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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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FAIR HOUSING CENTER GRANTED SECOND MOTION FOR CONTEMPT AGAINST ST. BERNARD PARISH
On August 17, 2009, the Honorable Judge Helen G. Berrigan granted the Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center's (GNOFHAC) and Provident Realty Advisors' second motion for contempt against St. Bernard Parish. Judge Berrigan writes that by "subverting the re-subdivision process" to prevent Provident Realty Advisors from moving forward on construction of four multi-family housing units, the actions of St. Bernard Parish are discriminatory against African Americans in both intent and effect.
8-17-09 Download the Press Release (pdf)
8-17-09 Read the Court's Order (pdf)
8-17-09 Read the Nola.com article St. Bernard Parish broke housing laws...
8-20-09 Read Jarvis DeBerry's column Thinly veiled racism in St. Bernard Parish blocks fair housing
8-22-09 Read the Nola.com editorial Erecting Housing Barriers
8-22-09 Read Jarvis DeBerry's column Whether in New Orleans or St Bernard the Poor Aren't Welcome Anywhere
8-25-09 Read the Root article Keeping St. Bernard Parish White
8-26-09 Read the Nola.com article St. Bernard housing fight drags on despite ruling
8-27-09 Listen to the NPR story here
8-31-09 Read the Nola.com editorial Defiant on Fair Housing
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FAIR HOUSING CENTER WINS MOTION FOR CONTEMPT; ST BERNARD PARISH MUST PAY FEES, COSTS AND DAMAGES
On March 25, 2009, the Honorable Judge Helen G. Berrigan ruled that St. Bernard Parish violated a February 2008 Consent Order by banning the construction of multi-family housing in St. Bernard Parish. On July 22, 2009, Judge Berrigan held that by violating the Consent Order, the Parish was in contempt of the Order and that the Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center (GNOFHAC) and Provident Realty Advisors, Inc. can recover the costs expended in bringing the Parish's contemptuous conduct to light.
7-23-09 Download the Press Release (pdf)
7-22-09 Read the Court's order (pdf)
7-22-09 Read the Memorandum in Support of Plaintiff's Motion for Contempt and Sanctions (pdf)
7-23-09 Read the nola.com article "Federal judge rules St. Bernard Parish must cover legal fees in housing discrimination lawsuit"
7-28-09 Read the Louisiana Weekly article "GNOFHAC wins motion for contempt against St. Bernard Parish"
Read a comprehensive timeline of the St. Bernard lawsuit here
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FAIR HOUSING ACTION CENTER RELEASES RESULTS OF HOUSING ACCESSIBILITY STUDY; NON-COMPLIANCE WITH FAIR HOUSING ACT A PROBLEM FOR NEWLY DEVELOPED HOUSING
On Thursday, May 21, 2009, the Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center (GNOFHAC) revealed the results of its recent investigation into housing accessibility discrimination against people with disabilities in the New Orleans area, including Orleans, Jefferson, and St. Tammany Parishes. The investigation is the first to be conducted in the area since Hurricane Katrina. The investigation showed that 100% of the twenty-two complexes investigated were inaccessible to people with disabilities. The complexes failed to comply with one or more of the Fair Housing Act design and construction standards.
5-21-09 Download a pdf of the audit report here
5-21-09 Watch a video of the press conference here.
5-21-09 Download an illustrated fact sheet outlining the 7 design and construction requirements of the Fair Housing Act here
5-21-09 Download a pdf of the press release here
5-22-09 Read the Times Picayune article "Audit: Apartments Slight Disabled" here or download as a pdf here
5-27-09 Read Kate Scott's blog post on Access Denied on change.org here
6-1-09 Read the Times Picayune editorial "Access For All" here
6-1-09 Read the Gambit article "The Quiet Bias" here
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