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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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LOCAL FILMMAKERS WIN AWARD FOR SHORT FILM ON THE DEMOLITION OF PUBLIC HOUSING
This past weekend, "St. Joe", an experimental short on the demolition of public housing by local filmmaker Luisa Dantas, was awarded the prize of "Best Short" by the Patois: 6th Annual New Orleans International Human Rights Film Festival jury! "St. Joe" is also just a small part of an ongoing multi-platform documentary project. More at http://www.joluproductions.com.
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GNOFHAC ATTORNEY QUOTED IN ARTICLE ON NIMBY-ISM IN NEW ORLEANS EAST
"An affordable housing proposal that has produced vehement opposition from residents of the upscale Lake Carmel subdivision in eastern New Orleans resulted in a 4-4 vote at a City Planning Commission meeting this week. ... Lucia Blacksher, an attorney for the Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center, said the city has a dire need for affordable housing and warned that efforts by public officials to block projects such as Foley's could violate the federal Fair Housing Act."
3-25-09 Read the Times Picayune article here
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FAIR HOUSING CENTER CALLS ON GOVERNOR JINDAL TO ACCEPT ALL STIMULUS PACKAGE FUNDS
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal has said that he will not accept all of the funding set aside for Louisiana in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 that President Obama recently signed into law. Please contact Gov. Jindal today and demand that he accept all of the nearly $4 billion dedicated to Louisiana!
Specifically, Governor Jindal has rejected $98 million in increased unemployment benefits. In the face of a slow recovery from hurricanes across the southern part of the state, a high unemployment rate, and high foreclosure rate, Louisiana needs the expanded unemployment assistance offered in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009!
2-26-09 Contact Governor Jindal NOW.
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FAIR HOUSING CENTER WINS LAWSUIT AGAINST ST BERNARD PARISH; PARISH MUST RESCIND MORATORIUM
On March 25, 2009, the Honorable Judge Helen G. Berrigan granted the Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center's (GNOFHAC) motion seeking enforcement of a Consent Order entered on February 7, 2008 in Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center v. St. Bernard Parish et al, Case No. 06-7185, United States District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana.
The February 27, 2008 Consent Order resolved GNOFHAC's challenge to a multi-family moratorium St. Bernard enacted immediately after Hurricane Katrina, as well as an ordinance that restricted the rental of single-family residences in St. Bernard Parish to those related by blood to the owner of the property.
3-25-09 Read the full press release here
3-25-09 Read the Judge's decision here
3-25-09 Read the Times Picayune article "Federal judge rules against St. Bernard Parish in multi-family housing lawsuit" here
3-27-09 Read the Times Picayune article "Parish's Housing Ban Gets Tossed" here
FAIR HOUSING CENTER SEEKS REPEAL OF ST. BERNARD PARISH MULTI-FAMILY MORATORIUM
The Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center (GNOFHAC) filed a motion today seeking enforcement of a Consent Order entered on February 27, 2008, in Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center v. St. Bernard Parish et al, Case No. 06-7185, United States District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana. GNOFHAC’s motion alleges that St. Bernard Parish’s recently enacted moratorium on multi-family housing violates the Consent Order, which enjoins the Parish from violating the Fair Housing Act and other civil rights laws that prohibit race discrimination.
12-18-08 Read the press release here
12-18-08 Read more about the St. Bernard case here
3-11-09 Lawsuit goes to court. Read the Times Picayune press coverage here and here
New! Timeline of St. Bernard Parish case
