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Statewide Fair Housing Testing Program

Indianapolis – The Indiana Civil Rights Commission (ICRC) has released the results of their groundbreaking Indiana Statewide Fair Housing Testing Program. The project marks the first statewide testing conducted for fair housing in the nation.  The testing program was created to identify differential treatment in the housing process throughout the State of Indiana that would otherwise go undetected.

Less than ten percent of housing discrimination is ever reported. Individuals who are misled in the housing process may never know that they were involved in differential treatment because they have no way of comparing their treatment to another home seeker. As the state’s enforcement agency for fair housing, the ICRC began testing early in 2014, conducting on-site and telephonic tests with housing providers throughout the state. ICRC Executive Director Jamal Smith states, “We are proud to pioneer such a groundbreaking initiative. The nation’s first statewide fair housing testing program will help to supplement our outreach and education efforts as well as help streamline our investigative and legal processes.”

Amongst the results, the program revealed that while 41 percent of race based tests showed similar treatment, 59 percent of race based tests demonstrated differential treatment of one race over another. Mr. Smith, along with ICRC Deputy Director Akia A. Haynes, presented the program’s findings in detail on April 14th, during the ICRC’s State of Indiana 2015 Fair Housing Conference.

For a copy of the most recent addition of the Executive Summary click here.

For additional details about the State of Indiana’s 2015 Fair Housing Conference click here.

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