This meeting will take place from 4-7 p.m. at Martin Luther King, Jr. Senior High School. The MCRC wants to hear your experience with housing discrimination; when purchasing or renting a home, applying for a home loan, or reviewing your credit rating. documenters.org/assignments/mc…

The Detroit public hearing is one of at least four that will be held in Michigan communities from November 2023 to April 2024, followed by a Civil Rights Summit on June 12 in Detroit. my.lwv.org/michigan/dearb…

“We urge any resident of the state who has faced the specter of housing discrimination to come to a hearing and tell your story,” said John E. Johnson, Executive Director of the Michigan Department of Civil Rights.

The Michigan Civil Rights Commission was created by the Michigan Constitution and is made up of 8 commissioners linked here: michigan.gov/mdcr/commissio…

The MCRC meets regularly, at this link you can find meeting schedules, agendas, minutes, statements, and documents. michigan.gov/mdcr/commission

If you believe anything in the coverage today is inaccurate, please email us at documenters@outliermedia.org with "Correction Request" in the subject line. That's all for now, I'll be back at 4pm!

I’m here at Martin Luther King Jr. Senior High, if you’re looking for the hearing it’s taking place in the Performing Arts Auditorium. There are registration and information tables when you walk in. Nothing official has started yet as people are still arriving.

Here’s the agenda for tonight’s public hearing:

The chair of tonight's hearing is Portia Roberson, who is also the CEO of @Focus_HOPE michigan.gov/mdcr/commissio…

The meeting is called to order with some of the information shared above in terms of future hearings. They have a mic set up at the front & are giving people 5 minutes. The first person is speaking out about a monopoly within MSHDA where she lives, discrimination with loans.

Chair Roberson also stated that they will not be discussing individual cases, they are just here to listen.

The next person is speaking out about issues within MSHDA and the requirements of non-profits that receive money through HUD, that grantees must complete an analysis of their programs within Fair Housing Law.

I missed the gentleman's name, but it sounds like he may work with MSHDA in some capacity. Here's more about the Fair Housing Act from the MSHDA website: michigan.gov/mshda/fairhous…

He's reading a long statement of policies around Fair Housing and MSHDA. His name is Mr. Edwards. Now the chair is asking him about vouchers and how it's determined who receives vouchers.

Mr. Edwards is saying it's a complicated process. They work with a number of developers and have multi-tiered programs. Chair Roberson is asking how many units for low-income residents are available, but there's no concrete answer.

Patricia Baird is speaking next, from the Fair Housing Legal Center of Eastern Michigan. They represent a 14-county area, and Baird is going over some of the grants they receive. Their role is enforcement, testing, client advocacy, systemic investigation, etc.

Baird is going over the discrimination they are seeing. Family discrimination: She's speaking about a young woman whose family both died, who adopted her siblings, and is being discriminated against at her apartment complex.

They are also seeing a lot of discrimination against people with disabilities and against people who are young. They are seeing racial discrimination, whether in person or on the phone. They use white and black "testers" to go in and see how differently they are treated.

They are also seeing people with support animals facing discrimination. Baird now wants to speak to the challenges they face. They want faster resolution on filing complaints, there are cases still open they want to see resolved.

Baird is also asking for more training. She wants to see a state-wide marketing campaign to educate people on Fair Housing. There are more people arriving but attendance is light.

John Johnson from the panel is asking if complaints are coming in from specific developers or landlords. Baird is saying they do have offenders they know of and get repeated complaints on, she's saying they do their best to find better landlords.

Miriam Smith, from the East Davidson Community Center, is speaking now. Smith is speaking about housing discrimination appraisals. Her major concern is affordable housing. She also spoke about Banglatown, an area of Hamtramck where her mother lives.

The next speaker is a mother with her two children, who is a part of Detroit Action. She recently moved into a Section 8 home that's owned by a landlord based in Chicago. She's been working with Section 8 to get out of there because of the lack of repairs.

It sounds like she's had to make repairs on her own and she's facing homelessness within a week. As she applies for new units, she's facing discrimination because of Section 8. She's been reaching out to anyone she can. Her 6-year-old son hasn't been able to get to school yet.

She also spoke about being homeless as a kid from the age of 17. She doesn't want her children to face the same. She is facing eviction. Chair Patricia Roberson said this is exactly the kind of testimony they want to hear and she wants to make sure they have her full story.

John Johnson is asking if she's sought legal counsel. She spoke to one lawyer, who recommended she put her rent in escrow.

Speaking next is Steve Tomkowiak, from the Metro Detroit Fair Housing Center. He's speaking to priorities: increasing home ownership, addressing needs, and improving opportunities for those marginalized populations. What's driving disparity in home ownership is race.

The disparity has actually increased by a point, he said this happened with all the fair housing laws in effect. Tomkowiak said, "What we're doing is not working." He's going over lots of numbers and stats.

Tomkowiak said the numbers are really disturbing around home loans. He's saying people may be able to get loans, but they are getting a bad deal.

Recommendations from Tomkowiak: he's saying fair housing enforcement hasn't been effective. There have only been a few settlements. Fair Housing has problems. They have to hold lenders accountable for high denial rates, etc. Homeownership has to be a priority.

He's saying they have to tackle all the societal issues that contribute to discrimination. The source of income is a problem, they have a client who was requested to prove income in the amount of 3 times the rent, even though section 8 would cover the majority.

He's saying people with felony records are facing massive discrimination. He's saying there's also a prison-to-homelessness pipeline.

Tomkowiak is now speaking out against landlord abuses, saying eviction rates are off the chart and it's an embarrassment. He's advocating for "source of income" legislation that recently passed the Michigan Senate. . mihomeless.org/2023/10/12/sou…

Tomkowiak is saying it's harder to prove housing discrimination compared to employment discrimination. There are a lot of people and groups facing discrimination that don't necessarily file complaints. There are really significant violations that he's seeing. Source of income,

Tomkowiak said they need to shine the light on so many lenders who are denying people home loans. Chair Roberson asked where they could find the info he cited. He suggested people go to fairhousingdetroit.org

A woman speaking now, a native Detroiter who just bought a condo in West Village. She is the newest member of 5 units. She is seeing bullying and racist tactics. There were members who didn't want her in the association and they wanted to raise fees.

Members have also tried to prevent new people from being on the board. She is currently escrowing her condo fees, paying a lawyer, and paying more for her mortgage than her neighbors because of the high rates in effect when she bought her home.

Next woman is appalled by the fact that there are so few people here, despite all the new developments and issues around affordability. Section 8 is steering people away from the city, she thinks there is a lot of discrimination around vouchers for residents of Detroit.

The next man speaking is Jerome Reed, from the Michigan Department of Civil Rights. He's sharing an experience he had before he joined the team. He owned a home outside of Lansing. When they decided to sell they ran into problems. It was appraised for less than market value.

They are wrapping up this hearing, as no one else from the public is hear to give testimony. Chair Portia Roberson is going over the upcoming dates for the next hearings. Roberson ended the hearing at 5:52 p.m.