Federal Grant to Help Prevent Housing Discrimination
WASHINGTON, Oct. 6 – The Legal Assistance Corporation of Central Massachusetts has been awarded a $220,000 federal grant to help prevent discriminatory housing practices in Worcester County.
The grant, awarded by the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Fair Housing Initiatives Program, will pay for a staff of investigators to look into any unlawful housing practices in Worcester County that have victimized people because of race, religion, sex or disability.
“If people feel they’ve been victims of housing discrimination they can call our office and we can conduct an investigation and possibly refer the case to the appropriate authority,” said Jonathan Mannina, the Legal Assistance Corporation’s litigation director. “We’re very happy that this grant allows us to further help people in Worcester.”
The grant also will pay for an education program the Legal Assistance Corporation has initiated that will give landlords and tenants a clear overview of the law.
“In many cases, it’s not that landlords are intentionally being discriminatory,” Mannina said. “A lot of times, they are just not familiar with the law. Our education program helps narrow that gap.”
Mannina estimates that the Legal Assistance Corporation receives about 100 complaints a year, mostly from potential tenants who have been denied the opportunity to lease property.
“Discrimination occurs when a potential tenant is denied property for a reason not related to their ability to pay,” Mannina said. “It could be because a family has children and a landlord doesn’t want to pay for deleading or it could be for something else like the tenant’s race or religion or disability.”
One of the most extreme cases of rental discrimination in Worcester County occurred during 2000, when a landlord refused to rent to single-mother tenants on the ground that they were living in sin.
“We’re not saying that every landlord is being discriminatory,” Mannina said. “But we want to increase tenants’ and landlords’ awareness of the possibility as well as educate them on the law.”
In an effort to reach out to people already victimized by discrimination and to help deter further unlawful housing practices, the project staff will be distributing brochures in Worcester. The staff also will run workshops for residents who might be vulnerable to housing discrimination, including the homeless, elderly and disabled.
“I commend the Legal Assistance Corporation of Central Massachusetts and the city of Worcester for this impressive initiative to help victims of housing discrimination learn about their rights and obtain effective remedies,” said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., in a press release. “This timely federal grant is well-deserved and will enable this initiative to reach out to even more people who suffer unfairly from this shameful discrimination.”
