The independent federal agency which first proposed and then drafted the original Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 has lambasted the Department of Housing and Urban Development, charging that HUD's policing of the law has been spotty at best.

In its scathing report, "Reconstruction Fair Housing," the National Council on Disability said HUD has lost control of its own enforcement process.

During the '90s, people with disabilities filed discrimination complaints with HUD under the Fair Housing Act on an ever increasing basis, said NCD, which first proposed that Congress enact a civil rights law covering the 54 million Americans with disabilities in 1989. Now they are the largest single group of people with complaints, accounting for 42 percent of all bias cases.

In that same period, HUD's enforcement activities have diminished, the report said. Whereas lawmakers set 100 days as a benchmark for projected case completion, it now takes HUD an average of 497 days to close cases. And even then, the report added, the cabinet-level department is "failing to deal effectively with many potential complaints."

Perhaps more troubling, though, is the fact HUD's findings vary widely from region to region, suggesting, said the report, that the kind of outcome a particular case reaches may be related more to where it is handled than its merits.

NCD also faulted Congress for not appropriating adequate funds to enforcement and compliance activities. As a result, the report pointed out, HUD's Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity has a smaller staff now that when the Fair Housing Amendments Act was passed in 1988 and handicap was added as a prohibited basis for discrimination along with familial status.

"HUD has a major challenge ahead to fulfill the promise of the civil rights movement," the study said. "Without staffing and funding resources, progress cannot and will not be made."

"Clearly, HUD's fair housing enforcement system must be revised," said NCD board member Dave Brown, adding that the situation requires action by Congress as well as the White House.

HUD and the Bush Administration have taken some steps to increase fair housing enforcement and the rights of the disabled. The President, Vice President Richard Chaney, Attorney General John Ashcroft are all on record as favoring stricter enforcement, and HUD Secretary Mel Martinez has met with several major disability rights organizations.

Martinez also has expressed commitments to realign staff, increase management oversight, and improve technology.

While Brown called all this "a promising start," he said it is "too early to say whether this renewed support will make a significant difference."

For more articles by Lew Sichelman, please press here.

Published: January 21, 2002

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When Lew Sichelman first started writing about housing in 1969, he was the youngest real estate writer in the country. Now, 37 years later, he's one of the oldest -- and most decorated. He has been rated the top housing columnist in the country by the National Association of Realtors as well as by his peers in the National Association of Real Estate Editors. Indeed, NAREE has recognized his work on numerous occasions. One year - due to his advancing age, he can't recall which one - he earned top honors in the annual NAREE Journalism Contest in three out of the four major writing categories. It was the first time one writer has won so many NAREE awards in a single year. Known for his ability to make even the most difficult topics understandable, Sichelman also has been honored by the National Association of Home Builders and the Mortgage Bankers Association. He began providing in-depth coverage of and consumer-oriented information about housing and housing finance at the Washington Daily News, where he was real estate editor. He held that same position for nine more years at the Washington Star, which purchased the News in 1972. The Star, a so-called "writer's newspaper" which also had the misfortune of being an evening paper, was put out of its misery in 1981, and Sichelman, who had begun self-syndicating his column in 1978, decided to become a full-time columnist. Today, his column, "The Housing Scene," is distributed by United Media to newspapers throughout the country. He also is on the staff of National Mortgage News, an independent newspaper which is considered the bible of the mortgage business. And he writes for numerous other publications, including MarketWatch.com, where he answers readers questions once a week, Sports Illustrated (don't ask), RealtyTimes.com, BigBuilder and others. Sichelman is married, the father of five and grandfather of eleven.