New York Attorney General Letitia James has announced nearly $1 million in grants to launch the region’s first fair housing testing and enforcement program. The funding, totaling $970,000, will be split between United Tenants of Albany, Inc. and the Fair Housing Justice Center to support a two-year initiative in New York’s Capital Region, the state’s largest area without a designated fair housing organization.
The grants are designed to counter housing discrimination that can contribute to racial inequities, neighborhood decline, rising childhood poverty and growing disparities in homeownership. The state’s Anti-Discrimination in Housing Fund, established in 2021 to collect fees and fines from brokers and agents, provides the financial backing for the project.
Under the funding arrangement, United Tenants of Albany will receive $520,000 to develop the enforcement program, while the Fair Housing Justice Center is allocated $450,000 to offer training and technical assistance. The center will work with Syracuse-based CNY Fair Housing to help implement the program and explore additional regions that could benefit from similar fair housing support.
