On Wednesday, May 13, the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA), in conjunction with the Connecticut Fair Housing Center and 18 local fair housing organizations found evidence of illegal discrimination by Fannie Mae in neighborhoods of color throughout the United States.  The groups have filed a federal complaint with the Department of Housing and Urban Development on the basis of this evidence.

The civil rights groups allege that Fannie Mae fails to perform basic maintenance and marketing tasks for foreclosed homes it owns in African American and Latino neighborhoods, while consistently maintaining its foreclosed properties in White neighborhoods, a practice that violates the federal Fair Housing Act.  The nationwide investigation focuses on Fannie Mae’s foreclosures located in middle- and working-class neighborhoods.  Evidence gathered between 2010 and April 2015 in Hartford, Manchester, and East Hartford along with 59 cities located in 34 metro regions documents an ongoing pattern and practice of discrimination by Fannie Mae.  The National Fair Housing Alliance put Fannie Mae on notice of these troubling disparities in June 2009 but has seen no improvement in how it manages its foreclosure inventory in communities of color.

You can find out more on this by clicking here. You can also read coverage on the lawsuit in the Hartford Courant’s article “Fair Housing Advocates Accuse Fannie Mae Of Bias.”