2011 Fact Sheet

HOPE Fair Housing Center, established in 1968, is the oldest fair housing center in Illinois. HOPE works to end the hurt and devastation of housing discrimination and segregation because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability, familial status, or any other characteristics protected under state or local laws. HOPE didn't get to be the best fair housing center in Illinois because it is the oldest. HOPE got to be the oldest because it is the best. In the last ten years HOPE has:

• assisted more than 25,000 renters and potential renters better understand their rights under local, state and federal laws and provided rental information assistance, referrals, and advocacy, especially relating to tenant/landlord issues
• investigated more than 12,500 complaints of housing discrimination; trained more than 380 testers for rental, sales, lending, home insurance, hotel and retail store testing
• filed more than 290 fair housing complaints with HUD and 16 in Federal Court
• expanded its service area from 3 to 25 counties in Northern and North Central Illinois and installed a toll-free telephone number (1-877-HOPE FHC) for easy client access
• contracted with major lenders to verify that their loan officers act in compliance with fair lending laws and with municipal and county governments to ensure that housing providers are not practicing racial or ethnic steering or block busting
• created a unique tester training manual and video, and produced award-winning videos and educational materials used throughout the country. HOPE produced 15,000 brochures and 320,000 informational postcards and bookmarks that help clients better understand their rights and who to call if those rights are violated.
• settled landmark housing discrimination cases with major Illinois cities involving claims of illegal housing code enforcement against Latino residents
• settled a lawsuit with a world class racetrack that housed families in third world conditions. The settlement amounted to more than $6 million in new housing and educational programs for the families that lived and worked on the track
• developed strong working relationships with social service agencies and housing providers as well as municipal governments, by working with code enforcement officials to educate and protect residents
• pioneered testing in the Chicago area for source of income discrimination, including Housing Choice Vouchers as a protected class
• contracted with lenders to educate individuals and families who apply for mortgage loans using an Individual Tax Identification Number (ITIN)
• assembled a collection of rare, and powerful color photographs, taken by Bernard J. Kleina, of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other civil rights leaders, called the Chicago Freedom Movement. This collection has been shown in such places as the Toledo Museum of Art, the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, the Rosa Parks Museum in Montgomery, Alabama, and in more than 40 other cities around the country
• created an outstanding new website, www.hopefair.org.

HOPE is represented by the Chicago law firm of Kinoy, Taren & Geraghty, and two civil rights organizations, The Lawyers' Committee for Better Housing and The Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Inc.