Agenda - 05-16-2006-5j - Laserfiche WebLink

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t' I City of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio 46 A8 o BA Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice 9.0 IDENTIFICATION OF ISSUES The HUD Fair Housing Planning Guide and related regulations describe impediments to fair housing choice as follows: Impediments to fair housing choice are any actions, omissions, or decisions taken because of race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status or national origin which restrict housing choices, or any actions, omissions, or decisions which have the effect of restricting housing choices or the availability of housing choices on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status or national origin. Policies, practices or procedures that appear neutral on their face, but which operate to deny or adversely affect the provision of housing to persons of a particular race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status, or national origin may constitute such impediments. As stated above, impediments to equal housing choice may take the form of governmental or private action, and may otherwise constitute facially neutral or innocent conduct. The Fair Housing Act prohibits conduct that has the effect of discriminating against protected groups, as well as intentional discrimination. With these principles in mind, our Identification of impediments is limited to two broad categories of current or potentially discriminatory circumstances we encountered during the conduct of this Analysis. This does not mean that there are not other impediments to fair housing choice. Due to the need to complete this Analysis in a very short time period it was not possible to fully explore some areas as the City would want. However, the Consultants did find that the City has a very positive attitude to assuring that Fair Housing Choice is a practice that is supported and enforced. One - Fair Housing - We would encourage the City to put fair housing information on their web site, either under the community development departments or as a separate web page. Also, continued consideration should be given to offer education in fair housing to the real estate and rental industry, lenders, other housing providers and the general public,. Effective education is an important component of a successful fair housing program, Currently there is no fair housing activity in the City except what is being provided by two county organizations. The City needs to consider providing a comprehensive fair housing program for its residents, This is essential if the City hopes to maintain its eligibility for federal CDBG funds. Two - Lending - While the issue of predatory lending was included in the lending discussions there was not information available regarding specific predatory lending complaints, This does not lessen the concern, with the changes in population, the growth