2

-2-

Q. What forms does this discrimination take?

A. Housing discrimination today often takes subtle but effective forms. Minorities and the other groups mentioned face higher sales or rental prices, larger down payments, longer waiting periods, less courteous or helpful attention, etc. Other techniques include:

False information - telling a prospective renter or buyer that a unit is already rented or sold when, in fact, it is not; claiming the agent is not authorized to sell or rent when, in fact, he or she is; telling homeseekers that they lack sufficient income to purchase or rent or that their credit history is inadequate or that their references "didn't check out."

Discriminatory terms - requiring a higher security deposit, down payment, cleaning deposit, hazard insurance premium, interest rate; or requiring a shorter mortgage term, thereby making the monthly payments so high as to be unaffordable.

Steering - showing blacks homes only in black or mixed neighborhoods and showing whites homes only in white neighborhoods.

Redlining - refusing to finance or insure a property or requiring higher financing terms or insurance rates because of the racial composition of the neighborhood.

Discriminatory appraisals - undervaluing property for loan purposes when the property is located in integrated or minority neighborhoods.

Q. Why hasn't the present law worked?

A. Mainly because the current law fails to provide adequate enforcement.

Under the law, HUD has a procedure that enables a victim of housing discrimination to report a violation. But the Department can do little to stop that violation. No official has authority to issue "cease and desist" orders to those found guilty of discriminating. HUD can only investigate and try to bring the two parties together to conciliate their differences. But without any power to back up its conciliation efforts, HUD has been unable to get landlords and sellers of housing to take the process seriously. Few agree to sit down with a professed victim and try to resolve a dispute. Victims also realize that the present conciliation process is ineffective and bring complaints to HUD infrequently. Fewer than 5,000 complaints are filed each year with HUD, a very small number when compared to the total estimated number of fair housing violations. Of these relatively few complaints, only a comparative handful are successfully conciliated by the department.