FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact:
July 22, 2013 Camila Gallardo
(305) 573-7329/(305) 215-4259
cgallardo@nclr.org
NCLR Conference Press Office
(504) 670-5602 (July 19-23)
NEW ORLEANS—On Monday, July 22, 2013, NCLR (National Council of La Raza) and the ERC (Equal Rights Center) unveiled a new report, “Puertas Cerradas: Housing Barriers for Hispanics,” on discriminatory housing practices at a workshop during the 2013 NCLR Annual Conference in New Orleans. The fair housing investigation—commissioned by NCLR and conducted by ERC in Birmingham, Alabama; Atlanta, Georgia; and San Antonio, Texas—explored the extent to which Latinos are subject to adverse and differential treatment when trying to secure rental housing or buy a home. The investigation utilized a “matched pair” methodology, where Hispanic and White non-Hispanic testers with virtually identical profiles interacted with housing agents in a variety of scenarios. The results provide critical insights into how discrimination practices against Latinos persist in the housing market.
“Given that Hispanics were disproportionately affected by the housing crash and represented a significant portion of those victimized by predatory lending, it was important to understand if their recovery process was being impeded further by differential treatment. Unfortunately, our investigation discovered that Latinos are still contending with discrimination in their home and rental search—discrimination that is prohibited by the federal Fair Housing Act,” said Lindsay Daniels, Associate Director, Housing and Wealth-Building Initiatives, NCLR.
This fair housing investigation revealed that Latino testers experienced at least one type of adverse, differential treatment in 95 of the 225 tests (42%) that were conducted in the three cities. In both San Antonio and Atlanta, the ERC conducted 50 phone tests and 25 in-person tests, in which trained testers contacted real estate agents about buying a home that had an online listing. In Birmingham, the ERC conducted 75 in-person tests, in which trained ERC testers contacted housing providers about an apartment listed for rent.
Several southern states with the fastest-growing Hispanic populations have pursued the harshest anti-immigrant laws, including Georgia and Alabama. These laws have resulted in a rise in anti-Latino sentiment generally, and more specifically, in housing discrimination. The results of these tests demonstrate that Hispanics in Birmingham, Atlanta and San Antonio are experiencing one or more of the following types of adverse, differential treatment when looking for housing:
–Housing agents were less willing or receptive to schedule an appointment with Hispanic testers than they were with their matched White testers.
–Agents provided Hispanic testers with fewer options than their matched White testers in terms of other homes for sale or number of units available for rent.
–In sales tests, agents provided White testers with lender recommendations or other advantageous financing information that was not provided to their matched Hispanic testers.
–In rental tests, agents quoted higher fees, costs and/or more extensive application requirements to Hispanic testers than to their matched White testers.
–On average, agents provided follow-up contact via phone or email to the White testers but not to their matched Hispanic testers.
“While the Fair Housing Act expressly prohibits discrimination based on national origin, this discrimination has not gone away, and in today’s highly charged political climate, it has gotten worse,” said panelist Don Kahl, Executive Director, Equal Rights Center. “This report and its underlying testing clearly show that the Latino community continues to be targeted. It is critical that the community is informed about how to identify and report incidents of discrimination and that the community knows that there are advocates, such as the ERC, to help them maneuver through the process.”
“A growing Latino community has helped play an important part in rebuilding a post-Katrina New Orleans. We need to ensure that they are not being kept from helping to enrich our communities further because they are being subjected to unfair or unequal treatment in the housing market,” said panelist James Perry, Executive Director, Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center.
At today’s workshop, a panel of housing experts unveiled the report’s findings and addressed the important intersection of fair housing laws and discrimination against immigrants. The panel also provided critical information for how attendees can work to create more awareness about fair housing discrimination within their own communities and file fair housing complaints when violations occur.
NCLR—the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States—works to improve opportunities for Hispanic Americans. For more information on NCLR, please visit www.nclr.org or follow along on Facebook and Twitter. Follow the conversation about the 2013 NCLR Annual Conference on Twitter at #NCLR13.
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