right? they set up this two separate households about one mile from each other, they stick to a very rigid schedule. 'sey would say, stay in chengg s house for three days with his wife. is thethis time, cheng master of the house, he can do whatever he wants to. his free will.p toee days later, they moved cheng would give up his free will. brian: did it work? >> apparently. they had 21 children between them.

host: for the next half hour, we will talk about u.s. fair housing policy. anding us is the president ceo of the national for housing alliance. what does your association do? tradeional organization, civil rights organization. 501-c#3.nonprofit, a one of the laws we enforce is the fair housing act which is celebrating its 50th anniversary today. host: what is the fair housing role? guest: it is a role that was ofmulgated by hud in july 2015. the rule had been in effect for 2.5 years before it was suspended.

the affirmative and fair housing role was one that was promulgated to better and force the fair housing act. the rule seeks to make clear and provide a mechanism for a public housingd authorities across the united states to comply with the affirmatively furthering fair housing provision of the fair housing act. we're looking at the 2018 fair housing trends report. making every neighborhood a piece of opportunity. what has your organization found in housing trends? guest: fair housing complaints have been going up. we have seen this for the last four years. that is a disturbing trend in one way. in another way, it is a reflection of the fact that more people are learning about their fair housing rights.

there are about 4 million instances of housing discrimination that occur annually, but only a fraction are reported. it seems like we are getting word to americans so they understand what their fair housing rights are and can file a complaint. the other trend is the lion's share of those complaints are being handled by our members, private fair housing organizations working in localities on the ground to advance their housing opportunities. host: give us a typical fair housing complaint. category ofargest fair housing complaints filed today involve people with disabilities. what we find is either people with disabilities are being flat housinged a

opportunity, they are being discriminated against because they have a disability. the second issue is people with disabilities are being denied the opportunity to have a modification to a policy or rule that would afford them the opportunity and ability to live in the housing of their choice. for example, you have a person who is blind who has a seeing-eye dog. that person is denied the opportunity from having that live with them and their unit because the housing complex has a no pets policy. seeother kind of cases we are people who are denied who are treated differently based on their race or national origin when they try to secure housing. lisa rice is the president

and ceo of the national fair housing alliance. we invite your calls at (202) 748-8000 for democrats. (202) 748-8001 for republicans. independents and all others, (202) 748-8002. your organization has joined a lawsuit against the housing and urban development headed by ben carson? guest: the rule that i mentioned earlier that was promulgated by dr. benuly of 2015, carson suspended that rule in january of this year. right on thes ago, verge of us celebrating the 50th anniversary of the fair housing act. secretary carson suspended the rule. this is a role that makes sure

communities across the country can provide equal housing opportunities for all of their residents. said, helpss i inform the process for communities so they are not subject to litigation, so they are not exposed to undo liability for not enforcing the fair housing act as we have seen in recent years past. communitiesble to expand equal housing opportunities for all of their residents. the secretary said he felt he needed to suspend the implementation of the role because some communities complained the rule was too cumbersome, complex, and costly for them to implement. host: we will go to john in north miami beach, florida.

go ahead. caller: thank you for taking my call. i just want to ask this fine lady what will they be doing about redlining? redlining is a big problem. i was a banker in connecticut, i know they redlined. thing. a horrible redlining means you discriminate. that is what they do. thing that people don't all overs the banks have flexible software. they have the maps and they redlined. if they don't want a group theyt i -- to get in, change it. this is a dirty secret the banks have. i got very sick and had to

leave. they asked me to leave because i was going to blow the whistle. i made a mistake. accepted a six-figure severance pay in 1990. it was a good amount then. host: we will get reaction from lisa rice. he uses the term breadline, what does that mean? -- redline, what does that mean? guest: a practice of excluding financial services and products from a particular geographical area based on the race or national origin of the people living in that pettitte you learn community -- in that particular community. american neighborhoods are segregated. we are more segregated today than we were 100 years ago. the reason we are a segregated

society is because of rules and regulations that were implemented by our federal government. one of the rules the federal government implemented in the 1930's, 19 40's, 19 50's, 19 60's, and 1970's is the idea of redlining. develop residential security maps, known as redlining maps. were identified areas that good for financial investment and areas that were hazardous, risky, or bad for financial development. the areas deemed too hazardous were color-coded red. that was based partially on the racial composition of the neighborhood. if there were people of color living in a particular area, that neighborhood had to get a

red coding. we still have practices of redlining today. we see recent lawsuits brought not only by our members, but we saw a bed the of lawsuits -- a of lawsuits brought by the department of justice addressing redlining claims. with this rule does is it directs jurisdiction to look at the lending patterns in their communities to identify if there are any redlining practices that are occurring on behalf of lenders or insurers. theylls communities that should work with their entire community to map out a plan to try and mitigate against any redlining practices. host: let's hear from tommy. caller: good morning miss lisa.

i am a double amputee and have been trying to get hud assistance for over a year now. the process to get it is difficult in west tennessee. the district i am in is in jackson. they have a fax number. i was wondering if mr. carson could streamline the process and send a case worker here or something so they could see my situation and possibly give me hud assistance. as a double amputee on a fixed income it is difficult to live out here. i was hoping she would have some suggestions, an answer, whatever. host: where do they claim is the reason for the delay? caller: they claim it as income, but i don't make a lot. here,ave hud housing

but it is all upstairs. i may double amputee. it is difficult for me to get up and down. on the first level, they are all full. i don't think it is right. host: we will hear from lisa rice. guest: one provision of the fair housing act has required since its passage in 1968 the law are required for public housing authorities that get funding housing providers that receive any federal assistance, any federal funding, that housing had to be made available to people in a nondiscriminatory way. since 1988 that has included

people with disabilities. hardhing we have had a time doing and why implementing this rule is important is we had housing authorities that renovate their housing complexes in a way that is not acceptable for people with disabilities. if this rule had been in effect for the past 20 or so years we would have seen the development and creation of more acceptable housing units. it is another reason why we have to get this rule reinstated. all the while this rule is not ainstated we are still seeing restriction in the number of acceptable housing units for people with disabilities. sir, i will relay your concern to the secretary of hud the next time i speak to him. host: you wrote about fair housing complaints. fair housinge,

advocates remain concerned that racial and other types of harassment are underreported. cleveland cavalier lebron james and his family experienced harassment when vandals painted ets on the gate of their los angeles home. is that common, people don't know what to file and where? are over 4 million instances of housing discrimination each year. only 1% get reported. the main reason is because people don't recognize the signs of housing discrimination. knowthey do they don't where to report their experiences.y the third reason we hear people say is that they believe when

they do report that nothing will get done. you just heard that from our previous caller. expects ormeone thinks they had been a victim of discrimination or fair housing violation, who is the organization they should go to first? guest: they can call us. they could look at our website. there is a tab that says get help. you can find a local fair housing organization where it you can file a complaint. they can call the department of orsing and urban development visit the department of housing and urban development's website. portal on itsa website where people can file a hud'sint right there on website. host: republican line. caller: hello, this is mark.

host: go ahead. sir.r: thank you, on the c-span tv screen i don't have your full name. you look like a good american gentleman. do you have a question for lisa rice? caller: lisa rice has a good name. i hope she is a good oakland raiders fan, like me. i have a problem, i tried to get apartment in wilmington and newark, delaware and i wasn't able to because the waiting list was full. it was a two-year waiting list. what is a person supposed to do waiting to years? -- two years? guest: i'm sorry you had that experience.

case of misery loves company, but you are not alone. there are millions of people, of families, across the united states experiencing the same problem you are. of affordableth housing and new united states. that is another issue the rule was designed to address. the number of americans that are is growinged exponentially. in whichis was done 2001-2015 the number of americans that are rent burdened grew by 43%. that number is continuing to grow. we don'the problem is have enough affordable housing developments in this nation. forwardingtively

fair housing rule is designed to help communities address that problem so we can expand the number of affordable housing units across the country. teachers, firefighters, police officers, paralegals, nurses aides, these are people who work good jobs. they are hard-working folks. live inthese people communities where they cannot in thea one-bedroom home community where they work right here in the nation's capital. if you are a teacher with a college degree, you cannot afford a two-bedroom apartment in the nation's capital where you would be working. this rule is so critically important so we can make sure that people have affordable housing, good housing opportunities, in the communities where they are

working. issue weelessness, an will touch on later. lisa rice here to talk about in large part the reaction to the fair housing rule. the washington post reports with the headline civil rights groups civil rights -- challengeights groups housing.r required locality is receiving federal development funding to submit plans detailing efforts to end segregation based on disability., or

[video clip] the affordable housing crisis is tearing apart families and communities. issue. not a partisan this is a human one. h con resy i hope 530. that fromerve to hear the representatives. i hope these stories i shared will inspire my colleagues to about thisuents crisis and convince them to join me in bolstering federal resources for affordable housing. we cannot delay. as a person of faith, there is no way i can stand by and watch so many people living on the streets without shelter, without

food. they deserve a chance at the american dream also. host: congresswoman lee talked about bolstering federal resources. need moreobviously funding. we need an increase in funding. we were this heartened to see president trump submitted a budget that zeroed out cb dg funding, community development block grant funds. he also less and the amount of money we would have for fair housing and affordable housing development. communities pushed back against that. i have to say to secretary carson's credit, he tried to push hard for an increase in funding for affordable housing and fair housing. we have to stop the trend where

we think we can not support affordable housing development. this country was built on supporting and providing funding for the development of housing opportunities. we have done that since the creation of our nation. we cannot stop doing that now. host: tom in massachusetts, independent line. caller: good morning. mrs. rice isg if familiar with a situation in seattle where amazon is threatening to withhold construction on a facility that would employ 7000 people in response to seattle city council wanting to impose a tax that could help homelessness in seattle? host: not to cut you off, i

talkgize, but we will about that specific issue at 9:00 eastern. i will let lisa rice respond. not familiar with that situation and don't know much about it. it is imperative that our that our -- corporations engage in activities that support the development of affordable housing and equal housing opportunities, because it is they are employees that are going to take advantage of these affordable housing units that get developed. it only works in a corporation's best interest to support the development of affordable housing. reaction,me get your the effectiveness of the fair housing act of 1968 has been stymied by in trench policies and practices across the country that perpetuate discrimination.

moreover, ineffective enforcement by hud and the department of justice exacerbates these issues. guest: absolutely. look at houston, texas. houston used federal funds to develop a separate and unequal water drainage system. the water drainage system in houston was developed so predominantly white more affluent neighborhoods were protected from storm surges, while simultaneously implementing a system of ditches. color the communities of and houston, their water drainage system is a ditch. that is a separate and unequal system. exacerbates the flooding in those areas so that

when there is a storm surge it is the communities of color that get flooded over and over. they are dealing with mold issues, recurring damage issues to their property. it is deflating their property values and causing all kinds of negative ramifications. that is the kinds of things the rule is designed to address. the city of houston is violating the law while still getting federal funds. host: was that pointed out after the recent hurricane in houston? are they expected to remediate that problem? so.t: i hope this is a topic i brought up with secretary carson. the secretary would like to see houston address this issue. frankly, they have been receiving federal funds for years and have continue to perpetuate the separate

and unequal system. two of my colleagues -- excuse me -- host: that's ok. we will let you finish your thought. guest: two of my colleagues that joined me in this lawsuit to theel hud to reinforce furthering fair housing rule, those organizations have sued the cityt hud to make of houston use its federal funds to address discriminatory issues. host: this is john in silver spring, maryland. good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. what is different between a first time buyer -- in virginia the builders have to offer income, they can buy the house, the first-timers.

everybody likes fair housing. the problem is when people move into the neighborhood and abuse the system. sometimes, these people move in the neighborhood. bring in a lot about stuff, don't take care of their children, abuse the system, your price will go down. it is not because the people don't want this, it happened in texas because people have vouchers. sometimes they can't get houses, because when people move in, this is a great neighborhood and they won't accept the people. how can you enforce the people to follow? you get this opportunity to live a good life for them and their children, but they don't take care of their own house. they don't even have to pay that much. there is a problem. something has to be done. theast question is,

doesn't knowhud what he is doing sometimes about housing. we need to have someone who knows what is going on about the communities. i was a little confused by what you were saying, particularly as it relates to section eight vouchers and the section eight voucher housing program. the section eight housing voucher program is a program where hud gives a voucher to a family that is low to moderate income and that pays the difference in their rent. let's say that person makes $40,000 a year and cannot afford a $2000 per month apartment. hud makes up the difference to a certain amount of money.

that is what the section eight housing voucher program is. you can rent a house, an apartment, whoever accepts the voucher. when you say they are not keeping up their properties or the apartment complex, it is the responsibility to make sure the property is well-maintained. it is not the tenant's responsibility. you might have a situation where a person is using a section eight voucher to pay for their rent and the landlord is not reinvesting in that particular unit. the issue the case, needs to be taken up with the landlord. host: the caller mentioned not impressed with secretary carson. what is your take away of his engagement on fair housing? guest: there is a learning curve. he was a neurosurgeon.

you heard him say he himself after having been on the job for some time, housing is harder than neurosurgery. it is the truth. housing is not an easy subject. people look at it, you heard the residentsme the for the nature of a property note they live, understanding whose responsibility it is to maintain the property. the housing is highly complex. there are a lot of laws that impact housing. our housinges affordability issues, our fair housing issues. the secretary i think is in a learning curve. he realizes there is a lot he has to learn. what we are encouraging him to do is listen to the housing

experts, not the political ideologues. host: richard. caller: i have lived in nashville for 40-something odd years. i am retired. i have seen both parties come into power. the problem i saw when nashville flooded and the grand ole opry, the floor that all the people stood on and made history with their country music and other musics, i saw all that flooded. i live five miles from it. the river that comes through hooks up with the ohio and tennessee rivers. what happens is when that flood happens, when opryland was built it is almost like a peninsula where the river winds through the city.

right,iticians, left and allowed developers to come in, i don't know if they got their pockets padded, that they allowed all these developers. i had a cousin that bought a house here. his home was completely flooded. fema has not give him any money. in fact, they felt an amphitheater on the same river and took the money from the housing, the loans that were available to them. when you look at how that flooded, there was no way they should have flooded. you had one of the most biggest and expensive -- host: he says it is everywhere. i appreciate that. houston, nashville, new orleans. he's right.

it is happening across the united states. mississippi, texas. unfortunately, we do have money that isre supposed to be used for housing development or housing circumventede is to be used for other purposes. that does happen frequently. it is happening in michigan now. that is another reason why we have to have the affirmativly furthering fair housing rule three -- rule ramp lamented. that happening. what he experience is with people across the country are experiencing. sometimes we have some politicians, not all, but some politicians that will listen to well-heeled.e more those folks will make money off

of an economic development, and that is where they want subsidies to go. not to the average working family that needs to have an infrastructure project completed in their city so their houses don't flood. the affirmatively furthering fair housing rule is consumers. it gives consumers the voice and power they need to make sure the housing subsidies are used in the way they are supposed to be used. host: i would love to have you back for an update. thanks for being with us.