Skip to: St. Bernard 4th Contempt Motion • St. Bernard permits • St Bernard 3rd Contempt Motion • HANO Wait List • Housing Choice in Crisis • St. Bernard Parish 2nd Contempt Motion • St. Bernard Parish 1st Contempt Motion • Access Denied

FAIR HOUSING CENTER FILES FOURTH MOTION FOR CONTEMPT AGAINST ST. BERNARD PARISH

On October 13, 2009, the Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center (GNOFHAC) filed a fourth Motion for Contempt alleging St. Bernard Parish has violated the federal Fair Housing Act and a Consent Order.   On September 15, 2009, Parish officials passed an ordinance to hold a public vote on a moratorium on multi-family housing.  The special election is set for November 14, 2009.

10-14-09 Download the press release here

10-14-09 Read the nola.com article "Fair housing group says St. Bernard Parish broke housing laws again" here

10-15-09 Read the nola.com article "St. Bernard apartments battle renewed again" here

Read a comprehensive timeline of the St. Bernard lawsuit here

_________________________________________________________________________________________

FAIR HOUSING CENTER PLEASED THAT BUILDING PERMITS ISSUED; HOPEFUL THAT ST BERNARD PARISH OFFICIALS WON'T BLOCK FURTHER ATTEMPTS AT OPEN HOUSING

On October 1, 2009, St. Bernard Parish finally approved the building permits Provident Realty Advisors needed to start construction on four mixed income housing developments long delayed by the illegal and discriminatory actions of St. Bernard Parish officials. Parish Council members approved issuing the permits during a special meeting. 

10-6-09 Download the press release here

NEW! 10-4-09 Read the New York Times article "Housing Battle Reveals Post-Katrina Tensions" here

10-1-09 Read the nola.com article "St. Bernard Parish issues permits for mixed-income apartments" here

10-1-09 Read the Multifamily Executive.com article "New Orleans' St. Bernard Parish Project Nears Approval" here

_________________________________________________________________________________________

FAIR HOUSING CENTER PARTIALLY GRANTED THIRD MOTION FOR CONTEMPT AGAINST ST BERNARD PARISH

On September 11, 2009, the Honorable Judge Helen G. Berrigan generally granted the Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center’s (GNOFHAC) and Provident Realty Advisors’ third motion for contempt against St. Bernard Parish.  Judge Berrigan enjoins the Parish from “interfering or withholding approval of Provident’s re-subdivision applications,” deems Provident’s re-subdivision applications approved, sets forth several deadlines for Parish officials to meet in regards to the re-subdivision and building permit approval process, and establishes a daily sanction beginning at $5,000 the first day and increasing to $10,000 each day thereafter should the Parish “fail to meet any of the various deadlines without advance notice and good cause shown for their failure.”  Further, Judge Berrigan awards damages and refers the issue of the amounts of damages, reasonable attorneys’ fess and costs to Magistrate Judge Shushan.

In her ruling, Judge Berrigan writes “this court has repeatedly found the stated justifications given by these officials to be unsound, contrived, pretextual, and racially discriminatory.  In addition to depriving the parish of badly needed affordable housing across race lines, the continued opposition has also cost the taxpayers of St. Bernard Parish tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees and threatens to cost them significantly more in the near future.”

9-5-09 Read the Nola.com article "St. Bernard Parish Council housing plan drawing fire" here

9-9-09 Read the Nola.com article "St. Bernard Parish in court again today over fair housing violations" here

9-9-09 Read the Nola.com article "Testimony wraps up in St. Bernard Parish fair housing case; ruling expected this week" here

9-11-09 Read the press release here

9-11-09 Read the Judge's Order and Reasons here

9-11-09 Read the Nola.com article "Federal judge holds St. Bernard officials in contempt of court..." here

9-12-09 and 9-13-09 Read Jarvis DeBerry's editorials here and here

9-15-09 Read the Nola.com article "St. Bernard Parish may vote on apartment ban" here

9-15-09 Read the WWL article "St. Bernard gives voters choice of bringing large apartment complexes to parish" here

9-16-09 Read the Fox8 article "Mixed income apartment issue on November ballot" here

_________________________________________________________________________________________

FAIR HOUSING CENTER VOICES GRAVE CONCERNS ABOUT HANO'S SECTION 8 VOUCHER WAIT LIST

The Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center (GNOFHAC) has grave concerns about the process by which the Housing Authority of New Orleans (HANO) is opening its Housing Choice Voucher (“Section 8”) wait list.  The wait list is available for application from September 6 to 12, 2009.  This is the first time the application process has been opened in six years.  HANO is using its website, the Times Picayune and the Louisiana Weekly as its sole means for marketing the opening of the wait list. Because many low-income residents don’t subscribe to the Times Picayune and don’t have internet access, GNOFHAC is urging HANO to conduct TV and radio advertising to give the public adequate notice that the wait list will be open.  Additionally HANO should keep the wait list open for a minimum of 30 days rather than a mere six days.  Finally, HANO should accept voucher applications that it received as early as August 23rd, because its public notice regarding the waitlist opening has been confusing and misleading. 

9-2-09 Download the press release here

9-2-09 HANO revises Section 8 wait list process. Read the Times Picayune article here.

9-4-09 Read the nola.com editorial "HANO comes to its senses" here

9-5-09 Read Jarvis DeBerry's editorial "Housing Authority of New Orleans office is a shelter for bad guys" here

9-7-09 Read the Nola.com article "HANO scandal persists under feds," which outlines the history of HANO's mismanagement, here

_________________________________________________________________________________________

GNOFHAC AUDIT REVEALS 82% RATE OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST HOUSING CHOICE VOUCHER HOLDERS

On Thursday, August 20, 2009, the Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center (GNOFHAC) released its report Housing Choice In Crisis: An Audit Report on Discrimination Against Housing Choice Voucher Holders in the Greater New Orleans Rental Market.  Through testing, or “mystery shopping” for housing, GNOFHAC found that landlords outright refused to accept vouchers or added insurmountable requirements for voucher holders eighty-two percent (82%) of the time. 

8-20-2009 Read the full press release here.

8-20-2009 Read the report summary here. Read the full report here.

8-20-2009 Read the nola.com article "Many Landlords Reject Housing Vouchers" here

8-20-2009 Read the City Business article "Study Finds Discrimination Against Section 8 Vouchers..." here

8-24-2009 Read the Times Picayune editorial "Keep Landlords Satisfied with Section 8 Program" here

8-25-2009 Read Jordan Flaherty's article "Katrina's Victims Still Left Without Homes," which references Housing Choice in Crisis, here

Download Housing Choice in Crisis here