Friday, June 12, 2009
Last year was a “record-breaking year” for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, after receiving a new high in the number housing discrimination complaints filed by renters from across the country. HUD’s FY 2008 annual report reveals that housing complaints have been rising over the past 10 years, after going down during the 1990s. The total in 2008 reached 10,552, the most ever received by HUD’s fair housing enforcement division. The last three years have seen a slight increase in the number of disability-related complaints and a minor decrease in complaints related to race.
HUD noted that it reached “several milestones” last year, including the issuance of its first-ever charge of discrimination alleging same-sex sexual harassment. The complaint was filed by two men in Mississippi who claimed their male property owner and a male maintenance worker subjected one of the roommates to “unwelcome verbal and physical advances that were sexual in nature.” After local police refused to get involved in the matter, the men were evicted by their landlord. HUD then stepped in and filed charges against the property owner and maintenance worker.
HUD also proudly proclaimed another milestone in 2008: Its first charge of discrimination in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The department says it went on to file a total of four discrimination actions on the island during the year.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
The State of Fair Housing: FY 2008 Annual Report (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development) (PDF)
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