Connecticut Fair Housing Center, Inc.

The Center expanded our scope of work to include foreclosure prevention, anti-predatory lending, and fair lending efforts in 2008 when the Great Recession revealed the disproportionate impact of the foreclosure crisis and unfair lending/mortgage service practices on people of color. Currently, we offer free legal assistance and representation to homeowners facing foreclosure across Connecticut. We also offer foreclosure advice virtual meetings where eligible participants can schedule 15-minute appointments with attorneys. Additionally, to ensure that homeowners are empowered with the knowledge they need to successfully represent themselves in foreclosure when possible, we publish a “Represent Yourself in Foreclosure” guide.

The Center provides statewide education and outreach on the fair housing laws to educate residents, municipal leaders, housing providers, and policymakers about fair housing rights and responsibilities. Research shows that the vast majority of people who experience housing discrimination do not report it, often because of a lack of understanding of either fair housing rights or where to turn for help.  In addition, our own experience has shown that there remains a great deal of misunderstanding among housing providers, landlords, zoning and development officials, and other key stakeholders about the fair housing laws, the history of housing discrimination, and related issues.  By educating residents as well as housing stakeholders, we are working to increase understanding of fair housing rights and compliance with the fair housing laws.

The Center supports tenants who are organizing to improve their living conditions and state and local tenant protections. We’ve represented tenant unions who are paying rent into court (the legal way to do a rent strike), helped them file fair rent commission complaints to freeze rent increases or address unsafe conditions, and supported tenant-led campaigns to improve local housing code enforcement and to cap rent increases and end no-fault evictions at the state level.