Complaints of housing discrimination rose in each of the last five years in northeast Ohio, reaching their highest level in 17 years in 2006, according to a new report issued by the Housing Research & Advocacy Center in Cleveland.  From 2001 to 2006, the number of complaints filed with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) more than doubled, from 98 to 214.  Of the complaints filed in this 5-year period, 38.0% involved discrimination based on disability, 34.1% involved race discrimination, and 13.3% alleged discrimination based on familial status. 

Jeffrey D. Dillman, Executive Director of the Housing Center, stated, “While the increase in the number of complaints filed is disturbing, we know that this is just the tip of the iceburg, and the actual number of instances of discrimination is much higher.”  The Housing Center estimates that there are annually at least 33,690 instances of housing discrimination in the region against African Americans, Hispanics/Latinos, and Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the rental and sales markets, meaning the vast majority of cases are never reported to a government agency.  This increase in complaints is consistent with national data from HUD which reported in March 2007 that it had received more complaints in 2006 than in any previous year. 

The Housing Center’s report, entitled “The State of Fair Housing in Northeast Ohio: April 2007,” analyzes housing discrimination and segregation in a six-county region made up of Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, and Medina Counties.  Among the report’s other findings: