Agenda - Planning Commission - 09/04/2014

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Last revised July 24, 2014 • Real Estate Steering is a discriminatory practice by a real estate agent that discourages households of color from pursuing homes in white neighborhoods, or where agents only show homebuyers homes in areas that are economically, racially, ethnically, or culturally similar to the buyer. • Barriers to Qualification include poor credit rating, insufficient resource for down payment and closing costs, linguistic and cultural factors, and at times outright discrimination, where a household of color is deemed a higher credit risk than white household despite having a roughly equivalent qualification profile. • Discrimination in rental housing is an all too common practice experienced not only by households of color but those of different national origin, people with disabilities, and other populations. Despite federal prohibitions of refusing to rent to a tenant on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, mental or physical disability, gender, or family status, proving rental discrimination can be challenging as regulatory enforcement mechanisms are weak. In July 2013, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued a proposed rule on Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing. As of July 2014, HUD has not released a final version of the rule, which is facing political challenges in the U.S. House of Representatives. As a result, federal guidance is in flux. Choice, Place and Opportunity: An Equity Assessment of the Twin Cities describes the region's history of discrimination and segregation by income and race. The Fair Housing Implementation Council provides a regional venue for local entitlement communities to develop the regional Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing and to leverage their use of Community Development Block Grant and HOME funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to affirmatively further fair housing. However, the scope of the monitoring necessary to both understand and address the full extent of housing discrimination in the region is beyond the resources available. The Council and the Council's Housing Policy Plan have a role to play in the larger regional fair housing conversation but lack the authority to tackle this issue alone. For example, the Council is planning to provide financial support to regional research and other activities related to fair housing, discriminatory lending practices, and real estate steering to identify where discriminatory practices are occurring and limiting housing choices. Local governments should also develop and adopt standards or policies for promoting fair housing and equal opportunity and report evidence of discriminatory housing practices, such as real estate steering. to the appropriate federal and state authorities. However, the scope of impediments to fair housing are beyond the role of the Council and its local government partners. While there is agreement that race -based disparities in mortgage and home lending patterns are result from discriminatory practices, there is no clear agreement on who is responsible for ending these practices. The Council hopes to engage in a larger regional conversation to develop strategies, roles, and responsibilities to expand fair housing in the Twin Cities region. Council role • Provide financial support to regional research and other activities related to fair housing, discriminatory lending practices, and real estate steering to determine if discriminatory practices are occurring and limiting housing choices. • Collaborate in regional initiatives to address discriminatory lending practices, real estate steering or other discriminatory practices found to be limiting housing choices. • Partner with HousingLink to connect renter households with opportunities and promote fair housing practices. 2040 HOUSING POLICY PLAN I METROPOLITAN COUNCIL DRAFT RELEASED FOR PUBLIC COMMENT Part IV: Opportunities for Impact I Page 69