City Under Investigation for Housing Discrimination

Department of Housing and Urban Development officials claim that a campaign by Manassas against crowded housing has illegally targeted Hispanic families; and they have turned their investigation over to the Justice Department, saying the city has failed to adequately settle complaints. According to HUD, 342 complaints were made to the city's "overcrowding hotline" before the investigation began, and more than half turned up no violations. Of the 145 calls that resulted in violations, 71 percent involved families with Hispanic surnames, although only 15 percent of the city's population is Hispanic.

HUD's investigation focused on anti-crowding measures initiated by the city over the past two years. Those included a hotline that allowed residents to anonymously file a complaint about neighbors they suspected of violating city ordinances and an ordinance that narrowed the legal definition of "family." That ordinance was repealed in January under threats from civil rights groups and concerns about a federal investigation. According to Kent Willis, Executive Director of the ACLU of Virginia: "If the judge or jury determines that the City of Manassas conspired to discriminate against Latino families, the punitive damages could be hefty."