Alabama Landlord Charged with Violating Fair Housing Act

HUD has announced charges against Neysa C. Crim of Decatur, Alabama regarding violation of the Fair Housing Act. According to HUD, Ms. Crim made unlawful and discriminatory statements and falsely reported that a house was unavailable for rent, in order to avoid renting her home to an African-American man. The report by HUD includes a statement made by Ms. Crim explaining that she did not want her neighbors to damage her property because they were occupied by a black person.
The hearing for this case will take place on February 5, 2008 in Decatur Alabama, with a maximum civil penalty of $16,000 for the first offense, and additional penalties for additional complaints and punishable issues. To learn more about HUD’s Fair Housing Assistance Program, please visit http://www.hud.gov/offices/fheo/partners/FHAP/.

HUD Rent Payment Aid Continues for Katrina/Rita Residents

HUD’s initiative, the Disaster Housing Assistance Program, was started on December 1, 2007 and continues to assist the victims of the 2005 Gulf Coast Hurricanes. The DHAP pays the rent of those thousands of residence displaced by the natural disasters. According to HUD, this assistance will allow families the time necessary to regain self-sufficiency, and HUD is pleased that an extension has been placed on this program to run until March 1, 2009. FEMA and HUD’s efforts to ensure that all eligible residents are aware of this assistance program include deploying staff in areas such as Houston, New Orleans, Atlanta, Baton Rouge, and Memphis. The goal of these staff members is to achieve extensive and personalized community outreach.
For more information regarding HUD’s DHAP, please visit www.hud.gov/news/dhap.cfm.

HUD Announces $100 Down Payment on Homes

According to HUD, a number of recent sales incentives that vary from state to state have been places on HUD homes. These incentives will allow for increased affordability for homebuyers, and include features such as $100 down payments on HUD homes financed with FHA-insured financing, bonuses for real estate brokers that close owner-occupant sales, and considerable allowances that may be used to pay closing costs, the mortgage amount, or to make repairs.
For more information on these favorable conditions for the purchase of a HUD home, please visit: http://www.hud.gov/salesincentives