Latest News
Fair Housing by the Numbers – Segregation
Can you find your zip code on the maps below? How segregated is your community? Over the last 20 years, the Cleveland-Lorain-Elyria Metropolitan Statistical Area remained one of the most segregated in the country. According to the Population Studies Center/University of Michigan, as of 2010 this area is the 5th most segregated in the nation. Only Milwaukee-Waukesha, New York, Chicago and Detroit surpass us. There have been some improvements in integration by national origin, but not enough. In 2010, our area was the 20th most segregated by national origin in the country.
(more…)Housing Center Partners with Cities on Fair Housing Projects
The Housing Center is pleased to announce that we were awarded two grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development through the cities of North Olmsted and Shaker Heights to improve access to housing for residents.
(more…)Housing Center Publishes New Resource for People with Mental Health Disabilities
The Housing Research & Advocacy Center published a new guide to assist people with mental disabilities. “Obtaining and Maintaining Housing: Fair Housing for People with Mental Health Disabilities” presents fair housing information and the additional protections for people with disabilities in an easy-to-use graphical format. This resource was designed and written by Mandy Mehlman, Fair Housing Community Educator, to be used by individuals, their caregivers, and family members to help them understand and exercise their fair housing rights. It includes a helpful directory of fair housing organizations and governmental offices.
(more…)Housing Center Releases Annual State of Fair Housing in Northeast Ohio Report for 2012
Although complaints of housing discrimination in Northeast Ohio decreased in 2011 from 2010, the number remained significantly higher than the average number of complaints filed in the last 22 years and represented the fourth highest yearly total since 1990, according to the new report issued by the Housing Research & Advocacy Center. In 2011, the top three basis discrimination complaints in Northeast Ohio were issued on the basis of famililal status (68), handicap/diability (40), and sex/gender (7). To view the entire report and other Housing Center publications, please check out our Research Reports (Publications/Research-Reports.html) page.
Youth Art Exhibition
The winning submissions from the Housing Center’s Youth Art Contest hosted in March 2012 with grant support from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture are now available for viewing.
Thank you to all of the students from throughout Cuyahoga County who participated in the Housing Center’s Youth Art Contest hosted with grant support from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture! Students entering the contest were asked to respond to the question: “What makes your community great and how can you contribute to it by being a good neighbor?” The original artwork and essays created by the students were exhibited at the Seventh Annual Fair Housing Celebration & Art Exhibition on April 12, 2012 at Cleveland State University presented in honor of National Fair Housing Month.
(more…)Housing Center to Host Youth Art Contest
The Housing Research & Advocacy Center is looking for Cuyahoga County students in 4th through 8th grades to participate in a youth art exhibition sponsored by Cuyahoga Arts & Culture. Students are asked to watch the Community video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUs2pXsBOe8) and submit one original work of art (e.g. drawing, painting, photo, collage, etc.) that promotes fair housing and answers the question: What makes your community great, and how can you contribute to it by being a good neighbor? Works of art should be accompanied by a brief explanation of how the art relates to theme of diverse communities and being a good neighbor. Prizes will be awarded based on creativity, relevancy, message clarity and overall presentation. Submissions must be in the Housing Center offices by 4:00 pm Monday, March 26, 2012. First place winner will receive $500. All winners will receive their prizes and have their works displayed at the 7th Annual Fair Housing Celebration & Art Exhibition on April 12, 2012 at Cleveland State University’s Student Center Ballroom, 2121 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio. Individuals receiving Honorable Mentions may also have their work displayed at the event. Contest limited to residents of Cuyahoga County. See below for more details. To enter, email your art, explanation and entry form to denglish@thehousingcenter.org. Or mail or deliver your materials to: Housing Research & Advocacy Center 3631 Perkins Avenue, Suite 3A-2 Cleveland, OH 44114. For additional questions, call Darlene English at (216) 361-9240. Video and Youth Art Exhibition is generously funded by the residents of Cuyahoga County through a public grant from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture. For contest details, or to download the entry form, click here (https://www.thehousingcenter.org/Files/Download-document/164-Youth-Art-Contest.html).
Julia Kuo to Exhibit at 7th Annual Fair Housing Celebration
Each year, the Housing Center hosts a Fair Housing Celebration during April, Fair Housing Month. This year, the event features local artist and Cleveland blogger, Julia Kuo, creator of the 100 Days in Cleveland blog (http://juliaincleveland.tumblr.com/), which celebrates beautiful and unique locations in the greater Cleveland area. Artwork from her blog, which is featured in her new book co-authored with Justin Glanville, New to Cleveland: A Guide to (re)Discovering the City, will be available for purchase at the event. The event this year will also feature a youth art competition, which celebrates diverse neighborhoods. Julia will serve as one of the judges. Ms. Kuo will produce a video, to be available on YouTube and the Housing Center’s website, to encourage students to submit artwork depicting what it means to be a good neighbor in their community. Monetary prizes will be awarded to 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners of the art contest. The 7th Annual Fair Housing Celebration also honors local advocates in fair housing, commemorates the passage of the Fair Housing Act and engages the community in housing discrimination awareness. A ticket to the Fair Housing Celebration includes a sampling of a variety of delicious wines, light hors d’oeuvres and the opportunity to win one of our exciting raffle baskets. The 7th Annual Fair Housing Celebration will be held in a new location this year: the Ballroom at Cleveland State University’s dramatic new Student Center on April 12th from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Tickets are $30. The 7th Annual Fair Housing Celebration is sponsored by Thacker Martinsek (http://thackermartinsek.com/), Third Federal Bank (https://www.thirdfederal.com/Home.aspx), Kondik Advertising (http://www.kondikad.com/ocart/), Dollar Bank (http://www.dollarbank.com/) and Fifth Third Bank (https://www.53.com/site/index.html?%3f). The Youth Art Competition receives public support with local tax dollars from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture (http://cuyahogaartsandculture.org/), to preserve and enrich our region’s artistic and cultural heritage. Cuyahoga Arts & Culture generously awarded the Housing Center a project-specific grant to support our youth art competition, including the production of the qualifying video by Julia Kuo. Please join us in April to celebrate Fair Housing Month in Northeast Ohio!
Housing Center Named Community Shares’ Member Organization of the Year
The Housing Research & Advocacy Center was awarded the Community Shares Member Organization of the Year Social Justice Award at the Community Shares Power Lunch and Annual Meeting on June 28, 2011. Patricia Burgess, President of the Board of Directors, and Hilary Mason King, Executive Director, accepted the award on behalf of the organization. The organization was recognized by its’ peers for its’ social justice work to promote fair housing and diverse communities, and to work to eliminate housing discrimination in Northeast Ohio, by providing effective research, education and advocacy. Under the principled leadership of our former Executive Director, Jeff Dillman, our team – Hilary King, Carrie Pleasants, Darlene English, Krissie Wells, Zachary Crafton, Denise Cooper and Irving Graves worked with the support of the Board of Directors over the last year to achieve these accomplishments: • Hosted an accessibility (design & construction) seminar featuring national fair housing expert Sara Pratt, HUD Deputy Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Programs, to educate local government building code officials in addition to hosting numerous trainings for landlords, realtors, transitional housing consumers and municipalities. • Completed and released 5 research reports on fair housing and fair lending issues. • Filed 33 discrimination complaints with HUD based on race, national origin, familial status, disability & gender. • Received grant awards from the Cleveland Foundation, the George Gund Foundation, The William J. and Dorothy K. O’Neil Foundation, the Woodruff Foundation, the HUD Fair Housing Initiatives Program, the HUD Fair Housing Education and Outreach Initiatives program, and a number of municipal contracts. • Settled the federal discrimination suit against Cleveland Developer K&D and its architects requiring the builder make all common areas and all 107 units accessible for people with disabilities. The developer also must pay $567,000 in damages, attorneys’ fees and costs. The work of Jeff Dillman had an impact that reached beyond our region. • He was invited to speak in Michigan at the National Association for County Community & Economic Development on local governments’ obligation to affirmatively further fair housing. • Jeff also testified in Atlanta before the Federal Reserve Board on revisions to the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, calling for increased transparency and a more user-friendly format. The Housing Center is certain that he will continue to make a difference as a humble but extremely effective advocate for civil rights. While all the Housing Center’s accomplishments are significant, we believe that there is still a lot of work to do for the benefit of Northeast Ohio. We are launching a new strategic plan to create even more effective fair housing programs including more advocacy, expanded research, and outreach and education to empower more individuals and communities. We look forward to participating further in the partnerships forming to improve the quality of life in our region and look forward to taking the lead to foster diverse communities where equal opportunities in housing are assured and all neighborhoods are desirable because they offer quality education, food, access to healthcare, a sustainable environment and housing choice for all.
Housing Center Settles Federal Discrimination Suit with Cleveland Developers, Architects
The Housing Center has settled a housing discrimination lawsuit alleging disability discrimination by the designers and builders of a Cleveland apartment and condominium complex. The lawsuit was filed in federal court in 2009 by the Housing Research & Advocacy Center against the K & D Group and others responsible for designing and constructing the Stonebridge apartments and condominiums, located on the west bank of the Cuyahoga River in downtown Cleveland. The Ohio Civil Rights Commission joined the lawsuit, after finding probable cause that a number of the defendants had violated state accessibility laws. To read the full press release, click here. (https://www.thehousingcenter.org/Files/Download-document/136-Housing-Center-Settles-Federal-Housing-Discrimination-Suit-with-Cleveland-Developer-Architect.html)
Housing Center Releases Annual State of Fair Housing in Northeast Ohio Report for 2011
Although complaints of housing discrimination in Northeast Ohio decreased in 2010 from 2009, the number remained significantly higher than the average number of complaints filed in the last 21 years and represented the third highest yearly total since 1990, according to a the new report issued by the Housing Research & Advocacy Center. The report found that 186 complaints of housing discrimination were filed with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in 2010, compared to 226 in 2009 and a 21-year average of 128 complaints in Northeast Ohio. The Housing Center’s report also examined trends in discrimination complaints over the last ten years, finding an 72% increase in complaints filed from 2006-2010, when an average of 189.6 complaints were filed each year, compared to the previous five-year period, when the yearly average was 110.4. This increase was due to a 46.6% increase in the number of cases based on race (from 189 to 277) and a 38.9% increase in the number of cases based on disability (from 180 to 250). To access the full report, click here (https://www.thehousingcenter.org/Files/Download-document/133-State-of-Fair-Housing-in-Northeast-Ohio-April-2011.html). To access the press release, click here (https://www.thehousingcenter.org/Files/Download-document/132-State-of-Fair-Housing-in-Northeast-Ohio-April-2011.html).
New Study Finds Subprime Lending in Cleveland Double the National Rate
The most recent mortgage lending data reveal that Clevelanders receive high-cost subprime mortgage loans at more than double the rate of the national average, according to the latest research report from the Housing Research & Advocacy Center. Almost one-quarter (24.25%) of home mortgage loans in the City of Cleveland were high-cost subprime loans in Cleveland in 2008, compared to 11.6% nationwide. By contrast, 13.06% of mortgage loans in Cuyahoga County were high-cost subprime loans. The Housing Center also found that African Americans and Hispanics in Cleveland and Cuyahoga County are more likely to obtain home mortgage loans with high interest rates compared to white residents. In the last month, the Housing Center published two reports that analyze 2008 mortgage lending data (the most recent available) in Cleveland and Cuyahoga County. The data reveal that in the City of Cleveland, African Americans obtained high-cost mortgage loans 32.33% of the time, compared to 25.54% of the time for Hispanics and 19.54% for whites. In Cuyahoga County as a whole, African Americans obtained high-cost mortgage loans 24.85% of the time, compared to 20.25% of the time for Hispanics and 10.30% for whites. In Cleveland, the neighborhoods with the greatest concentration of high-cost lending were North Broadway (44.00% of all originations), Union-Miles (39.19%) and St. Clair-Superior (38.89%), compared to the Citywide average of 24.25%. In Cuyahoga County, the greatest overall incidence of high-cost lending occurred in East Cleveland and Newburgh Height (38.46% each), compared to the Countywide average of 13.06%.
Housing Center Testifies on HMDA Before Federal Reserve Board
Housing Center Executive Director, Jeffrey Dillman, testifies on potential revisions of the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) before the Federal Reserve Board in Atlanta, Georgia on July 15, 2010. Read the the full testimony here (https://www.thehousingcenter.org/Files/Download-document/110-Housing-Center-Testifies-on-HMDA-Before-Federal-Reserve-Board.html).
New Study Finds Housing Discimination Complaints Remain High in Northeast Ohio
Although complaints of housing discrimination in Northeast Ohio decreased by 10 percent in 2009 compared to 2008, the number remained significantly higher than the average number of complaints filed in the last 20 years and represented the second highest yearly total since 1990, according to a new report issued by the Housing Research & Advocacy Center in Cleveland. The report, based on the number of complaints filed in the region with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), found that 223 complaints were filed in 2009, compared to 254 in 2008 and a 20-year average of 125.2 complaints in the region. The Housing Center’s report also examined trends in discrimination complaints over the last ten years, finding an 85% increase in complaints filed from 2005-2009, when an average of 181.6 complaints were filed each year, compared to the previous five-year period, when the yearly average was 98. This increase was due to a 64.3% increase in the number of cases based on disability (from 154 to 253) and a 60.9% increase in the number of cases based on race (from 174 to 280). Jeffrey D. Dillman, Executive Director of the Housing Center, stated, “While it is good to see the numbers come down even a little bit from the historic high in 2008, the number of complaints filed in 2009 is very concerning, and we know that these complaints represent only a small portion of the amount of discrimination in the region.” 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. The report, entitled “The State of Fair Housing in Northeast Ohio: April 2010,” is the Housing Center’s fifth annual comprehensive survey of fair housing in Northeast Ohio, analyzing housing discrimination and segregation in a six-county region (Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, and Medina Counties). The other findings of the report include that: • The number of cases brought based on familial status, national origin, sex/gender, and religion also increased from 2000-2004 to 2005-2009. • The most common bases of discrimination alleged in complaints filed in 2005-2009 were race (30.8%), disability (27.9%), and familial status (19.6%). • Over the 20-year period, 1990-2009, cases filed alleging race discrimination accounted for 39.6% of the total, compared to 23.4% for handicap, 19.3% for familial status, 6.9% for national origin, 4.8% for sex/gender, 1.7% for religion, and 1.0% for color. • From 1990-2009, almost three-quarters of the complaints (73.9%) were filed in Cuyahoga County. • 55 local governments in the region have passed fair housing ordinances – 36 in Cuyahoga County, compared to nine in Lorain County, four Lake County, three in Ashtabula County, and three in Medina County. There are no local fair housing ordinances in Geauga County. Dillman continued, “Governments at all levels have an obligation to affirmatively further fair housing.” HUD Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing, John Trasviña, noted in January that this requirement “means not only continuing to address acts of discrimination, but also using fair housing laws to strengthen neighborhoods.” Federal law prohibits discrimination in the rental or sale of housing, and in the mortgage lending and homeowners insurance markets, based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, familial status and handicap. In addition, Ohio law prohibits discrimination based on ancestry and military status. The report recommends enacting stronger local fair housing laws, restoring Ohio’s fair housing law to make it equivalent to federal fair housing laws at all levels, strengthen the commitment of governments that receive federal funds to “affirmatively further fair housing,” creating a federal Consumer Financial Protection Agency, increasing monitoring and investigations of mortgage lenders, implementing comprehensive education efforts, ensuring that all online housing advertisements fully comply with fair housing laws, and providing government incentives and other creative solutions to combat housing discrimination and racial and economic segregation. The research was supported by funding under a grant with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The authors and publisher are solely responsible for the accuracy of the statements and interpretations contained in this publication. Such interpretations do not necessarily reflect the view of the federal government. # # # The Housing Research & Advocacy Center is a nonprofit fair housing organization whose mission is to eliminate housing discrimination and assure choice in Northeast Ohio by providing those at risk with effective information, intervention and advocacy. The Housing Center is a founding member of Greater Cleveland Community Shares.
Kirwan Institute Publishes Article on Subprime Lending in Cleveland
The Ohio State University’s Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity, as part of the Future of Fair Housing Project, publishes article by the Housing Center’s Jeffrey Dillman on Subprime Lending in the City of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County. Access the full article: Subprime Lending in the City of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County – 2010 (https://www.thehousingcenter.org/Files/Download-document/99-Subprime-Lending-in-the-City-of-Cleveland-and-Cuyahoga-County-2010.html) Read more about Kirwan Institute’s Future of Fair Housing Project. (http://kirwaninstitute.org/research/projects/future-of-fair-housing.php)