Fair Share Statement In Response To HUDs Announcement To Evaluate Barriers To Housing For Individuals With Justice System Involvement​

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 14th, 2022

 

Contact:

Alex Staropoli, (914) 469-0060, alexstaropoli@fairsharehousing.org

 

Fair Share Housing Center Applauds Secretary Marcia Fudge’s Internal Directive to Evaluate HUD Policy Barriers to Housing for Individuals with Justice System Involvement

New Jersey’s Fair Chance in Housing Act Provides a Model Framework for How HUD Can Further Protect Individuals with Prior Criminal Legal System Involvement from Housing Discrimination

 

NEW JERSEY–Earlier this week, HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge issued a memo to senior agency staff directing them to review all policies and guidance documents within the next six months that bar people with criminal records from housing. In response to this announcement, Fair Share Housing Center issued the following statement.

 Adam Gordon, Executive Director, Fair Share Housing Center:

“We are pleased to see HUD taking steps to eliminate barriers to housing for people with prior criminal legal system involvement and commend Secretary Fudge for her leadership on this issue. Our experience in New Jersey has shown us that these types of policies do very little to promote public safety, and instead create an insurmountable roadblock for thousands of individuals who are trying to rebuild their lives. The racial implications of these policies are also profound given that people of color are disproportionately arrested, prosecuted, and incarcerated throughout the United States. Such policies uphold structural racism and must be dismantled in our pursuit to create a more equitable nation.

Just last year, New Jersey passed the Fair Chance in Housing Act which can serve as a model framework for HUD as they undergo a review of internal policy. The first statewide law of its kind in the country, the Fair Chance in Housing Act prevents landlords from asking about an individual’s criminal background on an initial housing application, and then creates a tiered framework with lookback periods that require an individualized review after a conditional offer of housing is made. New Jersey’s Office of the Attorney General is already enforcing the law, and recently issued seven cease and desist letters to housing providers in violation. New Jersey is leading the nation on this issue, and can provide helpful guidance as HUD considers improvements to their policies.”

###

Fair Share Housing Center is a nonprofit advocacy organization that uses litigation and policy strategies to dismantle decades of racial and economic discrimination in New Jersey and nationally that excludes people from the opportunity to live in safe, healthy, and affordable housing.

You May Also Enjoy ...

Legislators Join Hurricane Ida Survivors in Calling for a Halt on Mortgage Payments with a New Bill Passing Out of Committee in the New Jersey State Senate

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 8th, 2023   Contact: Cameron Foster, cameron@newjerseyop.org, (640)-208-0118   Hurricane Ida survivors and Sen. Singleton, Sen. Zwicker, Asw. Jaffer, Asm. Atkins and Asw. Carter team up to alleviate the financial burden on struggling families.   TRENTON – On May 8, 2023, Hurricane Ida and Superstorm Sandy survivors

Watch: Leading Luminaries Discuss Residential Segregation — And How to Dismantle It

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 23rd, 2023 Contact: Jag Davies, (786) 393-8100   Watch: Leading Luminaries Discuss Residential Segregation – And How to Dismantle It  Speakers Examine Solutions to Segregation Upon Release of Matt Desmond’s Highly-Anticipated New Book Poverty, by America  What Can Policymakers & Advocates Learn From New Jersey’s Groundbreaking

Fair Share Housing Center Applauds HUD’s Advancement of Critical Fair Housing Rule

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 20th, 2023   Contact: Alex Staropoli, (914) 469-0060, alexstaropoli@fairsharehousing.org   Fair Share Housing Center Applauds HUD’s Advancement of Critical Fair Housing Rule   Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development released proposed changes to the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) rule. According to HUD, the