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I don’t think we have ever had proactive enforcement. That didn’t mean there was political will on the subject. “But that was a matter of convincing people that yes, that’s the right thing to do. The lawsuit includes large, national companies like Compass, the Corcoran Group and Century 21. Last year, the nonprofit Housing Rights Initiative launched a sweeping testing campaign that resulted in an ongoing federal lawsuit against 88 New York City landlords and brokerage firms accused of discriminating against people with housing vouchers. You can’t just be in it for the headline of passing a law. “Because it’s sort of a bread and butter technique or a very basic technique. “I think that the proper conclusion is that there isn’t seriousness about really eradicating the problem,” he said. Fighting discrimination against Section 8 vouchers, for example, could reduce homelessness and the amount of resources needed there.īut Gurian said a big issue is a lack of political will. But Gurian said the net funding involved in that process is likely small, because penalties accrued from cases found through investigations can help offset staffing costs.Īnd there is a chance for larger savings, too. Part of this issue may lay in a lack of funding appropriated for testing. Gurian said a challenge in this process is there has never been a sustained commitment by state governments to “test and test and test some more.” And make sure people understand that this is the new normal: If you discriminate, you’re going to have a real risk of being found out and made to pay a price.” You have to make sure that the relief is not simply, as it might be in an individual case, providing the apartment, but imposing a penalty. "You have to follow through on the prosecutions. To have it enter the public consciousness that there is in fact a penalty to be paid for violating the law. And you begin, as you prosecute the cases, to make news. “You’ve decided that this is an important thing to look into.
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“If you have an aggressive testing program, you’re not waiting for the ebbs and flows of individual cases,” Gurian said. Housing advocates said sporadic investigations are partially to blame for why income discrimination issues persist.Ĭraig Gurian, executive director of the Anti-Discrimination Center in New York City, said testing is the only way to learn the true scope of housing discrimination. New Jersey’s Law Against Discrimination makes it illegal for a property owner to deny someone housing based on their source of income, including government rental assistance like Section 8 vouchers. Section 8 is a federally funded program that subsidizes housing for low-income tenants through direct rent payments to landlords.īut the Press’s investigation found the state Division on Civil Rights, the supposed watchdog for such discrimination, does little to proactively chase down violators of the law – and instead relies on a tenant-driven complaint process as their chief enforcement strategy. Get unlimited access to our coverage for as low as $1 NJ lacks a strong undercover discrimination testing program: Here's why it's important. it is one of the easiest places in the world to do this legally.'We don't take that:' Why illegal discrimination toward Section 8 tenants goes unchecked in NJ After conflict with neighbor, Section 8 is a barrier in family's search for new housing A Woodbridge family can't find a landlord who accepts Section 8. The crazy thing is, these companies are often set up in the U.S. Credit card scammers, mobsters, tax evaders and other criminals routinely use them to rip off innocent citizens or threaten U.S. A violent Mexican drug cartel called the Zetas used American companies to launder its profits.The Iranian government has used them to evade sanctions. Warlords and dictators use them to steal from their people and stash the loot in places like the U.S. If these sham companies did not exist, those crimes would be far harder to commit.Īnonymous companies do great damage to society. laws and launder money through our financial system. They were all carried out by anonymous company owners, who are able to skirt U.S. Global Witness has previously looked at a whole range of crimes, and found they all had one thing in common. Global Witness' investigation aired on CBS 60 Minutes on 31 January - click here to watch But we know less about the tools the criminals use to get away with their illicit activities. We all know what it feels like to get ripped off or scammed. Following our investigation, Congress has moved to end the abuse of secret companies. This investigation was covered in the New York Times.