Rep. Nadler Investigates Enforcement of Fair Housing Act

WASHINGTON, D.C. –Congressman Jerrold Nadler (NY-08), Chair of the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties today held an oversight hearing on the enforcement of the Fair Housing Act, a key civil rights law which celebrates its fortieth anniversary this year.  

“Given the collapse of the current housing market, it is essential, now more than ever, for the government to enforce fair housing laws,” said Rep. Nadler.  “The shameful lack of enforcement of the Fair Housing Act raises serious questions about the Bush Administration’s commitment to fighting discrimination and protecting civil rights.”

Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, or the Fair Housing Act, prohibits discrimination in housing based on race, national origin, religion, color, sex, familial status and disability.  However, forty years after that law banned housing discrimination, there has been an increasing number of complaints alleging unfair treatment of minorities, the disabled, families and other groups.  

Despite the surge in complaints, the Fair Housing Act remains woefully under-enforced.  It is estimated that there are approximately 3.7 million fair housing violations annually and around 2 million of those violations involve racial discrimination.  However, in 2007 alone, the Department of Housing and Urban Development issued only 31 charges of discrimination and the Justice Department filed only 35 cases, signifying a drop in the number of cases brought by both Departments.
    
Rep. Nadler noted that numerous studies have shown that access to decent housing is linked to the attainment of economic and social mobility.   Experts suggest that the denial of access to adequate housing is the single most powerful tool to undermine and marginalize individual upward mobility.   

“The Fair Housing Act offers some of the strongest protections against discrimination, but these protections are rendered meaningless without effective enforcement,” Nadler added.  “Americans have the right to live wherever they want, without discrimination.  However, under the Bush Administration, that right has been actively ignored and undermined, leaving many people without access to adequate housing.”