Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut sent a letter to his deputies last week. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (Department of Housing and Urban Development) Secretary Adrienne Todman asked why a “backlog” of housing discrimination complaints remains unresolved.
The letter first report Local Connecticut Outlets CT InsiderBlumenthal said the bill highlights the delays in investigating such complaints that affect prospective homebuyers and renters across the state and nation.
“HUD’s investigations of these complaints have taken years to complete, leaving tenants and future homeowners without any remedy in the meantime,” Blumenthal said. “Simply put, justice delayed is justice denied, so I demand an explanation for why HUD has not provided sufficient resources to effectively and expeditiously investigate and resolve these outstanding complaints.”
Blumenthal said he also requested an analysis of the root causes of these backlogs and what steps Todman believes should be taken to reduce the backlogs and “provide timely relief to affected individuals.”
CT Insider Previously reported The Connecticut General Assembly has failed to pass any meaningful legislation to address housing discrimination, and civil rights lawyers in the state have filed lawsuits against both the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Governor’s office.
“At issue are state laws that give states control over the vast majority of our 33,000 federal employees. [housing] “Choice vouchers, used in Connecticut, are distributed to local housing authorities, who restrict where and how the housing vouchers can be used,” the report states.
In his letter, Blumenthal detailed some of the constituents’ complaints.
“We have heard from our constituents that this issue is harming Connecticut residents. The Fair Housing Act requires housing discrimination investigations to be completed within 100 days unless it is possible, but a recent investigation found that more than half of ongoing federal housing discrimination investigations in Connecticut have exceeded that standard, in some cases by several years,” Blumenthal said.
“The same problem is occurring nationwide, with the number of time-barred investigations steadily increasing from 4,494 in 2010 to 6,145 in 2022. Despite the increase in caseloads, the number of investigators tasked with resolving housing discrimination cases has fallen from 622 in 2010 to 598 in 2024.”
Blumenthal specifically asked how the Department’s requested budget increase for next fiscal year would or could be applied to this issue, the reasons for the delay and exceeding the 100-day investigation deadline, and what additional steps Congress could take to substantively address the issue.
Housing Wire Representatives from HUD and Blumenthal’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
