officially implemented by HUD in January 2017. This system is an update to the system HUD uses to calculate Fair Market Rents (FMRs) in metropolitan areas. The purpose is to examine metropolitan area FMRs by ZIP code, as opposed to in total. HUD stated that this program is aimed to allow voucher recipients to move into higher opportunity areas and reduce

8880-419: The modern program, was not a pure housing allowance program. Housing authorities selected eligible families from their waiting list, placed them in housing from a master list of available units, and determined the rent that tenants would have to pay. The housing authority would then sign a lease with the private landlord and pay the difference between the tenant's rent and the market rate for the same size unit. In

8991-532: The nation. These statistics do not necessarily point to evidence of housing discrimination, but rather to segregation based on historical reasons which have made ethnic and racial minorities more economically deprived, and thus prone to living in more poverty-stricken inner city areas. Housing discrimination has contributed to environmental racism , which refers to how communities of color suffer from disproportionate exposure to toxins and other health risks. Those suffering housing discrimination and people living below

9102-450: The need for increase paired testing for discrimination in the housing market. Research on discrimination in the rental housing market has uncovered gender biases. A meta-analysis of 25 separate correspondence studies done by the Journal of Housing Economics found that applicants with minority and male-sounding names are discriminated against in the rental housing market even under the same circumstances and with all else equal. John Yinger,

9213-489: The new SAFMRP in 2019. This study finds varied results in the SAFMRP based on different metropolitan areas. Two areas of note are the highest performing city in the study and the lowest, Dallas, TX, and Chattanooga, TN, respectively. The authors argue that Dallas performed well with the SAFMRP because the city was required by court order to implement the program, and the program has been in place for longer than all other cities in

9324-452: The one year recent mover rents. FMRs also include a CPI adjustment and a trend factor adjustment. The trend factor adjustment is how HUD expects rental rates to grow. FMRs include all major utilities (heat, electricity, etc.), but does not include telephone, cable, satellite television, or internet service. Utilities are included in FMRs whether the obligation of payment is under the tenant or

9435-418: The passage of the Fair Housing Act from 1970 to 1990. African-Americans residing in these areas rose from 16 percent to 24 percent, and Hispanics living in these areas have increased from 10 percent to 15 percent. While this does not necessarily point to evidence of housing discrimination, it does mirror the phenomenon of white flight—the mass exodus during the 1970s and '80s of European-Americans from cities to

9546-582: The past several decades. Internet classified platforms have also faced scrutiny under the Fair Housing Act ; in 2008, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in Fair Housing Council of San Fernando Valley v. Roommates.com, LLC , that Roommates.com had induced housing discrimination by allowing users to specify roommate preferences on their profiles in pre-determined categories relating to protected classes such as gender. This

9657-825: The poverty threshold often rent small or low-quality housing. Lead paint left over from past years and animal pests, such as rats, can be found in older housing, resulting in serious health consequences. Lead can lead to lowered intelligence in children. Asthma is also a problem that comes with lower-quality housing, since more air pollution, dust, mold, and mildew are more likely to occur. Housing discrimination has led to climate differences between neighborhoods. A study found that formerly redlined neighborhoods are several degrees hotter than non-redlined neighborhoods. This differences can be explained in differences of development and infrastructure. Poorer, non-white neighborhoods have fewer trees and often are closer to highways and factories. The larger amount of asphalt and cement contributes to

9768-410: The price strategy would not be applicable to all buyers. However, if analyzed in reality, through means such as market research, the producer can find a willingness-to-pay that represents most buyers. Consumer rent from the individuals who still pay for goods lower than willing and the producer rent from ability to price discriminate would then counter one another, resulting in market equilibrium . In

9879-408: The program must abide by a series of rules and regulations, often referred to as "family obligations", in order to maintain their voucher, including accurately reporting to the PHA all changes in household income and family composition so the amount of their subsidy (and the applicable rental unit size limitation) can be updated accordingly. Fair Market Rents (FMRs) are calculated to determine how much

9990-536: The program. For instance, in a comprehensive study done by the Fair Housing Centers of Michigan in 2007, statistics showed that out of 120 paired-tests, almost 30 percent of same-sex couples were given higher rental rates and less encouragement to rent, both examples of non-exclusionary housing discrimination. An HUD study released in 2011 surveyed of 6,450 transgender and gender non-conforming persons and found that "19 percent reported having been refused

10101-641: The purposeful neglect of service needs, such as a landlord fixing a white tenant's bathtub quickly but delaying to fix the bathtub of the minority tenant. Data obtained by Ohio Civil Rights Commission studied housing discrimination cases between 1988 and 2003, and of the 2,176 cases filed, 1,741 were filed by African Americans. A study by HUD released in 2005 found that more and more Hispanics are facing discrimination in their housing searches. A 2011 article by HUD asserts that one out of five times, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders receive less favorable treatment than others when they seek housing. Some cases brought to

10212-534: The resource of housing placement specialists can help prevent private landlord apprehension, and help voucher recipients navigate the program and general rental market. Landlord apprehension can be a result of many factors. Marr shows that it is rooted in racial stereotypes of tenants and slow government bureaucracy. Other qualitative data indicates some factors to be: tenant behavior and financial burden. These factors are some areas in which housing specialists work to mitigate problems. Rental value Rental value

10323-561: The rest of the rent is paid with federal money. The Section 8 program initially had three subprograms—New Construction, Substantial Rehabilitation, and Existing Housing Certificate programs. The Moderate Rehabilitation Program was added in 1978, the Voucher Program in 1983, and the Project-based Certificate program in 1991. The number of units a local housing authority can subsidize under its Section 8 programs

10434-453: The sale or rental of housing. Such protections have also been extended to other " protected classes " including disabilities and familial status. Despite these efforts, studies have shown that housing discrimination still exists and that the resulting segregation has led to wealth, educational, and health disparities. The prevalence of housing discrimination and redlining in the United States has led to wide-ranging impacts upon various aspects of

10545-440: The same area. In economic terms, the rental value is the added value an individual contributes when goods are being exchanged or traded for profit. This additional quality is often fixed and is alone under the trader’s ownership. The characteristic can be tangible such as a signature method of use or intangible such as exclusive knowledge pertaining to a product; also known as intellectual property . The value arises from when

10656-529: The school to prison pipeline . Students from low socioeconomic neighborhoods perform worse academically and on standardized testing, and high-stakes testing provides an incentive to push these students out to the juvenile justice system. In the US, white households have a median wealth of $ 134,230, while Black households have a median wealth of $ 11,030, demonstrating significant wealth disparities. Sociologists Thomas Shapiro and Jessica Kenty-Drane, as well as Richard Rothstein, state that wealth disparities are

10767-490: The structure of society, such as housing inequality and educational inequality . These phenomena can be seen through the lens of critical race theory as examples of systemic racism . After the end of the Civil War and the abolition of slavery, Jim Crow laws were introduced. These laws led to the discrimination of racial and ethnic minorities, especially African Americans . While Jim Crow laws spread throughout

10878-461: The study. The authors state that the benefits of the SAFMRP change over time and analysis of the program must include a time series analysis for all effects. The authors also explain why Chattanooga, TN may have performed the lowest in the study. Two reasons include the fact that most rental units were already inaccessible areas, and most residential areas in Chattanooga are low opportunity, therefore voucher recipients did not have increased choice with

10989-521: The suburbs that left only one-fourth of the Anglo population still living in metropolitan areas. American sociologist Douglas Massey , in his essay, "The New Geography of Inequality in Urban America", argues that this new racial geography in the United States has laid the foundation for housing discrimination to occur in order to keep up the status quo. After the passage of the Fair Housing Act and

11100-549: The surface of all instances of discrimination. Silverman and Patterson concluded that the underfunding and poor implementation of federal, state and local policies designed to address housing discrimination resulted in less than 1% of all instances of discrimination being addressed. Moreover, they found that local nonprofits and administrators responsible for enforcing fair housing laws had a tendency to downplay discrimination based on family status and race when designing implementation strategies. Some states have passed laws on top of

11211-402: The time, including filtering information about a home's availability, racial steering , blockbusting , and redlining . The Fair Housing Act was passed at the urging of President Lyndon B. Johnson . Congress passed the federal Fair Housing Act (codified at 42 U.S.C. 3601-3619 , penalties for violation at 42 U.S.C. 3631 ) Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 only one week after

11322-418: The top of wait lists. Some PHAs also use a "lottery" approach, where there can be as many as 100,000 applicants for 10,000 spots on the waitlist, with spots being awarded on the basis of weighted or non-weighted lotteries. Priority is often extended to local residents, disabled people, veterans, and the elderly. There is no guarantee that anyone will ever be selected from a wait list. Families who participate in

11433-400: The years of 1990 and 2000. Anrig also refers to Moving to Opportunity (MTO), a randomized policy experiment. The study concludes that there was no increase in violent crime for the participants of subsidized housing or their surrounding neighborhoods in the five cities tested; Memphis was not a part of the study. Even though the participants were far more likely to stay in poorer areas when given

11544-545: Was a neighborhood built to provide affordable housing for returning veterans from World War II, but the developer refused to allow people of color to live there. The FHA backed this decision by authorizing loans and providing racially-restricted deeds. It was not until the Fair Housing Act, enacted as Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 , that the federal government made its first concrete steps to deem all types of housing discrimination unconstitutional. The act explicitly prohibits housing discrimination practices common at

11655-433: Was also responsible for denying mortgage insurance to Black neighborhoods, a practice known as redlining . This entailed categorizing neighborhoods according to risk level for lending. This risk level depended largely upon the racial composition of these neighborhoods. The FHA's Underwriting Manual explicitly encouraged "prohibition of the occupancy of properties except by the race for which they were intended." Encouraged by

11766-471: Was enacted as part of the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998 (QHWRA) (Sec. 508(b); 42 U.S.C. 1437a(d)). This requires Public Housing Authorities and some owners, in calculating rent, to temporarily "disregard" increased income earned when certain public housing residents and disabled participants in certain housing assistance programs return/go to work or job-related programs. The idea

11877-504: Was found that advertisers could still discriminate based on interests implicating protected classes (such as Spanish-language television networks), and redlining ZIP code ranges. After signing a legally binding agreement with the State of Washington , Facebook announced that it would remove at least 5,000 categories from its exclusion system to prevent "misuse" including those relating to races and religions. On March 19, 2019, to settle

11988-518: Was later criticized by Greg Anrig in an article published on The American Prospect . In the article, Anrig accuses Rosin of placing an excessive amount of blame on housing policy for the reported increase in crime. The article refers to the fact that Rosin never made a conclusive argument that those who participate in Section 8 were responsible for the higher rates of crime, as those who receive housing support are subject to screenings based on drug use and previous criminal activity. Rosin instead relies on

12099-492: Was overturned in 2012, however, with the court ruling that due to the intimacy of this relationship, it would be a violation of their "privacy, autonomy and security" if tenants were unable to seek a roommate that was compatible with their own lifestyle. Facebook has faced accusations that its targeted advertising platform facilitates housing discrimination, as it allowed advertisers to target or exclude specific audiences from campaigns, and that its advertising-delivery system

12210-507: Was ruled to not fall under the Section 230 safe harbor , which protects interactive computer services from liability for the actions of their users, because Roommates.com was specifically responsible for having provided specific means to engage in conduct illegal under the Fair Housing Act; however, the site was not deemed responsible for information provided in a field that allowed users to type in additional comments. The Roommates.com decision

12321-708: Was the core thesis of her article published by The Atlantic in 2008, in which she linked Section 8 to a crime wave in the Memphis, Tennessee , metropolitan area. Rosin's article attempted to position Memphis as just one particularly troubling example of a nationwide trend: "Still, researchers around the country are seeing the same basic pattern: projects coming down in inner cities and crime pushing outward, in many cases destabilizing cities or their surrounding areas." Rosin's article has been highly influential among politicians in cities claiming to be negatively affected by Section 8, such as Lancaster, California . Rosin's article

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