Fair Housing

Last Friday, I attended a seminar on “Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing: What is Required” which was presented by the North Carolina Fair Housing Project. The session was very informative, and I thought you might be interested to learn more about fair housing as well!

The Fair Housing Act was passed in April of 1968. It was in passed in the midst of the Civil Rights Movement in response to housing segregation based on race. It prohibits discrimination in housing based on the 7 “protected classes” which are:

• race
• color
• national origin
• religion
• gender
• familial status
• disability

Under the Fair Housing Act, no one can refuse to rent or sell housing, refuse to negotiate for housing, make housing unavailable, or deny a dwelling based on any of the protected classes. It also prohibits falsely denying that housing is available or trying to persuade a homeowner to sell or rent to a particular type of person. The ultimate goal of the Fair Housing Act is to end segregation, primarily based on racial and national origin.

The Fair Housing Act challenges HUD to do more than just refrain from discrimination. HUD must also “assist in ending discrimination and segregation,” and it is required to administer programs in a manner that “affirmatively” furthers the policies of the Fair Housing Act. Local programs that receive money from HUD must meet these same standards.

Legal Aid of North Carolina is working to protect the residents of North Carolina by promoting fair housing with the North Carolina Fair Housing Project. If you live in the state of North Carolina and you believe your fair housing rights have been violated, contact HUD’s regional office in Atlanta at 404-331-5140 or 1-800-440-8091.

Check back soon to learn more about what Forsyth County is doing to affirmatively further fair housing, particularly in regard to those with disabilities. 

Why Do People Live Where They Live?

Have you ever thought about why you decided to live where you do? Some people live in the same general area their entire life and probably never give much thought to this question. Some might move around more frequently to new locations that are dictated by jobs. And others might have more freedom to choose the location where they live. Whatever your circumstances are, there were probably a variety of factors that played into your decision to live in a particular home in a particular neighborhood.

Money Crashers recently published an article “Where Should I Live? 14 Important Factors When Deciding the Best Place to Live” which analyzes the most important factors in choosing a home. It analyzes the following fourteen factors:

1. Affordability
2. Taxes
3. Employment Opportunities
4. Real Estate Value
5. Crime Rates and Statistics
6. Proximity to Family and Friends
7. Climate
8. Education System
9. Culture
10. Commute Time and Public Transportation Options
11. Food Options
12. Town or City Size
13. Healthcare Facilities
14. Proximity to an Airport

Depending on the stage in your life, the importance of these factors could fluctuate over time. For example, employment opportunities might be the most important factor for a recent college graduate, while the education system might be most important for a young family, and the healthcare facilities might be most important for a retired couple.

Andriana Bicanin, the former AmeriCorps VISTA at the Forsyth County Department of Housing, did a survey of homeowners that had participated in the New Century IDA program. One of the questions she was interested in answering was “Why did you choose to purchase this home?” Of all the homes in Forsyth County, how did you choose to purchase this particular home, in this particular neighborhood?

Andriana’s survey listed 12 reasons for purchasing a certain home. Participants were asked to rank up to 5 reasons why they purchased their home. The survey found that among IDA graduates, the three most common reasons for choosing a particular home were proximity to work, proximity to retail, and the quality of the school district. 20% of participants ranked “proximity to work” as the top reason for purchasing their home, and 20% ranked “proximity to retail” as the top reason. 15% of participants ranked the school district as the top reason for purchasing their home. Other popular factors included proximity to work, proximity to supermarkets, proximity to public transportation, and proximity to parks.

By looking at both Money Crashers’ list of important factors and Andriana’s survey results, it is obvious that convenience is very important. People want a home that is convenient to the places that they travel the most frequently, such as work, grocery stores, school, and family and friends. It is likely that this will only increase in importance as gas prices rise and transportation costs increase.

While convenience is a major factor in a choice of a home, there are so many other factors in play, some of which you may not even be aware. Let us know how you chose your home, then stay tune for more discussion on housing and its connections with other aspects of our community!

Congratulations, Wave 28!!

Last night Wave 28 graduated from the New Century IDA program. It was an exciting evening for the graduates, their family and friends, and all of the sponsors and success coaches who were involved with these clients over the last year.

Graduating from New Century is quite an achievement. Each graduate completed 24 hours of financial literacy training, which includes topics such as budgeting, wise use of credit, reducing debt, preparing for homeownership, and investing for the future. Each participant also learned to transition from a lifestyle pattern of consumption to one of saving. They learned to budget and save money by opening an Individual Development Account, which they have been contributing to for the past year. Adopting a new behavior is difficult, and it required a commitment from each graduate.

Throughout the celebration last night, graduates also received some words of wisdom. Success Coach Bianca Green reminded the graduates that they will still face challenges. However, Ms. Green said, “You can only hold yourself accountable.” She said each graduate must stay true to their goals and aspirations, and “stay in the lane” on the way to homeownership. She also reminded graduates to love themselves. She said you must love yourself enough to make the decisions that will help you achieve the goal of homeownership, and you must love yourself enough not to let anyone cause you to lose focus.

It was a great night and a great celebration honoring Wave 28 and all of their hard work over the past year. As graduates of New Century IDA they are prepared for homeownership, and we look forward to seeing how their journey to homeownership progresses in the coming months. Check our Facebook page for more pictures of Wave 28’s graduation!