FAIR HOUSING IN WESTCHESTER AND · 2019. 3. 26. · Westchester County Demographic Composition According to the American Community Survey, in 2017 Westchester had a population of

All contents © 2019 Westchester Residential Opportunities, Inc.

FAIR HOUSING IN WESTCHESTER AND THE LOWER HUDSON VALLEY REGION

Fair Housing Testing Report December 2015 – December 2018

The presentation and analysis in this report reflect the results of the specific project and do not purport to make any further general

statements about a particular geographic area or housing provider.

This project was made possible by a generous grant from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.

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FAIRHOUSINGINWESTCHESTERANDTHELOWERHUDSONVALLEY

PROJECTSUMMARY

Westchester Residential Opportunities, Inc. (“WRO”) was founded in 1968 andremainstheonlyprivatenonprofitfairhousingagencyintheLowerHudsonValleyregionofNewYorkStatethatconductsongoingfairhousingenforcementaswellasfairhousingeducationandoutreach.AspartoftheU.S.DepartmentofHousingandUrbanDevelopment(“HUD”)FairHousingInitiativesProgramfundingprocessin2015,WROappliedforathree-yearPrivateEnforcementInitiativeprogramgranttoconductfairhousingtestsofhousingprovidersandprofessionalsoperatinginWestchesterCountyandtheLowerHudsonValleyregionofNewYork.WROwasawardedthatgrant,beganitsthree-yearfairhousingtestingprograminlateDecember2015,andconcludeditinlateDecember2018.Duringthatperiod,WRO conducted a series of fair housing tests inWestchester County and othercountieswithintheLowerHudsonValleyregionofNewYork(principallyRocklandCounty,aswellaslimitedtestinginBronx,Dutchess,Orange,Putnam,QueensandUlstercounties).Thetestslookedathousingdiscriminationonthebasisofvariousprotectedclasses.Aprotectedclassisacategoryorgroupofindividualsprotectedfromdiscriminationunder federal, stateor local laws.1This reportpresentsandanalyzesthefindingsofthetestingproject.Tests were conducted both as in-person visits with housing providers andprofessionalsandbytelephone,ineachcasewithtestersposingaspotentialhomebuyersorrentersorasproxiesforpotentialhomebuyersorrenters.Typicallyourtesters would be interested in purchasing or renting a specific property orapartment, although in some cases testers presented as being interested in aselectedregionorcommunityorpropertytypewithouthavingaspecificpropertyinmind.

1 The federal protected classes under the Fair Housing Act are race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability and familial status. In the case of lending transactions, ECOA also federally protects individuals on the basis of race or color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, age and the applicant’s receipt of income derived from any public assistance program. New York State also adds marital status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression and military status, and Westchester County additionally adds victims of domestic abuse, sexual abuse and stalking, citizenship or alienage status and source of income. Source of income protection refers to protection against discrimination on the basis of the source of lawful, verifiable income derived from social security or any form of federal, state or local public assistance or housing assistance, including “Section 8”, any disability payment and assistance, grant or loan program from a private housing assistance organization.

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Testingisconductedbyhousingadvocatesatnon-profitorganizationsacrossthecountrytoinvestigatecompliancewith,andenforcefairhousingandfairlendinglawsunder,thefederalFairHousingAct2andtheEqualCreditOpportunityAct,3aswellasstateandlocalequivalentlaws.“Audit-basedorsystemictesting”isusedgenerallywheresegregated lendingorhousingpatternsoccurorwherehistoric,anecdotalorpriorcomplaintsofdiscriminationmayhaveoccurred. “Complaint-based testing” attempts to investigate individual complaints of potentialdiscrimination.WhileWRO’sfairhousingstaffreceivedandinvestigatedmanyfairhousingcomplaintsfromthepublic,themajorityofthetestingforthisprojectwasaudit-based.WROutilizedbothmatched-pairtestingandsingleparttestingtouncoverevidenceofdiscriminationagainstmembersofaprotectedclass.WROusesbestpracticesthat were developed in consultation with agencies across the country and hasadaptedthemto fit themissionof theorganizationandtheneedsof itsservicearea.WRO’sapproachtotesting isdiscussed inmoredetail intheMethodologyandReviewofTerminologysectionbelow.

2 42 U.S.C. § 3601 et seq. 3 15 U.S.C. § 1691 et seq.

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ABOUTWESTCHESTERRESIDENTIALOPPORTUNITIES

Westchester Residential Opportunities is a HUD-certified housing counselingagency and fair housing organization operating in its home community ofWestchesterCountyandalsoservingtheLowerHudsonValleyregionofNewYork.WRO’s mission is to promote equal, affordable and accessible housingopportunities forall residentsofourregion.WRO’smainprogramareas includeFair Housing, Mortgage Default Prevention, Senior Housing, First Time HomeBuying,EvictionPreventionandIndependentLiving.

WRO’sfairhousingdepartmentinvestigatescomplaintsofunlawfuldiscriminationinhousingandlendingandconductssystemicinvestigationsofhousingandhomelendingdiscrimination.AsaqualifiedfairhousingorganizationfundedbytheU.S.Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), WRO is authorized toinvestigate and enforce fair housing laws and does so by bringing complaintsthroughHUD’s administrative process, through local HUD-partners, such as theWestchesterCountyHumanRightsCommission,andwhereappropriate,throughlitigationinfederalandstatecourts.

Inadditiontoconductingfairhousingandfair lendingtesting,WROhasassistedhundredsofcomplainantswithfairhousingissuesinexercisingtheirrightsunderfederal, state and local fair housing laws. In particular,WROhas assistedmanyindividuals with disability-related fair housing complaints, such as the filing ofrequestsforreasonableaccommodationsandmodifications,andhasalsoassistedindividuals who encounter issues related to discrimination based on source ofincome,suchasSection8vouchers,undertheWestchesterCountyHumanRightsLaw.

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ABOUTTHEREGION

Ourtestingmethodologiesandprioritiesareheavilyinformedbythedemographicsoftheregionweserve.OurcoretargetareaisWestchesterCounty,followedbyRocklandandPutnamCounties.Thefollowinghighlightssomeofthedemographicchallengesthesecountiesface.

WestchesterCounty

DemographicComposition

According to the American Community Survey, in 2017 Westchester had apopulation of 975,321, with 65.4% identifying as white, 14.6% black, and 5.9%Asian.Intermsofethnicity,24%ofWestchesterresidentsidentifiedasHispanicorLatino.

RacialSegregation

Overall, in 2017 Westchester had a white to non-white dissimilarity index ofroughly49,meaninghalfof thewhitepopulationwouldhave tomove fornon-whiteandwhiteresidentstobeevenlyspreadacrosstractsintheCounty.Levelsofminoritypopulations,andtheirresultingresidentialopportunities,differfromtowntotown.Thoughminoritygroupsarerepresentedinoveralldemographics,manyof thesepopulationsareconcentrated ina select fewneighborhoods.Forexample,in2016,19WestchestertownsandvillageshadLatinopopulationsoflessthan 2%. This stands in comparison to the county-wide rate of 24%, and tocommunitieswithgreaterLatinopopulations,suchasPortChesterwith59%andSleepyHollowat51%.Similarly,Westchester’sblackpopulationsarelumpedintoalimitedsetofcommunities.Overtwo-thirdsofWestchestertowns,villagesandcitieshadblackpopulationsoflessthan5%in2016.

Beyond the county level, segregation also occurs within communities. TheWestchestermunicipalitiesofMountVernon,Yonkers,PortChester,NewRochelleandWhitePlainsallearnplacesinthetopfifteenNewYorkcitieswiththehighestsegregation between black and white residents. Mount Vernon is the mostsegregatedofWestchestercitieswithadissimilarityindexof69.4(Yonkersisclosebehind at 68.2).This is due tomany factors, includingWestchester’s history ofresidentialsegregationandtheimpactofexclusionaryzoninglaws.

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WestchesterCountyalsohassignificantincomeinequality.Rankedashavingthe14thhighest income inequality inAmerica, and the secondhighest inNewYork,Westchester has aGini coefficient of 0.54.4 This places it higher than the stateaverageof0.51andthenationalmedianof0.48.Thisspeakstoracialinequalityaswell, with income and race highly correlated throughout the county. Whereaswhite residents face anunemployment rateof 5.5%,black and Latino residentsexperienceagreaterrateat9.9%and7.4%,respectively.

RocklandCounty

DemographicComposition

LessraciallydiversethanWestchester,in2017Rocklandwas70.9%white,12.5%black,6.1%Asian,2.6%multi-racialand7.8%someotherrace.Around17.3%ofRockland’spopulationidentifiedasLatino,withalmostaquarterofLatinoresidentsidentifyingthemselvesasPuertoRican.

RacialSegregation

SimilartoWestchester,RocklanddemonstratesanunequaldistributionofitsLatinopopulation.Whereas some communities, such asHaverstrawand SpringValley,haveLatinopopulationsofover40%,26communitieshaveapopulationof lessthan15%.Similarly,Rockland’sblackpopulationremainsclusteredinaselectfewneighborhoods.Thoughcomprising36.8%and24.0%ofSpringValleyandNyack’spopulations,blackresidentsmakeuplessthan10%ofthecommunityinsixteenothertownsandvillagesinRockland.Additionally,Rockland’smostdiverseareaisalsoitsmostsegregated.Basedonanalysisof2010censusdata,SpringValleytopstheNewYork charts forwhite/multiracial dissimilarity index at 59.3, and is theseventhmost segregated city inNewYork for black andwhite residentswith awhite/blackdissimilarityindexof60.5.

Religion

Rockland ishometomultiplereligiousgroups.This includesasignificantRomanCatholicpopulationat53.4%andasignificantiflessnumerousJewishpopulationat 12.1%. Evangelical and mainline Protestant congregations both individually

4 Gini coefficient, or Gini index, is a statistical measure of distribution that is often used to track economic inequality. It measures how wealth is distributed in a given population, with a value of 0 meaning perfect economic equality, and a value of 1 meaning perfect inequality.

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makeup10.3%ofthepopulation.ThemostsignificantareaofconcernamongstRockland’s religious groups is the recent influx of ultra-orthodoxHasidic Jewishresidents and the development of predominantly ultra-orthodox Hasidic JewishcommunitieswithinRockland.ManyRocklandresidentshavevoicedconcernoverthe county’s Hasidic communities, including complaints of block-busting,incongruously high-density development and both density and substandardhousingandreligiousschoolsinviolationofzoningandbuildingcodes.

RocklandhasaGini coefficientof .4684.Thoughbelowthestatemedian, it stillremainshigher than thenationalaverage.This income inequalityalsospeaks toracialgaps.Forexample,15.2%ofwhiteRocklandresidentslivebelowthepovertylevel, in comparison to 18.2% of Latino residents. Though Rockland’s blackpopulationhasaslighterlowerpovertyrateat9.3%,itsunemploymentrateis38%higherthanitswhitecounterpart.

PutnamCounty

At89.1%white,PutnamCountydemonstrates the least racialdiversityamongstlowerHudsonValleycounties.Nootherracialgroupismoresignificantthan4%.Ethnically,13.8%ofresidentsidentifyasLatino.However,theLatinopopulationislargelysegregatedintojusttwotowns–BrewsterandCarmel.Putnamalsolackssignificant rental housing stock, which creates a supply/demand imbalance forrenters, andmuch of the rental stock is in two- to four-family owner-occupiedhouses,whichinmanycasesareexemptedfromfairhousingprotections.

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PROTECTEDCLASSESTestingunder this grant involved investigations basedonanumberofdifferentprotectedcategoriesunderthefederalFairHousingActandapplicablestateandlocalfairhousinglaws.

Protected classes under the Fair Housing Act (FHA) and state and local fairhousinglaws:

The federal Fair Housing Act covers seven protected categories. ProtectedcategorieshavebeenaddedatthestateandlocallevelsinthejurisdictionswheretestingwasconductedforWRO’sinvestigations.

ProtectedClassesunderApplicableFairHousingLaws–Federal,State,andCountyFederal:

• Race• Color• NationalOrigin• Religion• Sex• Disability• FamilialStatus

NewYorkStateadds:

• MaritalStatus• Age• SexualOrientation• MilitaryStatus• GenderIdentityandExpression

RocklandCounty,NewYorkadds:• Creed• Age

WestchesterCounty,NewYorkadds:• CitizenshiporAlienageStatus• VictimsofDomesticAbuse,SexualAbuseandStalking• SourceofIncome

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METHODOLOGYANDREVIEWOFTERMINOLOGY

For this project,WRO conducted testingof housingproviders andprofessionalsover a three-year period spanning from late December 2015 through lateDecember 2018. A total of 506 tests were conducted and encompassedinvestigationsthatincludednumerousprotectedcategories.

Testingconductedunderthisgrantwasboth“complaint-based”and“audit-based”testing.Complaint-basedtestingattemptstoinvestigateindividualcomplaintsofpotentialdiscrimination.Audit-basedtestingisusedwhenthereisadesiretolookataparticulartypeoforganization,geographicareaorprotectedclass.

BackgroundonFairHousingTesting

Fairhousingtestingisavaluabletooltogatherevidenceofdifferentialtreatmentbyhousingprovidersandprofessionals,suchaslandlords,propertymanagers,andrealestateagents,andcanshinealightonpotentialdiscriminationwhereitmaynothaveotherwisebeendiscovered.

Testing is conducted to isolate the treatment by a housing provider towards amemberofaprotectedclassunderthelaw.A“protectedclass”isacategoryorgroupofindividualsprotectedfromdiscriminationunderfederal,stateand/orlocallaws.TheprotectedclassesundertheFairHousingActarerace,color,religion,sex,handicap[disability],familialstatus,andnationalorigin.5NewYorkState,RocklandandWestchesterCountiesaddtothelistofprotectedclasses(seechartonpreviouspageforacompletelistingofprotectedclasses).

Sinceitsinceptionin1968,WROhasconductedthousandsoffairhousingtestsinresponsetoindividualcomplaintsandaspartofaudit-basedinvestigations.WRO’stestersrecordedtheaudiooftheirsitevisitsandphonecalls,whichproveshelpfulin accurately analyzing the tests. All of WRO’s testing under this grant wasconductedintheStateofNewYork.

5 Fair Housing Act of 1968, as amended, 42 USC § 3605.

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Theterminologyusedinassessingtheresultsofthetests

WROusedthefollowingclassificationsystemtodescribetheoutcomesofthetests.Theterminologyappliedtotheresultsofaparticulartestdependsonwhetherthetestconductedwasamatched-pairtestoratestutilizingasingletester.

Matched-PairTests:Matched-pairtestingisamethodologythatutilizesatleasttwotesters,typicallyonecontroltesterand one protected class tester. Matched-pair testing istypicallyusedinsituationswheretheinvestigationreliesonanalysisofcomparativetreatmentofthetwotestersbythehousingprovider.Inmatched-pairtests,protectedclasstestersareatleastaswellsituatedintermsofincomeandcreditscore,andinothermaterialaspectsareasidenticalaspracticaltothecontroltester,butforbelongingtotheprotectedclassbeinginvestigated.WRO used the following terminology to characterize the outcome of tests thatwereconductedusingamatched-pairedmethodology.

Equal:Thedesignationof“equal”indicatesthatduringthecourseofthetestthe protected class tester received substantially equal treatment by thehousingproviderorprofessionalrelativetothecontroltester.

Unequal: Matched-pair tests were designated “unequal” where theprotectedclasstesterreceivedsubstantiallydifferenttreatmentrelativetothe control tester. Examples of tests thatwere considered to beunequalwere situationswhere ahousingprovider provided substantially differentterms and conditions to theprotected class tester relative to the controltester.Anotherexamplewouldbewhereaprotectedclasstesterisinformedthataparticularhousingunitisnotavailableforrent,whereasthecontroltesterisadvisedthattheunitisinfactavailable.

Unclear:Someofthetestswereconsideredtobe“unclear”.Thismayhaveresultedfromsituationswhereatestwassubstantiallycompleted,buttheresults were too ambiguous to conclude whether the treatment wasdiscriminatoryornot,orsituationswhereatestwasdesignedprincipallytogather information regarding the test site (generally in anticipation ofstructuring a subsequent test) and not to actually investigate fordiscrimination.

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Incomplete: Occasionally a test is considered “incomplete” or “invalid”,typicallyifatesterprovided“off-script”misinformationduringthetestthatcreates a non-protected dissimilarity between the matched-pair, or insituationswherethetestwasnotsubstantiallycompleted.Thesetestswerenotcountedinanalyzingresults.

SinglePartTests:Testswhereasingletesterwasutilizedweretypicallyconductedwhen the testerwas investigating a housing provider orprofessional’s compliance with a law or policy. For example, testsbasedonalandlord’swillingnesstorenttoaprospectivetenantwitha“Section8”voucher,ortoaprospectivetenantwithavalidemotionalsupportanimalinano-petsbuilding,arefrequentlyconductedassingleparttests.Singleparttestsareusedwheretheissuebeinginvestigateddoesnotrequireanyanalysisofcomparativetreatmentbetweentwoormoretesters.WROusedthefollowingterminology to characterize the outcome of tests that were conducted using asingletestermethodology.

Violative:Testsweredesignatedas“violative”wherethehousingproviderorprofessionaldidnot complywith thepolicybeing tested,or thepolicyadoptedbythehousingproviderorprofessionalwasitselfinviolationoffairhousinglaws.

NotViolative:Testsdesignated“notviolative”werecaseswherethehousingproviderorprofessional adoptedapolicy that compliedwith fair housinglawsandthehousingproviderprovidedaccurateinformationconcerningthepolicyoractedincompliancewiththepolicybeingtested.

Unclear:Someofthetestswereconsideredtobe“unclear”.Thismayhaveresultedfromsituationswhereatestwassubstantiallycompleted,buttheresults were too ambiguous to conclude whether the treatment wasdiscriminatoryornot,orsituationswhereatestwasdesignedprincipallytogather information regarding the test site (generally in anticipation ofstructuring a subsequent test) and not to actually investigate fordiscrimination.

Incomplete: Occasionally a test is considered “incomplete” or “invalid”,typicallyifatesterprovided“off-script”misinformationduringthetestthatmightprovideanalternateexplanationforotherwiseviolativeresults,orin

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situationswherethetestwasnotsubstantiallycompleted.Thesetestswerenotcountedinanalyzingresults.

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TESTRESULTS

WRO fair housing staff completed a total of 506 tests pursuant to this grantprogramduring the three-year grant period fromDecember 2015 toDecember2018.ThesetestwereconductedinWestchesterCountyandothercountieswithinthe Lower Hudson Valley of New York (principally Rockland County, as well aslimitedtestinginBronx,Dutchess,Orange,Putnam,QueensandUlstercounties).The rental and sales testswereconductedon thebasisofa seriesofprotectedclassesincluding:familialstatus,nationalorigin,race,disability,sourceofincome,familialstatus,maritalstatus,sexualorientation,age,genderidentity,religion,sex,domesticviolencevictimhoodandcriminalconvictionstatus.Investigationswerealso conducted of accessible design and construction requirements in newlyconstructedbuildings.

Tenofthose506testsweredeemed“Incomplete”andthusarenotincludedintheresultsanalyzedbelow.Outofthe496includedtests,404wererentaltests,71weresalestests,and21wereaccessibledesignandconstruction(ADC)tests.Sometests look at multiple protected classes, for instance source of income anddisability,andsowillappearinresultsforbothtestingcategories.

OverallResultsOutofthe496completedtests,151ofthetests(or30%)weredeemedequalornotviolative,164(33%)wereunequalorviolativeand181(37%)wereunclear.

30%

33%

37%

OVERALLRESULTS

Equal Unequal Unclear

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Note that for purposes of depicting our results graphically, we use “Equal” todenotebothequalandnotviolative test results, and“Unequal” to denote bothunequalaswellasviolativetestresults.

Approximately 82% of thetests took place inWestchester County,whilethe remaining 18% of thetests occurred acrossnearby counties in NewYork, principally Rockland County, but also Bronx, Dutchess, Orange, Putnam,QueensandUlstercounties.

OverallResultsbyProtectedClassTheprotectedclassesof race, familial status,nationaloriginanddisabilityweretested in both the rental and salesmarket. Amongst these categories,Unequalrateswere:disability(38%),familialstatus(29%),race(28%),andnationalorigin(9%).

Race

Out of the 496 tests, 46 (9%)examined race. Our resultswereasfollows:

82%

10%

2%0%

2%0%

4%

0%Westchester

Rockland

Putnam

Queens

Bronx

Orange

Dutchess

Ulster

44%

28%

28%Equal

Unequal

Unclear

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FamilialStatus

31tests(6%ofthetotaltests)wereconductedonthebasisoffamilialstatus.Ourresultswereasfollows:

NationalOrigin

11ofourtestswerebasedonnationalorigin.Ourresultswereasfollows:

39%

29%

32%Equal

Unequal

Unclear

64%9%

27%


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Disability

Of the total 496 tests, 271 (55%) tested for disability as a protected class,sometimes in connection with other protected classes. Our results across alldisability-relatedtestswereasfollows:

RentalTestsNationalOrigin

Ninenationaloriginrentaltestswerecompleted.AlloftheseteststookplaceinWestchester,andoneexaminedbothraceandnationaloriginduetothemulti-ethnicstatusofthetester.Sevenofthetestswereequal,onewasunequalandthreewereunclear.

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8


27%

38%

35%


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DomesticViolenceVictim

Fourteen testswere conducted to examine the treatment of domestic violencevictims (a locally-protected class in Westchester County, as well as an issuedisproportionatelyaffectingwomen).Forthesetests,weexaminedthedifferenceintreatmentbetweenasinglewomancomingoutofadomesticviolenceshelterlooking to rent an apartment and a single woman with no domestic violencebackground.Wefoundthatformostteststherewasnodifferenceintreatment,exceptinoneinstance.Intheoneunequaltesttheagenttoldtheprotectedtesterthathedidnotthinktheco-opboardwouldapproveherbecauseofherDVvictimstatus.Oftheremainingtests,sixtestsproducedequalresponse,whilesevenwereunclear.AllDVvictimtestswerecompletedinWestchester.

Race

Twenty-fiverentaltestsexaminedrace.48%ofthetestswerejudgedequal,32%unequalandtheremaining20%werefoundunclear.

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14


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Sex

Onetestonthebasisofsexwasconducted,inWestchester,andwasbasedonacomplaint.Thattestwasunclear.

FamilialStatus

Thirtytestsexaminedfamilialstatusintherentalmarket.Twelve(40%)ofthetestsweredetermined tobe equal,while eight (27%)of testswereunequal and ten(33%) were unclear. 21 of the tests were conducted inWestchester, and theremaining9wereconductedinRockland.

Religion

Outofthefourrentaltestsconductedonthebasisofreligion,twowerefoundtobeequalandtwowereunclear.OneuncleartestwascompletedinRockland,whiletheremainingthreeteststookplaceinWestchester.

CriminalConviction

OnerentaltestconsideredrecordofcriminalconvictioninWestchester,andwasdeterminedtobenotviolative.

02468

101214


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SourceofIncome

Westchester County provides protections against “Source of Income”discriminationinhousing.Specifically,WestchesterCountyprohibitsdiscriminationin the sale, rentalor leaseofhousingbasedon sourceof income,meaninganylawful, verifiable income including social security, public assistance andhousingassistance such asSection 8, disabilitybenefits, Social Security,welfare, or othergovernment assistance.Some tests combinedsource of income withdisability issues, such asthe HOPWA rental testswe separately analyzebelow.

167testsconsideredsourceofincomediscriminationinrentalhousing.70tests(42%)weredeterminedtobeunclear,59(35%)wereunequaland38(23%)wereequal.

HousingOpportunitiesforPersonswithAIDS(HOPWA)

83testsexaminedthetreatmentofprospective tenants with HOPWAvouchers (which are held byindividuals livingwithAIDS orHIV),combining the protected classes ofsourceofincomeanddisability.34%ofthetestswerefoundtobeequal,33%were found unequal, and 34%wereunclear.The testsoccurred inWestchester, Dutchess, Rockland,OrangeandUlstercounties.

23%

35%

42%


Equal34%

Unequal32%

Unclear34%

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Age

Threerentaltestswerecarriedoutonthebasisofage.AllthreewerecompletedinWestchester,withtwoproducingviolativeresults,andoneunclearresults.

Disability

Twohundredandtwodisabilityrentaltestswereconducted(someinvolvingotherprotectedclassesaswell).73tests(36%)wereunclear,77(38%)wereunequaland52(26%)wereequal.

MaritalStatus

Twotestswereconductedtoexaminemaritalstatusdiscrimination.OnetestwasconductedinWestchesterandfoundtobeviolative,whiletheotherinRocklandwasfoundtobeequal.

26%

38%

36%


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GenderIdentity

Seven testsweredeterminedon thebasisofgender identity.Three (43%)werecategorizedasequal,two(29%)asunequalandtwo(29%)asunclear.OnetestwascompletedinWestchester,whiletheremainingtestswereconductedinBronxandDutchesscounties,withthreetestsineachcounty.

SalesTestsDisability

Forty-eightsalestestsexamineddisabilitydiscrimination.19(40%)ofthetestshadunclearresults,whereas15(31%)ofthetestsweredeterminedequaland14(29%)unequal.AlltestswereconductedinWestchester.

0

5

10

15

20


0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5


21

Race

21salestestswereconductedonthebasisofrace.Ofthose8(38%)wereequal,5(24%)unequal,andtheremaining8(38%)wereunclear.Onetestwasconductedin Putnam County, one in Queens County, two in Rockland County and 17 inWestchesterCounty.

FamilialStatus

AsinglesalestestexaminedfamilialstatusinaWestchesterco-opandwasfoundviolativeonthepartoftheco-opandrealtyagentinvolved.

NationalOrigin

TwonationaloriginsalestestswereconductedinWestchester,withoneproducinganunequalresultandtheotherunclear.

02468

10


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AccessibleDesign&ConstructionTests21 tests examined compliance in the region with Accessible Design andConstruction requirements (these are specific design and constructionrequirements that the Fair Housing Actmandates for newly constructedmulti-familyhousingtomakethemaccessibletopeoplewithdisabilities).Eleven(52%)tests foundviolations,whileseven (33%)didnotand three (14%)wereunclear.One testoccurred inDutchess,whereas the remaining testswere completed inWestchester.

0

2

4

6

8

10

12


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NEXTSTEPSANDPOLICYRECOMMENDATIONS

TheFairHousingActhasbeeninexistencefor50years,signedintolawin1968justafter the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King. Many in the fair housingmovement have taken time to reflect on this milestone and to consider theaccomplishmentsoftheFairHousingAct,aswellastheworkthatremainstobedoneinthisarea.

Wheninitiallyenactedin1968,theFairHousingActcoveredrace,nationalorigin,religion and color as protected classes. Since its inception, the law has beenexpandedtoincludetheadditionalprotectedclassofsexin1974andin1988thelawwasamendedtoincludedisabilityandfamilialstatus.

IntheLowerHudsonValleyregion,wearefortunatetohaveadditionalstateandlocalprotectionsincludingalienagestatus,sourceofincome,genderidentityandsexual orientation to name a few. These additional protections, by their localnatureeitheratthecountyorstatelevel,representapatchworkinthattheyapplyinsomejurisdictionsbutnotinothers.

HighlightsofourTestingResultsOurtestingresultsreflectWRO’ssystemictestingprioritiesunderthismulti-yeargrant,including:

• disability testing (including specific focus on issues such as HOPWAvoucherholdersandprospectivetenantswithemotionalsupportanimals)–271ofour496tests(55%)includedadisabilityaspect;

• sourceof incometesting(frequently incombinationwithdisability) (whilecurrently this is a locally andnot federally protected class, the issuemaydisparatelyimpactuponseveralfederallyprotectedclasses,includingrace,nationaloriginandsex);and

• accessibledesignandconstructiontesting.

Theoverallrateof“unequal”or“violative”testresultswas33%,suggestingthatacrossmanyprotectedclassesandtestingissuesand496totalcompletedtests,therateoffailureisconsistentandhigh.Consistentwiththesuspicionsunderlyingoursystemictestingpriorities,failurerateswerehigherincertainareas,inparticular:

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• disability(overall,acrosssalesandrentaltesting):38%unequal/violative;• sourceofincome(rental):35%unequal/violative;and• accessibledesignandconstruction:52%violative.

WRO’sRecommendationsWRO makes the following recommendations to housing providers andprofessionals,thecommunity,andenforcementauthoritiesintheLowerHudsonValleyregionbasedontheresultsofourworkunderthisthree-yearfairhousingtestingproject:

EducationandOutreach

Weneedacontinuingpushforfairhousingeducationandoutreach.Oneofthepersistent problems we have encountered in fair housing investigation andenforcement is that individuals are not always aware that they have beendiscriminatedagainst,andconverselyinsomecaseshousingprovidersmaynotbeaware that their conduct is discriminatory. Accordingly, it remains a priority toincrease education for individuals, housing providers and the community as awholeregardingfederal,stateandlocalfairhousinglaws.

InvestigateandEnforce

Weneedmoretesting,andmoreenforcementwheretestingshowsdiscriminatoryconduct. The testing in this project uncovered some remarkable instances ofdifferential treatment among several protected categories. Discrimination, inhousingorotherwise,isnotoriouslydifficulttoprove.Oftenthat’sthecasebecauseanyoneindividualexperiencingadversetreatmentmaynotrealizethattheyarebeing treated any differently from other similarly-situated non-protectedindividuals. Testing is a time-honored and effective tool for identifying anddocumentingthatdifferentialtreatmentandotherwisebuildingstrongevidentiarysupportforclaimsofdiscrimination.Inmostinstancestestingisthemostpowerfultoolwehavetouncoverhousingdiscrimination.

AdvocateforIndividuals

Mostof the individual complainantsweencounter lack access toeffective legalcounseloreventothoughtfulnon-legaladvice.Itisessentialtotheresolutionof

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fairhousingissuesinthiscountrythatagencieslikeWROreceivethefinancialandother support necessary to continue providing the advocacy and counselingservicesthatweprovidetoclientswhofeelthattheyarethevictimsofhousingdiscrimination.

ImproveFairHousingLaws

Althoughtherearemanylocal,state,andfederalfairhousinglawsonthebooks,thereisstillmuchimprovementtobemadeinthelaw.WROsupportslegislationandrule-makingatthefederal,stateandlocallevelthatenhancefairhousingrightsforallpeople.

For instance, in recentyearsWROhas supported several fairhousing legislativeinitiatives.Inparticular,twoimportantinitiativesinWestchesterCountyborefruitin2018:

Co-opDisclosureLaw:In2018WestchesterCountyadoptedaformofco-opdisclosurelawrequiring,amongotherthings,thatco-opboardsrespondtoapplicationswithinasettimeframe,andalsoreportdenialsofapplicationstothecounty(throughtheWestchesterCountyHumanRightsCommission).Manyhadhopedthatthislaw,theproductofmanyyearsofnegotiationsandconsiderations,wouldrequireco-opboardstostatethebasisforthedenial,butultimatelythatwasnotincludedinthefinalbill.WROwillcontinuetoadvocate for that important improvement,butnonetheless, this law isanimportant start toward increasing transparency and preventing housingdiscriminationinco-optransactions.

SourceofIncomeProtections:WestchesterCountyhasrecognizedsourceofincomeasaprotectedclassunderitsfairhousinglawsince2013.ThesourceofincomeprotectioninWestchesterCountyprohibitsdiscriminationonthebasis of lawful source of income and payments, which includes housingvouchers like Section 8. These are some of the most financially fragilehouseholds in our communities. The law contains various exemptions,includingforco-ops,condos,andbuildingswith6orfewunits,whichWROhasarguedaretoobroad.Nonetheless,themostpressingissuefacingthecounty in 2018 was that the law was due to sunset in December 2018.Fortunately, with the support of a broad group of legislators, the sunsetprovisionwasamendedoutofthelawinlate2018,preservinganimportant

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toolfortheprotectionofourmostneedy.WROwillcontinuetoadvocateforimprovementstothislaw.

TherearevariousotherlegislativeinitiativesthatWROsupports,includingeffortstopasssourceof incomeprotectionsattheNewYorkState level,andproposedamendmentsbeforetheU.S.SenatetothefederalFairHousingActtointroducenationwideprotectionsforveteransandofsourceofincome.

Conclusion

Place matters. Where people live determines their access to opportunities—schools,jobs,transportation—anddictatesmanylifeoutcomes.

FairHousinglawsprotecttherighttochooseone’shomeregardlessofrace,color,religionoranyotherprotectedclass.Asa fairhousingagencywestrive tohelpcommunities be more diverse and inclusive as a foundation for greateropportunities.Wedothatprincipallybyfightinghousingdiscrimination,butalsothrough housing counseling in our first time homebuying, mortgage defaultprevention,evictionandutilityshut-offpreventionandgeneralhousingprograms.

IfyouorsomeoneyouknowhasbeenthevictimofhousingdiscriminationintheLowerHudsonValleyregionofNewYork,WROisreadytohelp.Pleasegiveusacall.

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AGENCIESANDORGANIZATIONSTOCONTACTFORASSISTANCE

ForFairHousingAssistanceandInformationonFilingComplaints

WestchesterResidentialOpportunities,Inc.470MamaroneckAve.,Ste.410WhitePlains,NY10605914-428-4507http://www.wroinc.org

ForFairHousingInformationandtoFileComplaints

FederalGovernmentU.S.DepartmentofHousingandUrbanDevelopmentNewYorkRegionalOfficeJacobK.JavitsFederalBuilding26FederalPlaza,Ste.3541NewYork,NY10278Localoffice:800-496-4294;212-542-7109Nationaloffice:800-669-9777(EnglishandSpanish);TTY:800-927-9275http://hud.gov/fairhousinghttp://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/topics/housing_discriminationU.S.DepartmentofJustice(fordiscriminationunderADA)950PennsylvaniaAve.,NWCivilRightsDivisionDisabilityRightsSection,1425NYAVWashington,DC20530VoiceandTTY:202-307-0663ADAinformation:800-514-0301TTY:800-514-0383http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/drsStateGovernment

NewYorkStateDivisionofHumanRights(forallhousingcases)1FordhamPlaza,4thfloorBronx,NY10458888-392-3644;718-741-8400TTY:718-741-8300

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http://www.dhr.ny.govNewYorkStateDivisionofHumanRights(forassistanceinPutnam,Rockland,andWestchestercounties)8JohnWalshBlvd.Ste.204Peekskill,NY10566914-788-8050http://www.dhr.ny.gov/how-file-complaintNewYorkStateDivisionofHumanRights(forassistanceinDutchess,Orange,Putnam,RocklandandWestchestercounties)7-11SouthBroadway,Ste.314WhitePlains,NY10601914-788-8050http://www.dhr.ny.gov/how-file-complaintNewYorkStateOfficeoftheAttorneyGeneralCivilRightsBureau120Broadway,23rdfloorNewYork,NY10271212-416-8250http://www.ag.ny.gov/civil-rights/complaint-formsCountyGovernment

RocklandCountyCommissiononHumanRights50SanatoriumRd.,BuildingGPomona,NY10970845-364-3886;TTY:800-662-1220http://rocklandgov.com/departments/human-rightsWestchesterCountyHumanRightsCommission112E.PostRd.,3rdfloorWhitePlains,NY10601914-995-7710;TTY:914-995-7754Yonkers

CityofYonkersHumanRightsCommission87NepperhanAvenue,Room310Yonkers,NY10701914-377-6280http://www.cityofyonkers.com/play/departments-g-w/human-rights-/welcome

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OtherGovernmentAgenciesandWebsites

Federal

NationalCouncilonDisability(policy)202-272-2004;TTY:202-272-2074http://www.ncd.gov/policy/housingU.S.AccessBoard(UFASstandards)http://www.access-board.gov/guidelines-and-standards/buildings-and-sites/about-the-aba-standsrds/ufasTechnicalassistance:800-872-2253TTY:800-993-2822State

NewYorkStateJusticeCenter(specialneeds)Informationandreferrals:800-624-4143;TTY:800-624-4143http://www.justicecenter.ny.govNewYorkStateOfficeforPeoplewithDevelopmentalDisabilities866-946-9733;TTY:866-933-4889http://www.opwdd.ny.govCounty

PutnamCountyOfficeforPeoplewithDisabilities845-808-1641http://www.putnamcountyny.comPutnamCountyOfficefortheAging845-808-1700http://www.putnamcountyny.comRocklandCountyDepartmentofMentalHealth845-364-2378http://rocklandgov.com/departments/agingWestchesterCountyDepartmentofCommunityMentalHealth914-995-5220http://mentalhealth.westchestergov.comWestchesterCountyDepartmentofPlanning(affordablerentalandownershiphousinglistings)914-995-4400

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http://homes.westchestergov.com/homeseekerWestchesterCountyDepartmentofSeniorProgramsandServices914-813-6300http://seniorcitizens.westchestergov.comWestchesterCountyOfficefortheDisabled914-995-2957;TTY:914-995-7397http://disabled.westchestergov.com

FAIR HOUSING IN WESTCHESTER AND · 2019. 3. 26. · Westchester County Demographic Composition According to the American Community Survey, in 2017 Westchester had a population of

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