this U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced Friday that the Harris County, Texasto address allegations of discrimination based on race and national origin in the “design and operation of its post-disaster relocation and buyout program.”
While the county is a party to the agreement, it denies the discrimination claims and HUD “found no discrimination” under applicable law. These include the Fair Housing Act, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and Section 109 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974.
The agreement states that the county “enters into this agreement solely to satisfactorily resolve this dispute,” while denying the allegations.
As part of the agreement, the county must provide outstanding acquisition targets in the current mandatory buyout program a notice of owner rights, which includes their right to appeal the county’s buyout of their homes. It must also include information in English and Spanish explaining their right to file a discrimination complaint with HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity.
The county must also submit any future plans for mandatory buyouts using HUD disaster recovery funds to the department for approval. This must include “a discussion of the steps that will be taken to ensure that the proposed buyout program does not result in discrimination.”
Property owners who filed discrimination complaints against the county are also parties to the agreement. It commemorates a resolution between the county and the property owner in which the county “agreed to a limited land acquisition in areas with the highest risk of flooding, rather than the complainant’s entire homestead.”
Diane M. Shelley, HUD’s principal deputy assistant secretary for fair housing and equal opportunity, said HUD funding for such programs must be spent equitably.
“The buyout program is an important tool to help families relocate from disaster-prone areas, but it must not be used in a discriminatory manner that adversely affects vulnerable communities of color,” she said. “HUD remains committed to equitable disaster recovery and recovery and ensure that disaster recovery funds provided by HUD are administered in compliance with applicable civil rights laws.”
