The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

The Future of Fair Housing

• Table of Contents
• About the Commission
• Acknowledgements
• Executive Summary
  • Recommendations
• Introduction
• I. Housing Discrimination and Segregation Continue
• II. Fair Housing Enforcement at HUD is Failing
• III. Fair Housing Enforcement at the Justice Department is Weak
• IV. The Need for Strong Fair Housing Programs
• V. Fair Housing and the Foreclosure Crisis
• VI. Federal Housing Programs
• VII. Fair Housing Obligations of Federal Grantees
• VIII. Regionalism and Fair Housing Enforcement
• IX. The President's Fair Housing Council
• X. Fair Housing Education: A Missing Piece
• XI. The Necessity of Fair Housing Research
• XII. Conclusion

Appendices

• Appendix A: Emerging Fair Housing Issues
• Appendix B: International Disapproval of U.S. Fair Housing Policy
• Appendix C:
  • Letter to Congressional Leaders
  • Letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson
• Appendix D: Commission Witnesses and Staff

Appendix D: Commission Witnesses and Staff

Invited panel witnesses

• Dolores Acevedo-Garcia, Harvard School of Public Health
• Roberta Achtenberg, California State University, former Assistant Secretary, Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
• Gary Acosta, National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals; New Vista
• Michael Allen, Relman & Dane PLLC
• Janis Bowdler, Wealth-Building Policy Project, National Council of La Raza
• Cal Bradford, President, Calvin Bradford and Associates
• Chris Brancart, Brancart and Brancart
• Xavier Briggs, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Marca Bristo, Access Living
• John Brittain, Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
• Tina Brooks, Housing and Community Development, Commonwealth of Massachusetts
• Willie Brown, State Farm Insurance
• Judith A. Browne-Dianis, Advancement Project
• Daniel Bustamente, Greater Houston Fair Housing Center
• Harry L. Carey, former Associate General Council, Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
• James Carr, National Community Reinvestment Coalition
• Connie Chamberlin, Housing Opportunities Made Equal
• Scott Chang, Relman & Dane PLLC
• Camille Zubrinsky Charles, University of Pennsylvania
• Kathy Clark, Chicago Area Fair Housing Alliance
• Cathy Cloud, National Fair Housing Alliance
• Foster Corbin, Metro Atlanta Fair Housing Services, Inc.
• Wayne Dawson Jr., Savannah-Chatham County Fair Housing Council
• Ingrid Ellen, Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, New York University
• Frances Espinoza, Housing Rights Center
• Lance Freeman, Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation
• Fred Freiberg, Fair Housing Justice Center
• Hector Gamboa, Spanish Coalition for Housing
• John Goering, School of Public Affairs, Baruch College, City University of New York; Ph.D. Program in Political Science, Graduate Center, City University of New York
• Ira Goldstein, The Reinvestment Fund
• Ginny Hamilton, Fair Housing Center of Greater Boston
• David Harris, Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice, Harvard Law School
• Jesus Hernandez, University of California – Davis
• Helmi Hisserich, Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development Policy, City of Los Angeles
• Diane L. Houk, Fair Housing Justice Center
• Elizabeth K. Julian, Inclusive Communities Project; former Assistant Secretary, Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
• David Kahne, ACLU of Greater Houston
• Erin Kemple, Connecticut Fair Housing Center
• Maria Kong, National Association of Real Estate Brokers
• Henry Korman, Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities Housing Task Force
• George Lipsitz, University of California – Santa Barbara
• John Logan, Brown University
• Lisa Madigan, Illinois Attorney General
• Demetria McCain, Inclusive Communities Project
• Jim McCarthy, Miami Valley Fair Housing Center
• Deborah McKoy, Center for Cities and Schools, University of California – Berkeley
• Bonnie Milstein, Office of Program Civil Rights Compliance, Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
• Reilly Morse, Mississippi Center for Justice
• Amy Nelson, Fair Housing of the Dakotas
• Melvin Oliver, University of California – Santa Barbara
• Gary Orfield, Civil Rights Project, UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies
• Jose Padilla, California Rural Legal Assistance
• James Perry, Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center
• Alexander Polikoff, Business and Professional People for the Public Interest
• john powell, Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race & Ethnicity, Ohio State University
• Leslie Proll, NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc.
• Nancy Ramirez, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund
• Mike Rawson, California Affordable Housing Law Project of the Public Interest Law Project
• John Relman, Relman & Dane PLLC
• Dale Rhines, former Staff Member, Office of Enforcement, Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
• Lisa Rice, National Fair Housing Alliance
• Keenya Robertson, HOPE, Inc.
• Florence Roisman, Indiana University School of Law – Indianapolis
• James Rosenbaum, Northwestern University
• Stuart T. Rossman, National Consumer Law Center
• Tim Sandos, National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals
• Barbara Sard, Center on Budget & Policy Priorities
• Robert Schwemm, University of Kentucky College of Law
• Shanna Smith, National Fair Housing Alliance
• Eboni SternJohn, Minneapolis, MN
• Thomas J. Sugrue, University of Pennsylvania
• Blair Taylor, Los Angeles Urban League
• William Tisdale, Metropolitan Milwaukee Fair Housing Council
• Margery Austin Turner, Metropolitan Housing and Communities, The Urban Institute
• Cynthia Watts-Elder, Connecticut Fair Housing Center
• Bill Wilen, Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law
• John Wong, Asian Real Estate Association of America

Additional public testimony and written submissions

• Dorothea A. Ardoin, Coldwell Banker Schmidt
• Michael Blue, Chicago, Illinois
• James Robert Breymaier, Oak Park Regional Housing Center
• Phyllis Cheng, California Department of Fair Employment and Housing
• Vincent Curry, Fair Housing Advocates Association
• Jill Fenner, Fair Housing Center of Nebraska
• Valerie Fortner, Chicago, Illinois
• Brian Gilmore and Lois Hanshaw, Howard University School of Law
• Nancy Haynes, Fair Housing Center of West Michigan
• Bill Henning, Boston Center for Independent Living
• Ilene Jacobs, California Rural Legal Assistance
• Bernie Kleina, HOPE Inc.
• Maria Krysan, University of Illinois – Chicago
• Jeremy Liu, Asian Community Development Corporation
• Bill Martin, Michigan Association of REALTORS®
• Clyde Murphy, Chicago Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
• Jim Park, Asian Real Estate Association of America
• John R. Petruszak, South Suburban Housing Center
• Mary Prem, Project Sentinel
• Theresa M. Ragot, Groton Housing Partnership
• Wanda Remmers, Housing Rights Inc.
• Gail Schechter, Interfaith Housing Center of the Northern Suburbs
• Lennox Scott, John L. Scott Real Estate
• Ann Seligsohn, Westchester Residential Opportunities, Inc.
• Mark D. Stern, Mark D. Stern, P.C.
• John H. Suhrbier, Winchester Multicultural Network
• Hernán Vera, Public Counsel
• Lauren Walker, Fair Housing Center; City Council, Tacoma, Washington
• John Y. Wong, Chinese American Real Estate Professionals Association

Contributors to this Report

Primary authors

• Sara Pratt, Fair Housing Consultant
• Philip Tegeler, Poverty & Race Research Action Council

Contributing authors

• Megan K. Whyte, Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP
• Joseph Rich, Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
• Julie Fernandes, The Raben Group