Housing group's audit finds bias against black renters

Two-thirds of local property managers rejected or discouraged black renters in favor of whites either by charging them higher rents or telling them that the units were unavailable, according to a housing study released Wednesday.

The year long audit, performed by nonprofit advocacy group Housing Opportunities Made Equal, found that landlords and property managers across Hampton Roads subtly discouraged black renters from moving into largely white neighborhoods.

The discrimination occurred in all seven Hampton Roads cities and across all income levels, at both large apartment complexes and at single-family homes. And it's gotten worse.

More renters faced discrimination this year than during a similar study in 2002, which showed that 60 percent of black renters were discouraged from certain properties. The findings indicate that local educational efforts to inform property owners and managers about fair housing laws have failed, Connie Chamberlin, president and CEO of HOME, said.

Now, the only way to get property owners' attention is to file lawsuits against them, she said. Chamberlin hinted that her organization is preparing to take legal action in a number of incidents based on the audit.

"It's clear that somebody's not taking it seriously," she said. "There are others who will only change their practices if they are held to account, and the price of violating those laws is high.

"These are the kinds of things you'd have expected to see 50 years ago, but that you really shouldn't be seeing today."

The agency's audit, paid for by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, also revealed that disabled renters fared poorly when searching for apartments and houses to rent.

A survey of 25 newly built apartment complexes across the region revealed that nearly 90 percent failed to meet accessibility requirements, and a majority of landlords refused to accept service animals such as seeing-eye dogs - a violation of housing laws.

"There's been training and education on this issue for 20 years, so it's very discouraging," Chamberlin said.

The group tested 165 properties in Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Chesapeake, Virginia Beach, Hampton and Newport News from March 2007 to August 2008. Chamberlin declined to specify which properties and landlords denied housing availability to disabled and minority renters, saying that her agency is still looking into some violations for enforcement.

Part of the audit involved sending pairs of similarly qualified renters to 50 apartment complexes, small multi-family units and single-family homes. One renter, who had a slightly better credit rating and income level, was black. The other was white. Among the results:

- A black renter was told prices for an apartment were $100 above what the white renter was quoted.

- A property manager requested a $929 down payment from a black renter, while charging a white renter $250.

- A black renter was told no units were available while a white renter was shown several units.

"You'll see in many of these cases, if you didn't have the comparison, you wouldn't be able to tell you'd been discriminated against," Chamberlin said. "It strikes at the heart of your ability to take care of your family."

According to fair housing laws, landlords and property managers cannot discriminate on the basis of race. In the case of disabled renters, managers must accept service animals and make reasonable accommodations, such as installing ramps and grab bars.

Along with legal enforcement action against the landlords who violated the law, Chamberlin said HOME representatives plan to meet with local housing officials to improve the apartment construction process and ensure that accessibility issues are addressed. She also said her agency plans to seek changes to state law that would require property managers to be certified through fair-housing training.

It's morally and ethically important for the report's findings to be addressed, said Andrew Friedman, Virginia Beach's director of housing and neighborhood preservation.

It's not just property managers who need to hear the message, said Tina Bradley, past president of Hampton Roads' chapter of the National Association of Residential Property Managers.

Real estate agents and owners of just a few properties also need to learn the laws, she said.

"There needs to be a whole lot more education," she said. "And there needs to be a stiffer penalty.

"Discriminating against anyone for anything is just wrong. Some people need to be taught that lesson."

Meghan Hoyer, (757) 446-2293, meghan.hoyer@pilotonline.com