U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE's CHIEF OF HOUSING AND CIVIL ENFORCEMENT SECTION SENDS ME AN ENCOURAGING REPLY E-MAIL ON MARCH 27, 2020:

I received the following encouraging letter today as an attachment to an e-mail sent to me by the U.S. Department of justice Civil Rights Division Housing and Civil Enforcement Section in Washington, D.C., with the sender's e-mail address of "fairhousing@usdoj.gov":

U.S. Department of Justice
Civil Rights Division Housing and Civil Enforcement Section
U.S. Mail: 150 M Street, NE Washington, DC 20530
Facsimile: (202) 514-1116
Electronic: fairhousing@usdoj.gov

Dear Sir/Madam:

Thank you for contacting the Housing and Civil Enforcement Section of the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. 

Each day we receive many emails and letters. Unfortunately, we cannot respond individually to every inquiry or investigate every complaint we receive. We carefully review all correspondence and we will contact you if we need additional information.

The Housing Section enforces federally-protected rights in five primary areas: 1) housing; 2) public accommodations, such as hotels and restaurants; 3) religious land use; 4) credit; and 5) financial and civil obligations of military personnel.

The Section generally becomes involved in matters that may affect groups of people. We share responsibility for enforcing certain laws with other government agencies, and those agencies may handle complaints that affect only one person.

For example, if your complaint relates to discrimination in housing, you may want to file a complaint with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”): http://www.hud.gov/program_offices/fair_housing_equal_opp/online-complaint.
(Please note that you have one year to file a complaint with HUD.)

If your complaint relates to discrimination in lending, you may want to file complaints with HUD and with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: http://www.consumerfinance.gov/complaint/. For more information about the Housing Section and our work, please visit our web page: www.justice.gov/crt/housing-and-civil-enforcement-section.

If your question or concern does not relate to this Section’s area of work, you may wish to review the Civil Rights Division’s web page to consider whether another section within the Division may be better able to assist you: http://www.justice.gov/crt. 

For your convenience, we have attached a list of resources that you may find helpful.

You also may wish to consult a private attorney to determine what claims, if any, you may have under other federal and state laws.

If you do not have an attorney, you may find your state bar association or local legal assistance agency helpful in locating an attorney to discuss your complaint: http://www.findlegalhelp.org or www.lsc.gov/find-legal-aid.

Sincerely,
Sameena Shina Majeed 

Chief,
Housing and Civil Enforcement Section
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LIST OF RESOURCES 

CREDIT Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (discrimination in lending- mortgage foreclosures, financing, credit cards) http://www.consumerfinance.gov/complaint/ 1700 G Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20552 (855) 411-2372 Credit Bureaus Equifax www.equifax.com/home/en_us (800) 685-1111 Experian www.experian.com/ (888) 397-3742 Trans Union www.transunion.com/ (800) 916-8800

DISABILITY Accessibility/Disability Resources (complaints, disability & accessibility resources) U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division Disability Rights Section www.ada.gov 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. – NYA Washington, DC 20530 (800) 514-0301 Accessibility Issues Fair Housing Accessibility First (HUD contractor; builder/developer technical guidance) www.fairhousingfirst.org (888) 341-7781

HOUSING U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (discrimination in housing) www.hud.gov/topics/housing_discrimination 451 7th Street, S.W. Washington, DC 20410 (800) 669-9777 Community Partner Resources One CPD Resource Exchange www.hudexchange.info/contact-us/ Homelessness Resources www.hudexchange.info/housing-and-homelessassistance/ Office of Public & Indian Housing (complaints about a public housing authority or its employees, housing vouchers, landlord) www.hud.gov/program_offices/public_indian_ho using/pha/contacts (800) 955-2232 Office of Inspector General (OIG) (fraud) www.hudoig.gov/about/where-were-located (800) 347-3735 (202) 708-4829 Facsimile hotline@hudoig.gov Fair Housing Initiatives Program Agencies (discrimination in housing- fair housing organizations) www.hud.gov/program_offices/fair_housing_equal_opp/pa rtners/FHIP Substantially Equivalent State Agencies (discrimination in housing- state listings) http://civilrights.findlaw.com/enforcing-your-civilrights/state-civil-rights-offices.html 

PRIVATE ATTORNEY RESOURCES American Bar Association http://www.findlegalhelp.org 1050 Connecticut Avenue, N.W. Suite 400 Washington, DC 20036 (800) 285-2221 Legal Services Corporation (or Legal Aid Offices) www.lsc.gov/find-legal-aid 3333 K Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20007 (202) 295-1500

PUBLIC ACCOMMODATIONS State Attorneys General (complaints- hotels, restaurants, theaters, public places) www.usa.gov/state-attorney-general (844) 872-4681

RELIGIOUS LAND USE U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division Place to Worship Initiative (discrimination in zoning) http://www.justice.gov/crt/place-worship-initiative 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC 20530 (202) 514-4609

SERVICEMEMBERS U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division Servicemembers and Veterans Initiative (mortgage foreclosures, residential & vehicle leases, evictions, automobile repossessions, interest rate reductions) www.servicemembers.gov (202) 307-SCRA (7272) servicemembers@usdoj.gov Complaint Form: https://www.justice.gov/servicemembers/webform/welcom e-servicemembers-and-veterans-initiative-s-complaintassistant