Fair Housing vs. Unfair Housing

Do you know the difference?

Knowing the difference between fair housing and unfair housing isn't as obvious as you might think. This blog aims to present a variety of important and interesting fair housing issues.

If you're an apartment professional, avoid costly mistakes by reading the stories of others who — even with good intentions — learned compliance lessons the hard way. (For the easy way, click here.)

If you live in an apartment, get familiar with your rights when it comes to housing discrimination, as well as your options for seeking justice.


Sunday, April 18, 2010

Fair Housing Month: Remembering Rev. Benjamin L. Hooks

On April 15, Rev. Benjamin L. Hooks passed away at age 85, leaving behind a legacy of civil rights achievements that spanned a six-decade career.

Among other accomplishments, Rev. Hooks became the first black judge to sit on the bench of a Tennessee state court since Reconstruction. He was also the first black commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission, and he served for 15 years as the executive director of the NAACP. More recently, in 2007, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush.

Rev. Hooks' passing in the middle of Fair Housing Month is interesting, considering how much he contributed to fighting housing discrimination across the United States. According to a press release from The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Rev. Hooks helped achieve several key legislative successes while serving as chair, among them the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988, which strengthened fair housing enforcement and added disability and familial status as protected classes.

Return tomorrow for the nineteenth part of this special "Fair Housing Month" feature at Fairhousingblog.com.

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