Senior U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut sent a letter to agencies last week U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Adrianne Todman asked why what he called a “backlog” of housing discrimination complaints has not been resolved.
The letter was first reported by local media in Connecticut CT InsiderBlumenthal said, describing a lag in investigations related to such complaints, which impact would-be homeowners and renters across the state and nation.
“HUD’s investigations into these complaints will take years to reach a conclusion, during which time tenants or potential homeowners have no recourse,” Blumenthal said. “Simply put, justice delayed. Justice Denied. Therefore, I am asking HUD to explain why it is failing to provide adequate resources to effectively and expeditiously investigate and resolve these outstanding complaints.
Blumenthal went on to ask for an analysis of the root causes of such backlogs and what Todman believes should be done to reduce the backlog and “provide timely relief to affected individuals,” he said.
CT Insider previously reported that the Connecticut Legislature has yet to pass any meaningful legislation aimed at addressing housing discrimination, leading the state’s civil rights attorneys to file a lawsuit against HUD and the governor’s office.
“At issue is a state law that gives overwhelming control of 33,000 federal powers. [housing] The report said the choice vouchers used in Connecticut are provided to local housing authorities, which restrict where and how the vouchers can be used.
In his letter, Blumenthal detailed some of the complaints from constituents.
“I’ve heard from constituents how this issue is negatively impacting Connecticut residents. The Fair Housing Act requires that housing discrimination investigations be completed within 100 days unless it’s impractical to do so, but a recent survey found , more than half of Connecticut’s public federal housing discrimination investigations exceed that threshold, sometimes for years.
“The same problem exists across the country, with the number of senior citizen investigations steadily increasing from 4,494 in 2010 to 6,145 in 2022. Despite the increase in cases, the number of investigators responsible for resolving housing discrimination claims has increased from 622 in 2010 to 6,145 in 2022. The number of people will decrease to 598 in 2024.
Blumenthal specifically asked how the higher appropriations the department is requesting for the next fiscal year will or might be applied to this issue, explanations for delays and exceeding the 100-day investigation period, and what additional steps Congress could take to substantively Solve this problem.
house line Representatives from HUD and Blumenthal’s office were contacted but did not immediately receive a response.
