Program areas at Fair Housing Center of Metropolitan Detroit
The Fair Housing Center of Metropolitan Detroit conducted 444 intakes, consisting of 266 housing discrimination complaints an increase of 54 from last year and 178 general housing related inquiries. Of the 266 housing discrimination complaints, 51 involved allegations of disability discrimination, 24 race discrimination, and 5 involved allegations of source of income discrimination. As in other years, a high percentage of persons served by the Center are of low- or moderate-income LMI. Over 74 of the discrimination complaints were submitted by women, often women with children. A total of 71 of the discrimination complaints were submitted by Black or African American complainants. The Center never charges any complainant for complaint intake, investigation, fair housing testing, enforcement proceedings and resolution.
The Executive Director of the Center successfully represented complainants free of charge before the Michigan Supreme Court in Riverbrook vs Fabode, 981 N.W.2d 468 Nov. 29, 2022, establishing favorable a statewide standard for disability certifications. This decision benefits all persons in Michigan with disabilities needing reasonable accommodations and reasonable modifications in housing. Additional program accomplishments are found in on the Centers 2023 Annual Report, available on the Centers website www.fairhousingdetroit.org under About.
The Center provided over 54 fair housing training and education events. At the national level, the Centers executive director presented in HUDs Fair Housing Leadership Conference in Denver, CO. The Center also presented before the Committee on Regional Training CORT before legal service attorneys from Michigan, Indiana, West Virginia, and Ohio. State level trainings included the Michigan Commission Against Homeless and Lakeshore Legal Aid. Other training included the Michigan Realtors, Bay County Realtor Association, Grosse Pointe Board of Realtors, and Detroit Realtist Association.