New Fair Housing Plan for Baltimore Region. Submit a Comment!
By Nick Adjami and Susie McClannahan
February 11, 2025
The Baltimore Metropolitan Council has released its draft Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice (AI) for the Greater Baltimore Region. The draft plan identifies barriers preventing residents from accessing safe, affordable housing in their neighborhood of choice and proposes solutions. This blog post is intended to guide residents as to how they can support this effort.
The ERC conducts fair housing advocacy in D.C., Northern Virginia, Jefferson County, WV, and all of Maryland, including the Baltimore region. ERC has also partnered with Anne Arundel County and Hartford County to conduct fair housing testing to identify where and how housing discrimination is occurring. As a result, ERC staff have a strong understanding of the fair housing issues facing the region, and contributed this expertise to the draft plan by co-chairing the Working Group on Fair Housing Enforcement in the Private Market.
A regional approach to fair housing is essential for addressing barriers. Collaboration allows participating jurisdictions to identify broader regional trends and propose solutions appropriate for a housing market that transcends county lines. The jurisdictions and agencies participating in the Baltimore region’s fair housing analysis include:
- City of Annapolis and the Housing Authority of the City of Annapolis
- Anne Arundel County and the Housing Commission of Anne Arundel County
- City of Baltimore and the Housing Authority of Baltimore City
- Baltimore County
- Harford County and the Havre de Grace Housing Authority
- Howard County and the Howard County Housing Commission
To help local leaders make fair, affordable housing a reality for everyone in the Baltimore region, you can submit a comment on the plan. Participation in the comment process is crucial to ensure the plan meets everyone’s needs. The final plan will guide local jurisdictions and public housing authorities for five years, and their success at eliminating fair housing barriers will depend on the plan being comprehensive and robust.
Some questions you could answer in your comment include:
- Do the fair housing barriers included in the draft report match the barriers you’re aware of in the Baltimore region? Are there any major barriers you believe are missing from the report?
- Do you believe the goals listed in the draft report will address the region’s biggest fair housing barriers? Why or why not?
- Would you recommend changing, adding, or removing any goals before the plan is finalized? If so, what changes would you suggest and why?
- Which of the goals listed in the report do you think are most important for addressing the region’s fair housing barriers? Why?
How to Submit a Comment:
Public comments on the plan will be accepted until February 28, 2025. You can submit your written feedback by email to housing@baltometro.org. For more information about the plan and comment process, you can attend a public hearing via Zoom on February 18, 2025, at 6:00 PM. Register here!
The ERC will also submit comments to ensure the plan meaningfully addresses the most significant fair housing barriers facing our community. Then, local leaders will finalize the plan based on the feedback received from the public.
Draft Fair Housing Goals:
The draft plan identifies multiple goals for the region and strategies for how to achieve them:
- Enhance regional fair housing capacity.
- Continue coordination efforts between Baltimore Metropolitan Council, city and county agencies, state agencies, and other stakeholders.
- Increase and preserve quality rental housing options, including in high opportunity areas.
- Continue the regional Project Based Voucher (PBV) Program.
- Advocate for Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) to be dedicated to the Baltimore region.
- Require housing code inspections of rental units and rental licensing of landlords.
- Educate renters about maintenance requirements for rental units and how to report housing code violations.
- Collaborate with the Maryland Office of Tenant and Landlord Affairs to make referrals for housing code violations and landlord-tenant issues.
- Address racial homeownership disparities.
- Post information on city and county websites about homeownership programs and resources.
- Address barriers to equalizing access to opportunity.
- Advocate for state funding to rehabilitate vacant homes in the City of Baltimore.
- Improve public transit access to suburban job centers and areas with lots of housing.
- Make it easier for individuals with housing vouchers to access high opportunity neighborhoods.
- Expand fair housing resources and compliance.
- Provide fair housing information at Housing Choice Voucher briefings.
- Encourage housing counseling agencies to share fair housing resources.
- Increase fair housing trainings to property owners and landlords.
- Collect data on the number of housing discrimination complaints filed across the region and identify trends.
- Hold conversations with the Maryland Commission on Civil Rights (MCCR) and other stakeholders to discuss the housing discrimination complaint process to identify potential barriers and improvements.
- Conduct fair housing testing across the region.
- Advocate with the Maryland General Assembly to pass legislation to make it legal to record fair housing tests.
- Provide training to local governments and Public Housing Authorities on their responsibility to Affirmatively Further Fair Housing.
Want to learn more? The full list of goals and strategies is available on pages 455-462 of the plan. For assistance making a comment, reach out to us at 202-234-3062 or info@equalrightscenter.org.
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The Equal Rights Center (ERC) — a national non-profit organization — is a civil rights organization that identifies and seeks to eliminate unlawful and unfair discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodations in its home community of Greater Washington DC and nationwide. The ERC’s core strategy for identifying unlawful and unfair discrimination is civil rights testing. When the ERC identifies discrimination, it seeks to eliminate it through the use of testing data to educate the public and business community, support policy advocacy, conduct compliance testing and training, and, if necessary, take enforcement action. For more information, please visit www.equalrightscenter.org.
The work that provided the basis for this publication was supported by funding under a grant with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The substance and findings of the work are dedicated to the public. The author and publisher are solely responsible for the accuracy of the statements and interpretations contained in this publication. Such interpretations do not necessarily reflect the views of the Federal Government.