State of Maryland Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice

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State of MarylandAnalysis of Impediments to Fair
Housing Choice

• COSCDA Program Managers Meeting
• Washington, D.C. March 16, 2010

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State of Maryland Analysis of Impediments to
Fair Housing Choice

• DHCD did AI in House
• Items we examined
• Housing needs by family type, race, age, and
  disability
• Low-income and Minority Concentrations
• Home Mortgage Disclosure Act Data
• Foreclosure Data
• DHCD Lending Data
• DGCD Program Beneficiaries

• Numbers and Languages spoken by persons of
  Limited English Proficiency
• Fair Housing Complaints
• State Policies and Procedures including HOME,
  CDBG, LIHTC, Housing Choice Voucher Policies
• Reasonable Accommodation
• Smart Growth

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State of Maryland Analysis of Impediments to
Fair Housing Choice

• Other Actions we undertook
• Fair Housing Survey
• Accessing Affordable and Available Housing
• Meetings with Advocacy Groups, Legal Aide, ACLU,
  staff from other State agencies including DHMH,
  DHR, MCHR
• Public Hearings across the State
• Examined items we dont control but my impact
  fair housing choice for example, local zoning,
  availability of transportation, BRAC

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State of Maryland Analysis of Impediments to
Fair Housing Choice

• What we did well
• Financed new construction of rental housing
  outside of areas of minority and low-income
  concentration
• Provided mortgage financing to protected classes
• Operated the Housing Choice Voucher Program in a
  way that provided housing choice

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State of Maryland Analysis of Impediments to
Fair Housing Choice

• What We Did Well (continued)
• Undertook CDBG projects outside of areas of
  minority and low-income concentration
• Offered a wide-array of programs that offered
  fair housing choice
• Carried out the goals and objectives of the last
  AI

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State of Maryland Analysis of Impediments to
Fair Housing Choice

• Impediments We Identified
• Lack of knowledge about fair housing rights,
  responsibilities
• Data does not allow us to identified possible
  discrimination or adequate determine needs
• Persons of Limited English Proficiency need
  better access to programs
• Disproportionate housing need for persons with
  disabilities
• Need for more affordable housing

• Actions to overcome Impediments
• Need more Fair Housing Education
• Need for improved data at Federal, State level
• Need to improve Limited English Proficiency (LEP)
  efforts
• Need for more housing for persons with
  Disabilities
• Need for more affordable housing for all
  populations

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State of Maryland Analysis of Impediments to
Fair Housing Choice

• Fair Housing Education
• Survey answers showed many people in all areas
  lacked awareness of knowledge of fair housing
  rights and responsibilities
• Many property owners
• did not know how to categorize HH by
  race/ethnicity
• HUD has not issued new requirements under HERA

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State of Maryland Analysis of Impediments to
Fair Housing Choice

• Actions to Address Education Needs
• Development and Implementation of comprehensive
  local outreach and information programs on fair
  housing, emphasizing race, ethnicity, and
  disability
• Initiate testing for racial discrimination in
  sales practices and lending.

• Develop and implement fair housing training for
  residents, realtors, developers, landlords,
  lenders, insurers, management agents, etc.
• Train landlords on new reporting requirements
  related to tenant beneficiaries as per HERA
  (awaiting HUD guidance and TA.)
• Sponsor Fair Housing Conferences, workshops and
  seminars

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State of Maryland Analysis of Impediments to
Fair Housing Choice

• Improved Data
• HMDA Data shows possible discrimination, but
  cant be proved based on data
• Census data on disabilities does not reflect
  housing need
• Persons at all levels of government, private
  sector dont understand basic data, reporting
  categories, etc.

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State of Maryland Analysis of Impediments to
Fair Housing Choice

• Actions to Address Data shortcomings
• Advocate with Congress, HUD and Federal Reserve
  to improve HMDA data (federal pre-emption)
• Advocate and work with HUD and State agencies to
  improve data collection on housing needs of
  persons with disabilities

• Fair Housing Training to project managers to
  improve beneficiary reporting

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State of Maryland Analysis of Impediments to
Fair Housing Choice

• Limited English Proficiency (LEP)
• Used Safe Harbor Limits from HUD
• Many people unaware of requirements
• DHCD already does some LEP, but not in a
  coordinated way
• Expand translation services, website, etc.

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State of Maryland Analysis of Impediments to
Fair Housing Choice

• Actions to Address Limited English Proficiency
• Encourage local LEP service provision with
  town/municipalities, nonprofit organization, etc.
• Develop and implement LEP marketing, outreach and
  information as appropriate for programs

• Add an En Espanol link to DHCDs website to
  materials already translated into Spanish
  (foreclosure data, apartment search data, etc.)
• Utilize and advertise more extensively State
  Translator Subscription Service

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State of Maryland Analysis of Impediments to
Fair Housing Choice

• Housing Need for Persons with Disabilities
• Even with existing DHCD programs, strong need for
  persons with disabilities
• Disabled persons on SSI/SSDI can not afford
  affordable apartments
• Significant populations might be eligible for
  mainstreaming

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State of Maryland Analysis of Impediments to
Fair Housing Choice

• Actions to Address Housing Needs for persons with
  Disabilities
• Implement select strategies of the State
  Disabilities Plan
• Increase rental subsidies to persons with
  disabilities from HUD
• Utilize alternative funding streams to provide
  rental subsidies (Medicaid wavers, State Medicaid
  match, etc.)

• Access possible additional resources to serve
  persons with Special Needs (proposed reforms to
  Section 811, 202 programs).
• Improve coordination between agencies that serve
  the disabled and developers
• Improve operation of housing programs for the
  disabled operated by other agencies

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State of Maryland Analysis of Impediments to
Fair Housing Choice

• Lack of Affordable Housing
• Need greatly exceeds supply
• Housing is not necessarily located near transit
  or jobs
• Loss of affordable housing exacerbates housing
  problems

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State of Maryland Analysis of Impediments to
Fair Housing Choice

• Actions to Address Lack of Affordable Housing
• Access New Resources for affordable housing (for
  example, National Affordable Housing Trust)
• Preserve Existing Affordable Housing (MacArthur
  Foundation Funds)

• Increase energy efficiency of housing
  (Weatherization, State Energy Grant programs)
• Coordinate housing, transportation, and jobs
  (State Development Plan, federal Sustainable
  Communities Initiative and Choice Neighborhoods
  Initiatives.)

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State of Maryland Analysis of Impediments to
Fair Housing Choice

• Other Issues
• Questions?