A Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) pilot study recently showed persons with developmental disabilities continue to face significant housing discrimination in the rental housing market.
HUD officials said the probe revealed when compared to people without mental disabilities, those persons who are living with the illness receive fewer responses to their rental inquiries, are informed of fewer available units, and are less likely to be invited to contact the housing provider.
Investigators said findings determined the mentally ill are less likely to be invited to tour an available unit, are more likely to be steered to a different unit than the one advertised and are treated differently depending on their type of disability.
“The study spotlights the types of discrimination people with mental disabilities experience when searching for housing,” HUD Secretary Ben Carson said. “The findings will not only inform our enforcement efforts but enable us to identify and remove barriers for those who face housing discrimination. Though nearly 30 years have passed since the Fair Housing Act was expanded to protect individuals with disabilities, we still have work to do to ensure equitable housing opportunities for all.”
HUD officials said the study was conducted through email and phone testing in nine small and mid-sized urban rental markets that mirror the distribution of the mental and developmental disability population across metropolitan statistical areas in America – and with in-person testing in two large rental markets, Chicago and Washington, DC.