February 2006 - National Fair Housing Advocate Online

EDITOR’S NOTE 

New year, new challenges 

First, I want to thank everyone 

reading his for joining me in this 

new venture. It was January 

1996 when I first met Galen Martin, the 

founding editor of this publication. Galen 

and his agency, the Kentucky Fair 

Housing Council, had just received a 

second grant from the U.S. Department of 

Housing and Urban Development (HUD) 

to produce a national publication detailing 

victories in fair housing cases throughout 

the country. 

I had graduated from college the 

preceding May, and apart from editing my 

college newspaper, I had no writing 

experience and certainly no experience in 

the world of fair housing or civil rights. 

Still, Galen saw something in me and in my 

college op-ed pieces opposing a campuswide 

smoking ban and American military 

skirmishes in Bosnia and Somalia. After 

checking more references than the FBI 

checks for Supreme Court nominees, 

Galen called and offered me the job. 

That was ten years ago. Now, I don’t 

smoke, and I was actually supportive 

recently of a city-wide smoking ban in 

Louisville. But, I digress. 

CHANGING TIMES IN FAIR HOUSING 

One key difference between now and a 

decade ago is that I have seen the number 

of fair housing victories become fewer and 

far between. By covering fair housing 

cases for the Advocate for a decade, I 

think I have had a fairly good seat from 

which to watch the ebb and flow of the fair 

housing movement. 

Defense attorneys have gotten smarter, 

courts have gotten more restrictive and 

HUD’s budget for fair housing work has 

declined substantially. More and more, 

advocates for fair housing are being told 

by judges or HUD officials that even 

though discrimination may have occurred, 

cases must be thrown out because they 

weren’t brought in time, because housing 

providers offered “legitimate business 

reasons” to discriminate, because there 

was some sort of technical deficiency in 

the complaint, or because complainants 

haven’t provided enough evidence to 

move forward. 

What hasn’t declined is the number of 

discrimination complaints people are filing 

with HUD, human rights commissions, 

and in state and federal courts. More and 

more people are coming forward to report 

discrimination, and more and more people 

are finding delays, denials, and outright 

mismanagement of their cases. Advocates 

(like me) are finding it tougher and 

tougher to help people, and as cases that 

used to take months stretch into years, we 

find our caseloads becoming mammoth, all 

with reduced or no funding from HUD to 

keep us running. 

These inexcusable delays in the 

administrative processes and in court hurt 

everyone involved. Complaints with merit 

often languish until evidence disappears, 

witnesses move away or forget key facts, 

or the complainants themselves believe 

their efforts are futile and simply give up. 

Real estate professionals accused of 

discrimination are hurt by these delays as 

well. If they are innocent of the charges, 

the stress and expense of defending 

themselves and their employees are 

greatly increased. Housing providers 

who simply didn’t know the law but agree 

to settle once they are educated find 

themselves in a situation just as bad: 

angry complainants are less likely to 

settle, even if the delays are not the 

respondent’s fault. 

I understand that some advocates for 

fair housing have made things hard for the 

rest of us. Some civil rights agencies fail 

to keep proper records to successfully 

litigate cases. Still others have operated in 

ways that some might deem extortion. 

Those groups make all advocates look 

bad, and I can assure the real estate 

professionals reading this that those bad 

actors represent an infinitesimal number 

of us. I am sure that you would tell me that 

the real estate professionals who violate 

fair housing laws represent a very small 

percentage of your colleagues, too. 

Unfortunately, the bad actors on both 

sides of the issue have created an 

environment where fair housing advocates 

and real estate professionals see fair 

housing as an us-versus-them situation. 

We should really be working together, 

and hopefully, this publication will serve 

as a bridge between advocates and 

housing providers. 

A MORE ROBUST PUBLICATION 

One of the biggest complaints I fielded 

during this publication’s free run was that 

we never publicized when housing 

providers prevailed in cases brought 

against them. With this new publication 

run (however long it lasts), I intend to 

publicize all fair housing news, not simply 

the cases where plaintiffs prevail. That 

being said, I am a fair housing advocate. I 

will make this publication as objective as I 

possibly can, but – in the interest of full 

disclosure – readers should know where 

my loyalties lie. 

This publication won’t be one of the 

many scare journals out there that attempt 

to coach you around the law or help you 

sniff out testers. At the end of the day, 

what I really want is for both real estate 

professionals and potential victims of 

housing discrimination to know what the 

law is so we can work together to make 

sure discrimination in housing becomes a 

thing of the past. 

Again, I thank you for becoming a 

charter subscriber to this new version of 

the National Fair Housing Advocate. 

Please let me know what you like and 

dislike about what we’re doing. I want to 

make this publication the most useful fair 

housing tool available, and I’d appreciate 

your help. 

– Tony Baize, Editor 

tony@kyfhc.org 

February 2006 NATIONAL FAIR HOUSING ADVOCATE 2

Cover: © 2005 Jacob Applebaum 

jacob@appelbaum.net 

http://www.appelbaum.net/ 

NATIONAL FAIR HOUSING ADVOCATE 

Volume E2, Number 1 

February 2006 

Editor/Publisher Tony Baize (tony@kyfhc.org) 

Contributing Editor Tracey McCartney 

(tracey@fairhousing.com) 

Legal Consultant Paul F. Curry 

KENTUCKY FAIR HOUSING COUNCIL 

The National Fair Housing Advocate is a publica- 

tion of the Kentucky Fair Housing Council and is 

dedicated to educating the public about fair hous- 

ing issues and providing pertinent information to 

civil rights advocates, attorneys and real estate pro- 

fessionals. The ultimate goal of this publication is 

to eliminate the need for itself through the eradica- 

tion of discrimination in housing. 

Tony Baize, Executive Director 

Board of Directors 

Janet Wrightsel, Chair 

Cecil Blye, Sr., Vice Chair 

Stephen Porter, Treasurer 

Oliver Barber 

William Haliday 

Ricky Jones 

John R. Williams 

Ann Wagner 

Richard Miller 

Ralph Calvin 

Rev. Louis Coleman 

CONTENTS 

Features 

6 Insult to injury 

Cover story: A new report indicates that the African American 

victims of Hurricane Katrina face discrimination as they search for 

new housing two-thirds of the time. 

By Tony Baize with photos by Jacob Applebaum 

10 Forced Exit 

The city of Manassas, Va. recently changed its definition of 

“family” allegedly to fight overcrowding. So, why was the new 

ordinance only enforced against Latinos? 

By Tracey McCartney 

11 MLK Day: The Challenge Left to Us 

As we remember and celebrate Dr. King’s extraordinary 

contributions to our nation we are also reminded of just how 

much remains to be done. 

By Congressman Charles Rangel 

14 Comparing Gay Rights to Civil Rights 

Commentary takes a look at both issues. 

By Keith Boykin 

15 Housing/Civil Rights Bills Languishing 

A summary of housing and civil rights bills introduced in 2005 and 

slowly dying in committee. 

By Tony Baize 

Departments 

Editor’s Note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 

In Brief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 

Case Law Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 

The National Fair Housing Advocate (ISSN pending) is published monthly by the 

Kentucky Fair Housing Council. Editorial, Advertising and all other inquiries should 

be sent to P.O. Box 1293, Louisville, KY 40201 E-mail: advocate@kyfhc.org, 

voice: (502) 583-3247. 

Subscription rates are $150 per year for online access, $200 per year for online 

access and full-color copy via postal mail. Make checks or money orders payable 

to “Kentucky Fair Housing Council” and mail to P.O. Box 1293, Louisville, KY 

40201. To subscribe using a credit card, visit www.fairhousing.com/advocate. 

Copyright © 2006. All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be 

reprinted without permission from the publisher, except for fair use purposes. 

This publication is reader supported. No public money has been used. The opinions 

of commentators are not necessarily those of the Kentucky Fair Housing Council. 


HOME RICHMOND SUES MANASSAS, VA. 

Housing Opportunities Made Equal (HOME) filed complaints 

last month with the U.S. Department of Housing and 

Urban Development (HUD) and the Virginia Fair Housing Office 

against the city of Manassas. HOME requests that the city be 

directed to take steps to fix a new ordinance defining family in the 

city’s zoning code. 

The ordinance restricts single-family homes to immediate 

relatives and bans extended family from living in the home. 

HOME, the ACLU, and others have contended that the official 

record points to the city’s attempts to reduce the number of 

Latino residents. Recently, the city admitted that the 

overwhelming number of enforcement actions under this 

ordinance have been against Latino households and suspended 

enforcement of the ordinance. 

FAIR HOUSING CENTER OF EASTERN MICH. SUES EDWARD ROSE 

The Fair Housing Center of Eastern Michigan has filed a 

federal fair housing lawsuit against the owners of Charter Oaks 

Apartments in Davison Township, Mich. for treating African 

American and white applicants and tenants differently. The 

Center had filed complaints with HUD, but HUD investigators 

felt that there was no probable cause to believe discrimination 

had occurred. Attorneys for the defendants pointed to HUD’s 

findings as proof of their innocence. 

Late last year, Edward Rose and Associates paid $1 million to 

settle a federal fair housing lawsuit brought by the U.S. 

Department of Justice. That suit involved disability 

discrimination in the design and construction of multifamily 

housing including apartments and condominiums. 

PA. FAIR HOUSING ACTIVIST MAZIE B. HALL DIES AT 103 

Mazie B. Hall - educator, mentor, civil-rights activist, 

community leader and friend to many - passed away on Jan. 1, 

2006. Hall graduated from the former Tredyffrin-Easttown High 

School and then graduated from West Chester Normal School 

(West Chester University). 

Hall taught elementary school for many years in New Jersey, 

including in the Camden School District. She was involved in the 

movement to desegregate Tredyffrin/Easttown School District 

schools. In the 1950s and 1960s, Hall and friend Margaret Collins 

led the fight for fair housing practices in Pennsylvania and 

influenced the formation of the Pennsylvania Fair Housing Act 

in 1961. 

Hall’s other civic accomplishments include organizing the 

Mt. Pleasant Civic Association and she was a charter member of 

the Main Line branch of the Black Business and Professional 

Women Association. 

BAY AREA, CALIF. FAIR HOUSING GROUP FINDS DISCRIMINATION 

Last month, the Eden Council for Hope and Opportunity 

(ECHO) released the results of an undercover audit to see if race 

played a role in the Bay Area rental market. The Hayward-based 

fair housing advocacy sent four men — two white, two black — 

to apartment complexes in Hayward, Livermore, Pleasanton and 

Union City. 

Prospective black tenants, despite identical profiles, met with 

discrimination in about 26 percent of the cases, according to the 

group. The study found that the two black applicants were less 

likely to receive follow-up calls and more likely to receive 

different — and more discouraging — information about rental 

terms and conditions. 

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, OHIO NONPROFITS 

LAUNCH PREDATORY LENDING HOTLINE 

In December, United Way president Marc Levy and 

Montgomery County Clerk of Courts Dan Foley announced a 

hotline and other support services with support from 20 

nonprofit agencies and banks. By dialing 211, or calling 225-3000 

on a cell phone, residents can access the services of the United 

Way’s HelpLink 2-1-1 Information and Referral Service; the 

Lutheran Social Services/Consumer Credit Counseling; Community 

Reinvestment Institute Alumni Association; and Miami 

Valley Fair Housing. Those agencies can provide everything 

from credit and budget counseling to emergency loans, food and 

housing, Levy said. 

Job loss and healthcare situations, followed by predatory 

lending are the main causes of such foreclosures, often targeting 

blacks, the elderly and the Latino population, according to 

advocates. 

FANNIE MAE NAMES SENHAUSER CHIEF COMPLIANCE OFFICER 

In December, Fannie Mae that Bill Senhauser had been 

appointed Senior Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer. 

As Chief Compliance Officer, Senhauser will lead the Office of 

Compliance, Ethics and Investigations at Fannie Mae. 

Senhauser has had an extensive career in fair 

housing and equal rights. He joined Fannie Mae in 1999 as Vice 

President and Deputy General Counsel, responsible for fair 

lending and anti-predatory lending compliance. 

Prior to joining Fannie Mae, he was Executive Director of the 

Equal Justice Foundation; Senior Trial Attorney, U.S. 

Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division; and has several 

times served as a special master or mediator for class actions 

pending before the U.S. District Court, for the Districts of 

California and the District of Columbia. 

DOJ SUES MINN. LANDLORD FOR SEXUAL HARASSMENT 

The U.S. Department of Justice filed a civil lawsuit on Dec. 20, 

2005 against Ronald J. Bathrick, 57, the former owner of seven 

residential properties throughout Hastings, Minn. The suit, 

which seeks unspecified damages for each of the victims, alleges 

Bathrick violated the Fair Housing Act by making women have 

sexual contact with him if they wanted apartments and by 

evicting them when they objected to his demands. 

This is the fourth sexual harassment lawsuit against Bathrick. 

Three suits filed by former tenants have been combined and are 

also proceeding in civil court. 

KY. COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSIONER MAY BE RECALLED 

Joyce Albertsen could lose the Oldham County Planning and 

Zoning Commission seat she was appointed to in January. 

Magistrate Rick Rash suggested that Oldham Fiscal Court 

rescind the 5-4 vote on Jan. 3 that placed Albertsen on the 

commission. 

Since the vote, magistrates have seen a flier Albertsen sent to 

her neighbors more than two years ago. In it, she was critical of a 

proposed housing development in Goshen, describing it as a 

“virtual baby factory” that could further crowd a local school. 


FAIRFIELD, CONN. REMOVES AGE RESTRICTION FROM CONDO SITE 

The Fairfield, Conn. Town Planning and Zoning Commission 

voted 4-3 to remove an age restriction from a condominium development 

after they were informed that such a restriction violated 

the familial status provisions of the federal Fair Housing 

Act and state fair housing laws. 

The commission had granted developer Louis L. Ceruzzi Jr. a 

“density bonus” which allowed him to build an additional 18 

condos on the site if he agreed to set aside 25 percent of the 

homes for buyers 55 years old or older. After the project’s completion, 

Ceruzzi’s attorney told the Commission that his client could 

not comply with the age restriction because it applied to less 

than 80 percent of the units. 

Commissioners claimed that they did not know such age restrictions 

were illegal. Local affordable housing advocates criticized 

the commission for placing age restrictions on the site but 

not asking the developer to set aside affordable housing units. 

CRITICS CALL FOR ABC TO AIR “WELCOME TO THE NEIGHBOR- 

HOOD;” NY TIMES REPORTS DISNEY FORCED CANCELLATION 

ABC Entertainment President Steve McPherson told a gathering 

of TV critics in January that he was upset over the cancellation 

of “Welcome to the Neighborhood,” a reality show in which 

self-described “white, Christian, Republican” judges decided 

whether or not to allow a gay, non-white or non-Christian family 

to move into a home on their block. The show was pulled after 

outcries from the National Fair Housing Alliance, GLAAD, and 

several evangelical Christian groups. 

On January 21, the New York Times ran a cover story suggesting 

that ABC had actually been pressured by parent company 

Disney to pull the show, because it appeared to be pro-gay, 

and Disney executives were concerned that it would interfere 

with its big-budget release, “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, 

the Witch and the Wardrobe.” 

Disney marketed the film heavily to Christians, and two producers 

from “Welcome to the Neighborhood” have claimed that 

ABC was ordered to cancel the show to avoid an anti-gay backlash 

that could have affected the film’s performance. McPherson 

called the claims “ridiculous.” 

CIVIL RIGHTS GROUPS ANNOUNCE FEB. 15 BOOK LAUNCH 

The Poverty & Race Research Action Council, the Urban 

Institute, the National Fair Housing Alliance, the National Low 

Income Housing Coalition, and the Leadership Conference on 

Civil Rights are sponsoring a book launch event with author Alex 

Polikoff discussing his new book, Waiting for Gautreaux: A Story 

of Segregation, Housing, and the Black Ghetto. Professor Sheryll 

Cashin of Georgetown Law School will introduce Polikoff. 

The event will take place on Feb. 15 at 4:00 p.m. in Washington 

at the Urban Institute, 2100 M St. NW in the 5th floor auditorium. 

The event is free and open to the public. Contact 

chartman@prrac.org for more information. 

SALVATION ARMY THREATENS FAIR HOUSING SUIT OVER DENIAL OF 

ZONING REQUEST FOR HOMELESS SHELTER IN SPRINGFIELD, ILL. 

On Jan. 17, the Springfield City Council formally rejected The 

Salvation Army's bid to build a homeless shelter and community 

center across from the city’s Oak Ridge Cemetery. Neighbors of 

the proposed site opposed the project. 

According to the Springfield State Journal-Register, at a Sept. 

21, 2005 Springfield Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, 

Monte Reevis, a dentist whose practice is near the proposed 

site, spoke against the zoning change. “What are they going to 

do, break into the neighborhoods looking for drugs and money?” 

he asked. “Where will they spend their days? Roaming the neighborhoods. 

Are they going to go into the cemetery and urinate 

and defecate on the grave sites and drive down property values?” 

Around 60 neighbors applauded the comments. 

City attorneys informed the council that their decision to deny 

the zoning request could leave them open to a fair housing lawsuit. 

Salvation Army officials have said that they will take the 

issue to their board of directors for a decision on a lawsuit. 

INDIANA STATE REPRESENTATIVE ATTEMPTS TO ELIMINATE ADDITIONAL 

PROTECTED CLASSES IN LOCAL FAIR HOUSING LAWS 

On Jan. 25, an Indiana state representative withdrew his controversial 

amendment that would have prevented communities 

from passing anti-discrimination ordinances more protective than 

federal law or the Indiana or U.S. constitutions. 

Jeff Thompson (R), of Danville, had offered the amendment 

Tuesday night on House Bill 1010, which is intended to restrict 

the use of eminent domain. It would have prohibited local ordinances 

that ban discrimination in housing and employment based 

on sexual orientation or gender identity. Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, 

Michigan City and West Lafayette have those ordinances. 

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continued on next page 


The devastation was overwhelming. One of the strongest hurricanes 

ever recorded had slammed ashore in Louisiana and Mississippi cities 

along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. At 6:10 a.m., Hurricane Katrina 

made landfall in Buras, Louisiana. The winds measured 125 mph when 

Katrina first struck, and that was down from earlier wind speeds of up to 160 mph. 

The devastation in places like New Orleans and Biloxi was immediate. Trees 

were uprooted, cars and boats were tossed like toys, and homes were destroyed. 

Less than 24 hours after Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco and New Orleans 

Mayor Ray Nagin issued mandatory evacuation orders for New Orleans 

and surrounding areas, the floods came. Some residents chose to ride out the 

disaster, but an overwhelming number of people were simply trapped. 

As many as 30,000 people who couldn’t 

make it out headed to the Louisiana 

SuperDome and the New Orleans Convention 

Center. The sluggish response from all 

levels of government led to chaos. Eventually, 

25,000 refugees were taken to the 

AstroDome in Houston. It has been difficult 

to track where the remaining 345,000 New 

Orleans residents found refuge. Recent reports 

indicate that there are 150,000 people 

back in the city now. 

In the days following Katrina and the destruction 

of the Gulf Coast, Americans – suffocating 

with grief – opened their hearts, their 

homes and their wallets to help. Katrina survivors 

were scattered throughout the U.S. 

in shelters, hotels, temporary housing and 

private homes. As days turned into weeks, 

it became clear that many evacuees would 

never be able to return home. 

The revelation that the exodus from New 

Orleans would be permanent was painful but 

important. It forced many evacuees to realize 

that nature had forced them into relocation. 

They would have to find new homes, 

new jobs, new churches and new schools 

for their children. This turning point in the 

lives of the evacuees – unfortunately – 

would also open the door to new realization: 

many of the evacuees would face discrimination 

because of their race. 

FAIR HOUSING GROUP FINDS BLACK EVACUEES 

FACE DISCRIMINATION 66% OF THE TIME 

In December, the National Fair Housing 

Alliance (NFHA) issued a report asserting 

that two out of every three black evacuees 

faced discrimination in their housing 

searches. The study, based on housing audits 

conducted last November, compared the 

experiences of white and black evacuees who 

called apartment complexes in 17 cities looking 

for apartments. In 43 of the 65 telephone 

audits, white evacuees were treated more favorably 

than black applicants. In three of 

five audits where evacuees actually visited 

apartment complexes, whites were treated 

more favorably than African Americans. 

The following examples of discriminatory 

treatment were recorded in NFHA’s fair housing 

audits: 

• White evacuees were told that one or 

more apartments were available, while 

black evacuees who called immediately 

afterward were told that no apartments 

were available. White callers would then 

call the complex back to confirm vacancies. 

• White evacuees who left voicemail messages 

for apartment complexes had their 

phone calls returned, while African 

Americans – who often called several 

times – did not receive return calls. 

• Whites were given more and better information 

than African Americans. At 

one complex, white callers were given information 

about rental rates, available 

units, security deposits and amenities. 

African America callers were told the 

computer was down and that the agent 

would have to call back. The agent never 

called. 

• Incentives offered for Katrina evacuees 

were offered to white callers but not 

black callers. At a complex in Birmingham, 

Ala., a leasing agent told white callers 

that security deposits and application 

fees would be waived for Katrina 

victims, and that applicants must have 

income 2.5 times greater than the rent. 

African American callers were not told of 

the waivers and were told that tenant in 

come must be at least three times the rent. 

free 26-inch LCD TV if they signed a 

lease. The white testers were also told 

that they would only need $500 in deposits 

and fees to move in, $100 of which 

was refundable. Black testers were not 

told about the free TV, and were told that 

they would need $1,000 to move in, none 

of which was refundable. 

NFHA’s study focused on 17 cities in 

Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and 

Texas. The group has promised to expand 

its study to more cities based on its initial 

findings. 

NFHA has filed five complaints of discrimination 

against what it termed the “most 

egregious” purveyors of discrimination: 

three in Dallas, one in Birmingham, Ala. and 

one in Gainesville, Fla. The complaints, filed 

with the U.S. Department of Housing and 

Urban Development (HUD), will be assigned 

to investigators in Atlanta or Fort Worth, or 

may be referred to state or local investigative 

agencies. 

SLOW JUSTICE 

HUD, the federal agency tasked with the 

enforcement of the nation’s fair housing 

laws, is notorious for failing to meet regulatory 

deadlines in completing its investigations. 

NFHA has promised to take the discrimination 

complaints to federal court if 

HUD moves too slowly in investigating 

these Katrina-related claims. The group also 

expects to file more complaints after another 

round of audits. 

A 2000 study commissioned by HUD 

found that African American applicants faced 

discrimination in housing approximately 21 

percent of the time. Some fair housing advocates 

questioned the validity of that study, 

pointing to a 1995 study that said black homeseekers 

encountered racial discrimination 

more than half the time. 

A similar HUD study found that disabled 

homeseekers faced discriminatory housing 

practices about a third of the time. According 

to the U.S. Census, more than half of all 

Katrina evacuees are African American and 

more than 20 percent are disabled. 

WEB SITES OFFERED OUTPOURING OF HELP, 

BUT NOT FOR AFRICAN AMERICANS 

At left, a father holds his daughter in 

While leasing agents – many of whom 

were reportedly trained in fair housing – were 

breaking the law, another form of discrimination 

was beginning to emerge as well. On 

Houston’s AstroDome in the days following 

Hurricane Katrina. Twenty-five thousand 

evacuees were housed at the facility in the 

weeks following the storm. 

• At a Dallas complex, leasing agents told 

web sites set up to offer temporary housing 

to evacuees, NFHA and the Greater New 

Orleans Fair Housing Action Center 

(GNOFHAC) found dozens of illegally dis- 

photo by Jacob Applebaum 

white testers that they would receive a 

continued on next page 


criminatory housing advertisements. Included 

in the language culled from the web 

sites were statements like these: 

• “Not racist, but whites only;” 

• ”As a white couple, we would be 

looking for a white mother and baby;” 

• “Will help white males, ages 20-45;” 

• “We would prefer a white, Christian 

couple;” 

• “Applicants must be gay, light-skinned 

white or Hispanic males;” 

• “We live in a redneck county and 

blacks are frowned upon;” 

• “Prefer a single black male.” 

According to James Perry, executive director 

of GNOFHAC, his group found 68 discriminatory 

messages on six different 

Katrina-related web sites. GNOFHAC filed 

complaints against the web site operators 

on December 23, 2005, and all of them worked 

to remove the discriminatory ads, according 

to Perry. One site has since ceased operating. 

Others have complained that it will increase 

their workload to weed out the discriminatory 

ads. 

Under the Communications Decency Act 

of 1996, the web site operators might be immune 

from prosecution if they do not or can- 

scenes from inside the AstroDome, 

September 2005 

photos by Jacob Applebaum 

not control what their users write. The users 

themselves would be liable for discriminatory 

statements, however. 

HUD LAUNCHES AD CAMPAIGN TO EDUCATE 

KATRINA EVACUEES ABOUT FAIR HOUSING 

In response to the complaints from NFHA 

and GNOFHAC, as well as some national 

media attention, HUD launched a public service 

announcement campaign to educate 

Katrina evacuees about their fair housing 

rights in Houston on Jan. 19. Television, 

radio and print ads developed by the Ad 

Council have been put into wide circulation, 

according to HUD. 

“The hurricanes caused thousands of 

people to flee their homes with only the 

clothes on their backs. HUD is committed to 

protecting the rights of those still searching 

for a place to call home. These Americans 

deserve our best, not a door closed in their 

face because of the color of their skin,” said 

HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson at the 

Houston launch event. 

It’s difficult to say how effective HUD’s 

campaign will be, however. HUD noted that 

the ads would run on “donated time” from 

media outlets, which means they might end 

up being relegated to the middle of the night 

broadcast woodpile, when few people are 

watching or listening. 

Shanna Smith, president and CEO of 

NFHA, responded to the HUD campaign 

with a call for the federal agency to strengthen 

its fair housing efforts. “We are pleased that 

Secretary Jackson has also taken an important 

step to address the fair housing needs 

of hurricane evacuees,” Smith said in a released 

statement. 

“The advertising campaign announced 

today is a good first step to educating people 

about their rights – but we must do more. 

HUD must take decisive action against those 

who have broken the law,” Smith continued. 

Smith noted that the Bush Administration 

proposed a 20 percent cut to HUD’s fair 

housing programs for fiscal year 2006, and 

that HUD’s Fair Housing Initiatives Program 

(FHIP) has not been fully funded since 1994. 

Secretary Jackson took hits from Democrats 

and civil rights advocates last September 

when he predicted New Orleans would 

reemerge as a majority white city. 

Jackson, during a visit with hurricane 

victims in Houston, said New Orleans would 

not reach its pre-Katrina population of 

“500,000 people for a long time,” and “it's 

not going to be as black as it was for a long 

time, if ever again.” Jackson also said that 

he advised Nagin not to rebuild the predominantly 

black Lower Ninth Ward. 

Critics accused Jackson of fostering a 

climate of gentrification and called upon the 

secretary to ensure that all New Orleans residents 

would be given the means to return. 

All Gulf Coast residents have been illserved 

by officials in all levels of government. 

Congress managed to act quickly to 

approve emergency funding for disaster response 

last September, but since then, all 

efforts to pass a comprehensive rebuilding 


package have stalled. 

In New Orleans, GNOFHAC reported that 

the Housing Authority of New Orleans had 

leased a vacant parcel of prime real estate to 

the Home Depot Corporation over local objections. 

Perry asserts that the land could 

be better used to host temporary FEMA 

mobile homes or build new housing for returning 

New Orleans residents. 

Mark Mosely, a New Orleans resident 

who returned to the city in late December, 

told The Advocate that the housing stock 

there was woefully inadequate, and that city 

officials were having a tough time locating 

parcels of land to place FEMA trailers. Neighborhoods 

objected to the placement of the 

mobile homes in what Mosely described as 

a typical “not in my back yard scenario.” 

As this issue goes to press, Katrina 

evacuees who managed to get into a federally 

subsidized hotel room are facing a final, 

Federal Emergency Management Agency 

(FEMA) deadline of Feb. 13 to get out or 

start footing the bill themselves. According 

to NFHA, its attempts to alert FEMA to possible 

fair housing violations against evacuees 

were fruitless. 

When NFHA placed calls to FEMA to 

ask if there was a fair housing component to 

its evacuee resettlement plan, FEMA officials 

allegedly said they didn’t know what 

fair housing was and called NFHA a “fringe 

group.” 

Although HUD and FEMA have touted 

their collaboration in trying to assist evacuees, 

NFHA’s findings would indicate that 

there is at least some disconnect 

between the two agencies. 

This doesn’t bode well 

for the storm’s victims, who are 

more likely to contact FEMA 

than HUD when they have 

questions or concerns about 

their housing searches. 

DID FEMA TAKE DOWN 

FAIR HOUSING POSTERS? 

According to a source 

who asked to remain anonymous, 

top FEMA officials 

recently removed HUD’s 

new Katrina-related fair housing posters from 

its field offices, because the images of flood victims 

were “too negative.” It is not known if other 

fair housing resources are being made available 

to evacuees visiting FEMA field offices. 

Bryan Greene, HUD’s director of the Office 

of Policy, Legislative Initiatives and Outreach, 

said that he had not heard that FEMA 

field offices were taking down the fair housing 

posters that had been distributed to 

them. He declined to comment further and 

referred the issue to HUD’s public affairs staff 

who did not return calls from the Advocate. 

Don Powell, the Bush Administration 

official overseeing Gulf Coast reconstruction, 

recently rejected a plan to rebuild New 

Orleans designed by a local task force. 

The admini-stration’s counterproposal 

was to start rebuilding only for 20,000 homeowners 

in areas not in the flood plain. 

Critics of the administration proposal say 

it would ignore the poorest and predominantly 

African American neighborhoods 

in the city. 

When questioned about his 

administration’s proposal and its disparate 

impact on the poor at a January 26 press 

conference, President Bush responded 

that his plan was not finalized and that he 

was still waiting on statewide proposals 

from both Louisiana and Mississippi. 

“The plan for Louisiana hasn't come 

forward yet, and I urge the officials, both 

state and city, to work together so we can 

get a sense for how they're going to proceed,” 

the president said. 

DEMOLITIONS TO START SOON 

In January, a federal judge ruled that 

the city must attempt to notify homeowners 

before they begin demolishing houses 

in New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward. The 

city must give seven to ten days’ notice 

via mail, in the newspaper and on the city’s 

web site before demolishing homes. Housing 

advocates say that many of the own- 

In Houston, 25,000 Katrina evacuees took refuge in the vacant AstroDome 

following the storm. City officials turned away thousands more. 

ers are in unknown locations and will probably 

not be notified. 

The demolitions are troubling, especially 

when coupled with Jackson’s comments 

about who might return to New Orleans. 

Residents like Mosely believe that 

gentrification might occur as the Bring 

New Orleans Back committee establishes 

a plan for a new “footprint” for the city 

and proposes that many of the city’s poorest 

neighborhoods be set aside as parks 

Above: Cars were destroyed by collapsing buildings. 

Below: A corpse in a New Orleans vacant lot, tagged 

and left for more than a week. (Jacob Applebaum) 

and other green space. There has been talk 

about building high-density condos in 

heavily damaged areas that many evacuees 

could not afford to purchase. 

Since Katrina hit the Gulf Coast last August, 

there have been many discussions 

about what the storm revealed. Many Americans 

seemed surprised that so many people 

lived in poverty. Many were surprised to 

see racial segregation alive and well. And 

now, Katrina’s final lesson 

to Americans might be that 

even in 2006, black Americans 

are still denied a safe, 

decent and affordable place 

to live simply because they 

are black. 

It is now apparent that a 

resurrected New Orleans 

will not look exactly like the 

old New Orleans. The city 

will likely be smaller, and 

that means a good number 

of the folks who left are going 

to have to put down 

permanent roots elsewhere. 

If the findings of NFHA and GNOFHAC are 

indicative, that task will be a tough one for 

Katrina’s African American victims. 

Tony Baize is the editor of the National Fair 

Housing Advocate and the executive director 

of the Kentucky Fair Housing Council. 

He is also a member of the board of directors 

of the National Fair Housing Alliance, 

though he was not involved in NFHA’s 

Katrina-related investigations. 


The city council of Manassas, Va., is 

stepping away from a controversial 

ordinance it passed in December that 

restricted households to immediate relatives, 

but the about-face comes too late to stop 

litigation from at least two organizations. 

At press time, the Manassas City Council 

had taken the first procedural steps to 

repeal the ordinance, which advocates have 

decried as anti-immigrant and unconstitutional. 

The ordinance prohibits relatives 

beyond the “second degree of consanguinity” 

from the head of household from living 

together in Manassas, even where the home 

is not overcrowded. So living arrangements 

that might have included, for example, a niece 

or a cousin of the head of household living in 

the home were made illegal by the ordinance. 

UNCONSTITUTIONAL, TARGETS LATINOS 

The ordinance got heavy coverage in 

The Washington Post. Some immediately 

recognized the Manassas ordinance as a revival 

of the type of ordinance the U.S. Supreme 

Court struck down as too invasive of 

families in its 1977 decision in Moore v. City 

of East Cleveland. Others saw the targeted 

enforcement against Latino families and believed 

it was a violation of the Fair Housing Act. 

At least two advocacy organizations believe 

that whether or not Manassas wipes 

the law off its books, the damage is done 

and that Manassas should be made to pay for 

its short-lived family-planning experiment. 

Housing Opportunities Made Equal 

(HOME) in Richmond, Va., has filed administrative 

complaints of housing discrimination 

against Manassas with the U.S. Depart- 

ment of Housing and Urban Development 

(HUD) and with the Virginia Fair Housing 

Office. Those complaints allege, among 

other things, that the Manassas ordinance 

violated the Fair Housing Act because enforcement, 

by the city’s own admission, was 

directed mostly at Latino families. 

The apparently imminent repeal of the ordinance 

does not make the case moot, said 

Constance Chamberlain, HOME’s president 

and CEO. 

First, the ordinance has not been repealed 

completely, and to do so will require public 

hearings, she said. 

Second, “the damage has been done, and 

there’s been substantial damage to the Hispanic 

community,” she said. “We are asking 

that they remedy the effects of this ordinance.” 

The ordinance was enforced on the basis 

of citizen complaints, she said, and the 

complaints were overwhelmingly about Hispanic 

families. 

“The city would knock on the door of a 

citizen homeowner and want to know who 

lived there and where everyone was,” Chamberlain 

said. “It’s absolutely astounding. 

That’s like Nazi Germany.” 

ENGLISH-ONLY OUTREACH MEANT SPANISH- 

SPEAKING RESIDENTS HAD LITTLE - IF ANY - 

SAY IN THE ORDINANCE’S PASSAGE 

Compounding the disparate enforcement 

was the City’s failure to communicate with 

the Hispanic and Latino community in general, 

Chamberlain said. 

“All the outreach about the ordinance 

has been in English, and it’s been very difficult 

for Hispanics to follow what’s been go- 

ing on,” she noted. “I know that a lot of 

people have been intimidated.” 

It’s difficult to know whether Spanishspeaking 

families have gotten the word that 

the enforcement of the ordinance has been 

suspended or that the process to repeal it 

has begun, Chamberlain said. 

THE “NEXT FRONTIER” IN FAIR HOUSING 

Chamberlain called ordinances like the 

one passed in Manassas perhaps “the next 

serious frontier in fair housing enforcement.” 

Such ordinances are not restricted to 

Manassas or even Virginia, she said. “From 

the standing of fair housing advocates, it 

would be useful to explore the question about 

whether other communities have adopted 

these kinds of ordinances,” she said. 

“This will only become more problematic 

as the demographics of the country change,” 

she said. 

According to the Post, Herndon restricted 

its definition of “family” last year, 

and Prince William County and Richmond 

are studying the Manassas ordinance. 

Manassas has a history of hostility to 

Latino immigrants, Chamberlain said. The 

city has been trying for a long time to get 

state legislation passed that would allow cities 

to impose more restrictive occupancy limitations, 

she said. 

The Washington Post reported that the 

mayor of Manassas asked then-Gov. Mark 

Warner to declare a state of emergency in 

Manassas over illegal immigration. The governor 

declined to do so. 

Harry J. Parrish, the Delegate who represents 

Manassas in the Virginia General As- 


sembly, and Charles J. Colgan, Manassas’ 

senator, have cosponsored a resolution calling 

for a study on “immigration issues in the 

Commonwealth.” While Manassas officials 

have said their efforts to restrict the size of 

households is a way to combat illegal immigration, 

the Parrish/Colgan resolution goes 

much further in its discussion of the impact 

of “foreign-born persons and immigrants” 

(presumably including foreign born U.S. citizens) 

on such areas as “cultural diversity,” 

law enforcement and public services. 

ACLU LIKELY TO MOVE AHEAD WITH 

LAWSUIT AGAINST MANASSAS AND OFFICIALS 

Kent Willis, the executive director of the 

American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia, 

said his organization is likely to press ahead 

with a federal lawsuit against Manassas over 

the ordinance. 

“We’ll throw the book at them if necessary,” 

he said. 

The ACLU lawsuit would likely focus on, 

but not be limited to, the constitutional issues 

the ordinance raised, Willis said. 

“Our initial argument against the ordinance 

was based primarily on the Supreme 

Court’s 1977 decision in Moore. That seemed 

Twenty years ago, our nation marked its first national holiday 

celebrating the life and work of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther 

King, Jr. As we remember and celebrate his extraordinary 

contributions to our nation we are also reminded of just how 

much remains to be done. 

During his lifetime, Dr. King 

sought to forge the common 

ground on which people from all 

walks of life could join together 

to address the issues of race and 

hatred that divided the nation. He 

worked tirelessly with people of 

all races, ages and backgrounds 

in the great cause of justice and 

equality for all Americans. Appealing 

to the conscience of the 

nation, he first exposed its failures 

and ultimately convinced 

Americans of the righteousness 

to provide such a clear precedent for opposing 

the ordinance,” he said. “But nothing 

prevents us from relying on the Fair Housing 

Act or any other statute.” 

Willis said it’s likely the organizations 

who plan to pursue litigation or complaints 

against the city will find some way to coordinate 

their efforts so that resources aren’t 

wasted. 

Just after the city started the process of 

repealing the ordinance, the ACLU and 

HOME participated in a meeting with several 

organizations, including the Washington 

Lawyers Committee, the D.C.-based 

Equal Rights Center and local community and 

immigrant rights groups to discuss strategy. 

“What that indicated to me was that if 

litigation was necessary, all these groups are 

willing to work together to do it,” Willis said. 

The National Fair Housing Advocate 

will continue to monitor this issue as it 

progresses. 

Tracey McCartney is a contributing editor 

to the National Fair Housing Advocate and 

the executive director of the Tennessee Fair 

Housing Council in Nashville. McCartney 

and her staff own and maintain the National 

Fair Housing Advocate Online at 

Martin Luther King Day: The Challenge Is Left to Us 

Congressman Charles B. Rangel 

of repudiating racism, providing 

equality of opportunity, alleviating 

poverty and, by our actions, 

acknowledging the dignity all human beings. 

As a nation, we have come far in achieving these goals. We 

have removed the legal barriers to equality and justice; lowered 

the social divisions; and improved understanding among the 

races. We have opened doors to education, business and political 

life. Yet the tragedy of Katrina has reminded us that we still 

have a long way to go. Many in our society remain shackled by 

www.fairhousing.com and the Fair Housing 

Case Database, which provides electronic 

access to legal decisions in fair housing 

cases throughout the U.S. 

Dig Deeper 

HOME Richmond: 

www.phonehome.org 

ACLU of Virginia: 

www.acluva.org 

City of Manassas: 

www.manassascity.org 

Equal Rights Center: 

www.equalrightscenter.org 

Virginia General Assembly: 

legis.state.va.us 

Moore v. City of East Cleveland: 

www.kyfhc.org/cases/moore.pdf 

Case database ID: 2901 

discrimination, ignorance, poverty, addictions, crime, as well as, 

physical and mental disabilities. 

The poor of all races, including African Americans, have fallen 

victim to a politics of greed and selfishness that is unraveling the 

social safety net in order to finance tax cuts for the wealthy. The 

poor, the aged, the students, all those who have the least are 

being left behind. Our young soldiers, and even some who are 

grandparents, are being sacrificed in a war with no justification. 

Dr. King had clearly linked the common injustices of racial discrimination, 

poverty and violence. What would he have said 

about America in 2006? 

Dr. King believed that everyone can make a difference by 

serving others in some way. If he were here today, I believe he 

would have challenged this generation, as he did his own, to make 

America the nation it can be. That challenge is now left to us. 

Congressman Charles B. Rangel is serving his seventeenth 

term as the Representative from the 15th Congressional District, 

comprising East and Central Harlem, the Upper West Side, 

and Washington Heights/Inwood. Congressman Rangel is the 

Ranking Member of the Committee on Ways and Means, Chairman 

of the Board of the Democratic Congressional Campaign 

Committee and Dean of the New York State Congressional Delegation. 

Congressman Rangel is the principal author of the five billion 

dollar Federal Empowerment Zone demonstration project 

to revitalize urban neighborhoods throughout America. He is 

also the author of the Low Income Housing Tax Credit, which is 

responsible for financing ninety percent of the affordable housing 

built in the U.S. in the last ten years. 


Hirschmann v. Hassapoyannes, 2005 NY Slip Op 25521111521/ 

2004, Sup. Ct. N.Y., Dec. 1, 2005. Plaintiff, a person with a disability, 

attempted to buy a unit in a cooperative apartment building, 

but approval for the sale was withdrawn by the co-op board 

when the buyer asked permission to install a washer and dryer in 

her unit as a reasonable accommodation. Plaintiff moved the 

court for a preliminary injunction directing the sale of the unit to 

her. Court granted the motion and dismissed other parties’ motions 

to dismiss and motions for summary judgment. NFHAO 

Case Database ID: 2888 

United States v. Kreisler, Civil No. 03-3599 (MJD/JSM), D. Minn., 

Dec. 5, 2005. United States alleged that owner/manager of two 

apartment complexes engaged in a pattern and practice of discrimination 

by giving African-American tenants notices to vacate 

in order to renovate their units but allowing white tenants to 

move into empty units instead. Defendant moved for summary 

judgment, alleging the U.S. had not established a pattern and 

practice of discrimination. The court denied the motion. NFHAO 


David V. v. Board of Trustees of Miami T’ship, Case No. 1:05-CV- 

714, S.D. Ohio, Dec. 6, 2005. The plaintiff, a person with disabilities, 

kept two pet pygmy goats in a residential area whose zoning 

prohibits such animals, but the plaintiff claimed that the goats 

ameliorated his disability. The Township moved to dismiss for 

lack of standing for Ohio Legal Rights Service, which filed the 

case as the resident’s next friend, and because the federal court 

should abstain from matters being considered in state proceedings. 

The court held that OLRS had standing but that several 

abstention doctrines prevented it from exercising staying the 

state court zoning proceedings. The court dismissed the case. 

NFHAO Case Database ID: 2876 

First Franklin Corp. v. Barkley, 2005 Bankr. LEXIS 2432, CASE 

NOS.: 00-13385, ET AL, ADV. PROC. NOS.: 02-1105, ET AL, Bankr. 

N.D. Miss., Dec. 6, 2005. Bankruptcy trustee sought permission 

to sue lender on behalf of 18 debtors claiming a variety of predatory 

acts on the part of the lender. The lender opposed the 

petition and moved the court to compel arbitration. The court held 

that the arbitration clauses in the debtors’ loan contracts were binding 

on the bankruptcy trustees. NFHAO Case Database ID: 2885 

Echemendia v. Gene B. Glick Mgmt. Corp., 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 

34505, CASE NO. 1:05-CV-53-TS, N.D. Ind., Dec. 9, 2005. Plaintiff 

moved the court to enjoin the defendants from terminating her 

from the Section 8 program because she believed that defendants 

were not following the correct recertification procedure 

and that they were retaliating against her for filing a race and 

disability discrimination lawsuit against the defendants. The court denied 

the injunction, holding that the plaintiff had failed to demonstrate 

likelihood of success on the merits. NFHAO Case Database ID: 2886 

Barnes v. Yorkshire Townhomes, Civil Action No. Civil No. 03- 

2284, W.D. Ark., Dec. 12, 2005. On defendant’s motion for summary 

judgment in a race discrimination case, the court granted 

Cases for December 2005 and January 2006 

the motion, holding that the plaintiff, an African-American female 

suing pro se under 42 U.S.C. § 1981 and the Fair Housing 

Act, provided no evidence from which malice or discriminatory 

animus could be inferred. NFHAO Case Database ID: 2899 

Valdez v. Town of Brookhaven, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 36713, 05- 

CV-4323 (JS) (ARL), E.D. N.Y., Dec. 15, 2005. Putative class of 

Latino persons living in Brookhaven filed suit challenging the 

city’s policy of “no notice, no standards” evictions from rental 

housing. Plaintiffs moved for, and the court granted, a preliminary 

injunction preventing the Town from obtaining evictions 

without delivering prior notice. NFHAO Case Database ID: 

2897 

Graham v. Midland Mortgage Corp., 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 34148, 

Case No. 05 C 758, N.D. Ill., Dec. 16, 2005. Plaintiff filed a claim 

alleging, inter alia, predatory lending, and defendant moved to 

dismiss. The court granted the motion in its entirety, finding that 

the plaintiff failed to alleged fraud with sufficient specificity and 

failed to demonstrate unjust enrichment. NFHAO Case Database 

ID: 2887 

White v. Haines, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 33688, Civil Action No. 

7:05-cv00020, Dec. 19, 2005. Plaintiff, a landlord, sued HUD and 

employees for violating his First Amendment rights by investigating 

a housing discrimination complaint against him. The court 

granted HUD’s motion to dismiss the complaint but did so without 

prejudice to allow the plaintiff to re-file under the Federal Tort 

Claims Act. NFHAO Case Database ID: 2898 

United States v. Port Liberte I Condo Ass’n, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 

35558, Civ. No. 04-5699 (DRD), D. N.J., Dec. 20, 2005. United 

States sued on behalf of condo owner who was denied an accessible 

parking space by his condo association and property manager. 

Defendants moved for summary judgment. The court held 

because the extent of the condo owner’s disability and the reasonableness 

of his request are in dispute, summary judgment is 

inappropriate. NFHAO Case Database ID: 2889 

Hansen v. MainStreet Homes, LLC, Case No. 3:04-1099, M.D. 

Tenn., Dec. 22, 2005. Plaintiff filed suit against a builder and 

seller of new homes, alleging that the builder’s failure to construct 

her home for later wheelchair accessibility violated the Fair 

Housing Act and that the builder’s failure to return her earnest money 

constituted a violation of the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act and 

constituted conversion. Defendants moved for summary judgment. 

Motion was denied. NFHAO Case Database ID: 2881 

Uintah Mountain RTC, L.L.C. v. Duchesne Co., 2005 UT App 

565, Ct. App. Utah, , Dec. 30, 2005. Plaintiffs planned to establish 

a residential treatment center for teenagers with disabilities, but 

the county limited their facility to 10 clients. Neighbors opposed 

to the facility appealed the county’s issuance of a permit, and the 

plaintiffs appealed the 10-resident limitation. The county government 

then withdrew the permit. The district court affirmed the 

county’s decision. The appeals court in the instant case held 


that the denial of the permit was “arbitrary and capricious” but 

upheld the 10-resident limitation. NFHAO Case Database ID: 2896 

Zhu v. United States, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 660, Civil Action No. 

04-1216 (RMC), Jan. 3, 2006. Plaintiff, acting pro se, sued the 

United States because a district court dismissed her earlier lawsuit 

against a realty company because of her failure to sign a 

settlement document the parties had agreed upon. The court in 

the instant case dismissed her claim, and the plaintiff moved for 

reconsideration. The court denied the motion. NFHAO Case 

Database ID: 2905 

Howard v. Steelman, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1422, Case no. H-04- 

3361, S.D. Texas, Jan. 9, 2006. Plaintiff is an African-American 

female alleging race discrimination in violation of the Fair Housing 

Act and violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act. 

Defendant moved for summary judgment. The court granted the 

motion, finding that plaintiff had not presented any evidence of 

race discrimination or discrimination based on disability. NFHAO 


M&T Mortgage Corp. v. White, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1903, 04- 

CV-4775 (NGG)(VVP), E.D. N.Y., Jan. 9, 2006. Third Party Plaintiff 

(White) sought declaratory judgment under the Administrative 

Procedure Act and the Declaratory Judgment Act that Third Party 

Defendant HUD has a legal obligation under the Fair Housing 

Act “affirmatively to further” fair housing by exercising due diligence 

in issuing mortgage insurance. HUD moved for dismissal 

for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction and for failure to state a 

claim. The Court held that it had jurisdiction and that White 

sufficiently alleged a claim that is reviewable under the APA. 

NFHAO Case Database ID: 2904 

Fla. condo association prevails in 

lawsuit over religious services ban 

In a rare case of religious discrimination 

under the federal Fair Housing Act, a Port 

St. Lucie, Fla. condo association has successfully 

defended its ban on religious services 

in the community clubhouse. 

U.S. District Judge Donald Middlebrooks 

cited the Savannah Club homeowners 

association’s concerns about parking problems 

and other complaints from homeowners 

in determining that the association had a legitimate 

business reason to ban the religious 

services at issue. 

The Savannah Club Worship Service, 

Inc., the plaintiffs in the case, had held Sunday 

services in the community clubhouse 

for several years, with usually between 100 

and 200 worshippers, according to the TC 

Palm news web site. In 2004, the association 

board voted to ban the services. 

The plaintiffs filed suit in federal court, 

claiming that the ban was in violation of the 

religion provisions of the Fair Housing Act. 

Judge Middlebrooks wrote in his opinion 

that the ban was not discriminatory, be- 

cause the condo association instituted it in 

response to “legitimate community concerns” 

and did not specifically target any 

single religion. “The right to religious freedom 

must encompass the right to be free 

from religion,” Middlebrooks wrote in his 

opinion. 

In early December, Judge Middlebrooks 

heard oral arguments. More than 100 residents 

packed the courtroom, according to 

the TC Palm. 

Jack Breger, a retired judge and a founder 

of the Worship Service, told reporters tat 

Judge Middlebrooks’ decision was “taking 

the Christ out of Christmas.” He added, 

“Now, we’ve got God and church out of the 

Savannah Club. All of these things are a 

deterioration of our rights as citizens in a 

free country.” 

Association attorney Daniel Rosenbaum 

told reporters that his clients felt “vindicated” 

and that “justice was done.” 

The worship service has moved to a private 

home in the community. 

Nevada Fair Housing Center, Inc. v. Clark Co., 02:05-CV-00948- 

LRH (PAL), D. Nev., Jan. 13, 2006. In a case alleging that a zoning 

decision by the county discriminated against people with disabilities, 

the defendant county moved to dismiss the claims against 

the planning director and filed a motion to require joinder of 

necessary parties. The court dismissed the complaint against 

the director, holding that she acted pursuant to state and local 

law and therefore had qualified immunity. The court required the 

joinder of the state, since a state statute required the allegedly 

discriminatory ordinance. NFHAO Case Database ID: 2902 

What’s that NFHAO Case Database ID? Subscribers to the 

National Fair Housing Advocate Online Case Database at 

www.fairhousing.com can now simply enter the case ID number 

on the case search page to go directly to the full text of these 

cases. 

What’s the NFHAO Case Database? The NFHAO Case Database 

is the most comprehensive and affordable fair housing case 

database on the Internet, and it’s far more economical than major 

online legal resources like Lexis and Westlaw. 

I don’t have a subscription to the NFHAO Case Database, and I 

want one! Yes, you do! Our very low annual rates are $100 per 

year for a sole practitioner, $150 per year for two to five users and 

$300 per year for six to 10 users. 

How do I sign up for the NFHAO Case Database? Just go to 

www.fairhousing.com/casedatabase and follow the instructions. 

---Tracey McCartney 

Pittsburgh Commission 

settles three complaints 

The Pittsburgh Commission on Human 

Relations conciliated three 

fair housing complaints against local 

landlords last December. 

Landlord Marguarite Sapar agreed to 

pay $10,500 for allegedly refusing to show 

an apartment to prospective tenant Joshua 

Bernstein because he had children. 

Landlord Sandra Fundy agreed to pay 

$1,000 after a fair housing audit revealed 

that she had a “no kids policy” at her properties, 

according to the commission. 

In the final complaint conciliated by the 

commission, Pamela Baumiller asserted that 

she had attempted to sublet her apartment 

to an African American, but that her landlord 

refused to approve the tenant. Landlord 

Linda Chalovich denied the allegations 

but agreed to pay $200 to settle. 


Comparing Civil Rights to Gay Rights 

commentary by Keith Boykin 

There's a scene in The Color Purple, 

the movie, where Shug Avery is singing 

in a lounge when she hears the 

distant echoes of a familiar song. The choir 

at her father's church is singing “God Is Trying 

To Tell You Something” and when Shug 

hears it, she stops singing her jazz tune and 

walks out, leading a procession of fans and 

band members on a trip to the church. In full 

voice, she bursts into the church, confronts 

her father and reconciles their years of division. 

“See daddy, sinners have soul too,” 

she whispers in his ear. 

Maybe God is trying to tell us something 

today too. Last year, World AIDS Day fell 

on the 50th anniversary of Rosa Parks's courageous 

decision to refuse to give up her 

bus seat, a move which sparked the modern 

civil right movement. That day was also the 

day when Oprah Winfrey's The Color Purple 

opened on Broadway. And it was the day 

when the highest court in South Africa has 

ruled that “gay marriage” must be made legal 

in that country. 

YOUR BLUES AIN'T LIKE MINE 

“Can you compare civil rights with gay 

rights?” That's the question a young student 

at Vassar College asked me after I spoke 

at the school. 

“Of course you can,” I told her. “The problem 

is that when people hear ‘compare’ that 

think they hear ‘equate’ and black people 

are reluctant to equate the civil rights movement 

with the gay rights movement.” But to 

compare simply means to look at the similarities 

and differences, and on that score, 

Source: Human Rights Campaign 

Download full PDF list at www.hrc.org 

we absolutely can and should compare the civil 

rights movement with the gay rights movement. 

One of the principal arguments raised 

against comparing black suffering with gay 

suffering is the red herring that gays did not 

have to sit in the back of the bus in the same 

way that blacks did. 

Well, not exactly. 

Of course gays had to sit in the back of 

the bus, because some gays were black. 

Bayard Rustin was a black gay man, and 

one of Dr. King's closest advisers, and he 

too was forced to sit in the back of the bus. 

The simplistic reductionist view that seeks 

to create a wedge between sexuality and race 

ignores the reality that some blacks are gay 

and some gays are black. 

But there's a larger issue here too. Why 

does it matter if gays had to sit in the back of 

the bus? We don't tell Latinos or Native 

Americans or people with disabilities or 

women or any other oppressed group that 

they have to prove their suffering is identical 

to black suffering in order to be legitimate. 

Nor are we concerned with which 

group is worse off in the artificially constructed 

hierarchy of oppression when we 

talk about other minorities. 

The point is it doesn't matter which 

group is most oppressed or which was first 

oppressed or whether they are identically 

oppressed. What matters is that no group of 

people should be oppressed. But the more 

we focus on the hierarchy of difference, the 

less we focus on the actual oppression. 

IT'S OUR ANNIVERSARY 

That's why I take great comfort in South 

Africa's decision to move toward marriage 

equality. It's the second time in two years 

when a major civil rights anniversary has 

fallen on the same day as a major victory in 

the marriage equality struggle. 

In 2004, on the 50th anniversary of the 

famous Brown v. Board of Education decision, 

the state of Massachusetts outlawed 

marriage discrimination against gays and 

lesbians. That also sparked outrage from 

conservative forces in the black community 

who want to protect the image of the civil 

rights struggle. 

But black people don't hold a monopoly 

on the civil rights movement. That movement 

began long before Rosa Parks refused to give 

up her seat or before Dr. King gave his famous 

speech in Washington. Dr. King himself acknowledged 

that many of his tactics and strategies 

were developed by Mahatma Gandhi in 

an entirely different struggle years before and 

thousands of miles away. And Gandhi too 

learned his philosophy from others. 

Over the course of history, the people of 

the world have been slowly moving toward 

freedom as we have liberated ourselves from 

oppressive socially-constructed restrictions 

on our identities. Fifty years ago, no one 

thought that a black woman should sit in the 

front of the bus with white people. Today, a 

powerful black woman with the most influential 

show on television can premiere a huge 

Broadway show adapted from a Pulitzer Prizewinning 

novel written by another successful 

black woman. 

I am confident that 50 years from now we 

will look back at this day in the same way we 

look back at the anniversary of Rosa Parks's 

courageous move. Our children and grandchildren 

will wonder why our society was so 

obsessed with perpetuating bigotry against 

gays and lesbians. And they will ask us 

which side we were on and what did we do 

to make a difference. 

Keith Boykin has become one of the nation's 

leading commentators on race, sexuality 

and politics. A former White House aide to 

President Clinton, Keith is also a New York 

Times bestselling author, reality television 

star, lawyer, educator and activist. More of 

his commentaries appear online at 

keithboykin.com. 


Housing & civil rights bills 

languishing in Congress 

Several bills introduced last year related to fair housing, fair 

lending, housing for 2005 storm victims and federal en 

forcement of civil rights laws have stalled in Congressional 

committees, according to housing-minded legislation trackers. 

The following bills have been introduced in the House and the 

Senate but have been bottled up in committees with no scheduled 

vote on either chamber’s floor. 

H.R. 288: CIVIL RIGHTS AMENDMENTS ACT OF 2005 

Rep. Edolphus Towns (NY-10) introduced this legislation to 

amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Fair Housing Act to 

include “affectional or sexual orientation” defined as “male or 

female homosexuality, heterosexuality, and bisexuality by orientation 

or practice, by and between consenting adults.” Towns 

introduced the bill in January 2005, and no action has been taken 

on it since March 2005, when it was referred to the House 

Judiciary’s Subcommittee on the Constitution. 

H.R. 4431: CDBG AUTHORIZATION FOR KATRINA AND RITA 

Rep. Roger Wicker (MS-1) authored this bill to appropriate an 

additional $13 billion in Community Development Block Grant 

funds to be used in rebuilding projects that were the results of 

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Sixty percent of the funds would be 

allocated to Louisiana, with 40 percent to be allocated to Mississippi. 

The bill was cosponsored by Rep. Charles Pickering (MS- 

3). The bill was introduced on November 18, 2005, more than two 

months after the disasters. On January 5, 2006, the bill was referred 

to the House Financial Service Committee’s Subcommittee 

on Housing and Community Opportunity, and no further action 

has been taken. 

DC Property Owner, Managing Agent 

Agree To Pay $45,000 in guide dog suit 

The Justice Department announced a 

settlement agreement in January with 

the owner and managing agent of the 

Sulgrave Manor Apartments in 

Washington, D.C., resolving a lawsuit 

alleging discrimination against 

persons with disabilities. According 

to the complaint, which was filed in 

the U.S. District Court for the District 

of Columbia, the defendants refused 

to rent an apartment to a visually-impaired 

man who used a guide dog. 

“Persons who use service animals should 

not be refused an equal opportunity to find 

housing. Landlords must understand that 

they have a responsibility to make reasonable 

accommodations for persons with disabilities,” 

said Wan J. Kim, assistant attor- 

ney general for the Civil Rights Division. 

“The federal government is vigilant about 

preventing discrimination against people 

with disabilities.” 

The Department conducted its investigation 

through the use of fairhousing 

testers who are individuals 

who pose as renters for purposes of 

gathering information about possible 

discriminatory practices in the 

rental of apartments. 

Under the agreement, the defendants will 

pay $25,000 to compensate victims of discrimination 

at Sulgrave Manor, pay a $20,000 

civil penalty, establish and follow non-discriminatory 

tenancy procedures, and undergo 

fair housing training. The agreement 

remains subject to court approval. 

H.R. 1994: PREDATORY MTG. LENDING PRACTICES REDUCTION ACT 

This bill, introduced by Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (OH-11) 

and 24 cosponsors on April 28, 2005, would require subprime 

mortgage lenders to obtain federal certification indicating that 

they are educated in RESPA, TILA, and other federal lending 

laws. Subprime lenders would also have to establish a “best 

practices” program for subprime mortgages and would be barred 

from deceptive lending practices as defined by HUD, the Federal 

Reserve, and the Federal Trade Commission. Consumers would 

be empowered to opt-out of arbitration clauses contained in 

mortgage contracts, and community development corporations 

would be eligible to receive federal grants for predatory lending 

education projects. The bill was immediately referred to the House 

Committee on Financial Services, and no action has been taken. 

H.R. 4197: HURRICANE KATRINA RECOVERY, RECLAMATION, RES- 

TORATION, RECONSTRUCTION AND REUNION ACT OF 2005 

Rep. Melvin Watt (NC-12) introduced this comprehensive 

Katrina rebuilding bill on November 2, 2005. Watt had 56 cosponsors. 

The bill was referred to 10 House committees immediately, 

and the only other action on the bill was to refer it to the 

Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health three weeks after 

its introduction. 

H.R. 3506 AND S. 1369: UNSOLVED CIVIL RIGHTS CRIME ACT 

Rep. Bob Filner (CA-51) and Sen. Jim Talent (MO) introduced 

bills in their respective chambers that would establish a cold 

case section within the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights 

Division. The section’s main duty would be to “expeditiously 

investigate unsolved civil rights murders, due to the amount of 

time that has passed since the murders and the age of potential 

witnesses.” Both bills were introduced in July 2005. The House 

and Senate Judiciary Committees have had the bills since then. 

The House bill was referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, 

and Homeland Security last September. 

-- Tony Baize 

Huntington reopens 

A challenge 

to the Town of Hunting 

ton zoning decisions which block 

minority families from living in the 

town is expected to proceed under a recent 

court decision, fair housing advocates announced 

in January. The decision by the 

United States District Court for the Eastern 

District of New York found that the complaint, 

brought by the Fair Housing in Huntington 

Committee, the Huntington Branch 

NAACP, and others, could show discrimination 

in how Huntington blocked an affordable 

housing development. 

Huntington's decision blocking housing 

likely to attract minority families to overwhelmingly 

white areas of Huntington could 

discriminate in violation of the federal Fair 

Housing Act and the Constitution and perpetuate 

longstanding segregation in the 

Town, the court held. This finding reverses 

an earlier decision dismissing the lawsuit.

February 2006 - National Fair Housing Advocate Online

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