IE Business Daily Business news for the Inland Empire.
Two Inland Empire non-profit agencies set up to fight housing discrimination will receive grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The Inland Fair Housing and Mediation Board in Ontario will receive $325,000, and the Fair Housing Council of Riverside County Inc. will get $270,895, the federal agency announced this week.
More than 100 fair-housing organizations nationwide, including 14 in California, are scheduled to receive similar grants under HUD’s Fair Housing Initiatives Program.
The money supports a variety of fair housing efforts, including fair housing testing and educating the public, housing providers and local jurisdictions about their rights and responsibilities under the U.S. Fair Housing Act.
The grant given to Inland Fair Housing is a private enforcement initiative grant, meaning the agency will use it to investigate reports of housing discrimination and report them to the proper enforcement authorities, said Lynne Anderson, the agency’s executive director.
A possible violation would be an apartment landlord with a no-pets policy banning service animals, which are not to be classified as pets under the Fair Housing Act, Anderson said.
“It’s a good grant for us,” said Anderson, who said the agency got exactly the amount it requested from HUD. “Enforcing these rules is never easy, and this should help us a lot.”
Officials with the Fair Housing Council of Riverside County could not be reached for comment.
The grants are scheduled to be distributed next spring. Both Inland agencies work in partnership with HUD and the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing.
