Study: Six factors impede fair housing in the CNMI

A government-funded study on what hinders fair housing for Commonwealth residents has identified three stumbling blocks each for the private and public sectors.

For the private sector, the three impediments are: one, people who are not of Northern Marianas descent—who are subject to legal restrictions on their ability to own land—tend to be concentrated in areas with high shares of rental housing; two, lack of fair housing complaint activity; and three, lack of legal avenues for Commonwealth residents who believe they have experienced housing discrimination.

For the public sector, the impediments are: one, the need to strengthen the local fair housing infrastructure; two, lack of knowledge of fair housing rights and obligations on the part of housing providers and consumers; and three, lack of Northern Marianas Housing Corp. certification as “substantially equivalent” for the purposes of the Fair Housing Assistance Program.

The study, called Analysis of Impediments, or AI, was initiated by the Northern Marianas Housing Corp. to analyze impediments in finding fair housing in the Commonwealth.

“The Analysis of Impediments is a comprehensive review of barriers that affect the rights of fair housing choice. The AI covers private and public sectors policies, practices, and procedures that affect fair housing choice,” said NMHC corporate director Jesse Palacios.

He said it is important for the agency to have the report as it “provides a basis for fair housing planning, provides essential information to policy makers, administrative staff, housing providers, lenders, fair housing advocates, and assists in building support for fair housing efforts.”

NMHC sought the assistance of a private entity, Western Economic Services from Oregon, to complete the AI.

“[The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development] has informed the agency that the AI needs to be comprehensive and all-encompassing. Because of the difficulty in finding specific data or statistics, the agency decided to solicit the assistance from a private vendor to complete the AI,” Palacios said.

The report can be viewed at the NMHC’s website, nmhcgov.net. Here is a direct link to the report: http://nmhcgov.net/resources/files/NMHC%202015%20AI%20-%20Public%20Review.pdf

WES will be presenting an overview of the AI to the general public on Thursday at 10am at the NMHC conference room. It will also be a venue for the public to inquire and comment on the report.