Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
. Orange County, North Carolina - AIFCH - 2007 <br />1.0 INTRODUCTION <br />This Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice (AI) in Orange County is part of a <br />comprehensive program developed by the Department of Housing and Urban Development <br />(HUD) to assure that communities are meeting requirements "to affirmatively further fair <br />housing" as set forth in the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program. The goal is <br />to identify obstacles to fair housing and provide recommendations for lowering or removing <br />them. <br />"Fair housing" ensures that all citizens and non-citizens of the United States can live where they <br />want and where they can afford without regard to their race, color, national origin, sex, religion <br />or because of disability or children in the family. Federal and state laws broadly cover the <br />appraising, renting, selling/buying, financing and insuring of housing, and any other related <br />transactions. The right to fair housing is protected locally by the Orange County Civil Rights <br />Ordinance, and is supported through hundreds of state agency cases, and court and <br />administrative actions on every level. <br />It is important that each community guarantee its current and future residents that they will be <br />able to live where they want and can afford. The cost of maintaining an effective fair housing <br />program can be funded through state and federal resources, including Community Development <br />Block Grant funds. Exhibit 1 provides important questions related to determining impediments to <br />fair housing. <br />2.0 FAIR HOUSING AND THE COMMUNITY <br />2.1 Why Fair Housing is Important to the Community <br />Housing discrimination tears at the fabric of the community. The consequences of housing <br />discrimination include: <br />• Denial of housing in the area of choice and perpetuation of other housing problems <br />• Emotional harm and financial loss <br />• Denial of quality of an integrated community and associations <br />• Lack of access to expanding job opportunities in the suburbs <br />• Fewer choices of schools <br />• Negative attitudes toward the community <br />• Loss of cultural diversity <br />• Financial loss to the community through lost business opportunities <br />A good way to recognize an impediment is to ask some simple questions: <br />1. How does the rental market treat families with children, especially single parents, <br />minorities and other protected classes? <br />2 <br />