Organization Can Pursue Claim That Texas Agency's Credit Allocation Policy Perpetuates Segregation

摘要

A nonprofit organization that seeks to eliminate barriers to racial and socioeconomic integration in housing has standing to pursue its claim that the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) perpetuates segregation in its administration of the low-income housing tax credit program, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division, ruled. (Inclusive Communities Project, Inc. v. Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, Civil Action No. 3:08-CV-0546-D, 2008 WL 5191935 (N.D.Tex.), December 11, 2008) The Inclusive Communities Project, Inc. (ICP) helps low-income African-American families eligible for the Dallas Housing Authority's Section 8 voucher program find housing in predominantly Caucasian, suburban areas of Dallas. ICP charged that the TDHCA violated the Fair Housing Act, the Fourteenth Amendment, and 42 U.S.C. Section 1982 by disproportionately allocating tax credits for proposed developments in low-income, predominantly minority areas and denying credits for projects in higher-income, predominantly Caucasian areas. ICP asserted that this practice makes it harder for low-income minority families to obtain rental housing in neighborhoods that aren't plagued by high crime, poverty, and industrial development.