The Fair Housing Coalition

We are a civil rights organization created to fight unfair laws against landlords. We are based in Los Angeles, California.

Yesterday I sent a letter to President Obama and the new Secretary of HUD. Because the REAP Act is causing high numbers of African-Americans to lose their apartment buildings in Los Angeles, this could be seen as a form of racism by the Federal Government. If we are able to get the Department Justice to determine that the REAP act is being politically to take property away from minority people and from “mom and pop” type landlords, this could help us in getting the law abolished. I also mentioned in the letters to both of them that HUD is only concerned with matters of housing discrimination when it affects person who qualify to be in one of their “seven protected groups” and since HUD is funded by the American Taxpayer, they do not have the right to tell anyone that he/she does not deserve government protection because that person is not in one of their “seven groups”. I believe that if a City or County starts to make laws that treat landlords unfairly, HUD should get involved and do everything possible to make sure that landlords and renters are treated equally under the law. If HUD doesn't offer everyone equal protection, that is discrimination. This should be the new mission statement for HUD. Once we get the national media reporting on this, it will help change things for the better. Here below is a copy of that letter.

----- (the letter) ----

POB 46123
Los Angeles, CA 90016
Sept. 29, 2009
Honorable Shaun L. Donovan, Secretary
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
451 7th Street S.W. Room 10,000
Washington, DC 20410

Dear Secretary Donovan:

I am writing to you regarding three matters of housing discrimination that I believe HUD should look into.

#1. Regarding those that HUD will defend…
I’m aware there is a list containing “the seven protected groups” of people that your agency defends when it comes to housing discrimination. I believe that because HUD is funded by the American taxpayer, people of all backgrounds, HUD should not limit itself to protecting just seven groups of people when it comes to housing discrimination. HUD should be concerned and get involved when there is any form of housing discrimination by anyone against anyone. To deny help from HUD when a person suffers housing discrimination because that person does not qualify to be listed in one of HUD’s “seven protect groups” is another form of discrimination. A Federal agency should treat all members of the public equally and not take the position that some people do not qualify for Federal protection. All across America there are City Councils creating laws that are extremely unfair to property owners. Many of these property owners simply don’t have the money to wage a legal war against an unfair local government. They deserve protection too from HUD. That is why I believe that HUD needs to revamp its mission statement.

#2. Discrimination against landlords…
In the City of Los Angeles, there is a law on the books called “The REAP Act”. This law gives the Los Angeles Housing Department the authority to confiscate a landlord’s rent if the landlord’s building has any type of minor cosmetic issues. This is done without due process of law.

At the present time in Los Angeles, there are 1,674 buildings that are in REAP. (I have a copy of this list with all the names and addresses) Instead of paying their landlord the monthly rent when it is due, renters are offered a fifty percent discount to pay their rent to the Los Angeles Housing Department instead. This is a real “cash cow” for the City because they are stealing all the rent money from many landlords at a time. When a landlord has no rent income from his/her apartment building, it is only a matter of time before the landlord is forced to sell the building, go bankrupt or lose it in foreclosure.

The ugly reality is that “The Reap Act” is being used politically. The #1 group losing their properties is African–Americans. Many of these buildings are in areas where the real estate values have gone up in recent years and there is plenty of hidden equity in the property.

Wealthy real estate developers are buying up these buildings at foreclosure sales. These are the same real estate developers who contribute heavily to local elections. They have access to inside information because they have a cozy relationship with local elected officials. That is why the LAHD is doing their “dirty work”, by attacking minority landlords and forcing them out of business. This is a form of organized crime.

Many “mom and pop” type landlords who own small apartment buildings, who after making mortgage payments for twenty years or more are losing their properties and not getting anything in return. Once these properties are lost in foreclosure, it is the wealthy real estate developers who reap the reward of the hidden equity because they are able to buy these properties for as low as ten cents on the dollars. This is the new racism of our times, to steal the equity away from small minority landlords. Still, there is a bigger agenda at work here.

3. The bigger agenda?
The way I see it, I believe there is a bigger secret agenda at work here and that is to drive poor people out of Los Angeles. The working poor, single moms on welfare, the disabled and the elderly on fixed income, most of them are renters and they don’t contribute to the tax base. At the same time, they are a financial drain on the City because of all the social services they require. Because of bad money management, the City of Los Angeles is already five hundred millions dollars in the red and poor people are a financial liability to the City. If the City can eliminate all the older apartment buildings that poor people reside in, these people will be forced to move away from Los Angeles. This is happening all over LA.

When landlords lose their older apartment buildings, once a developer becomes the new owner, the first thing the developer does is to evict all the tenants. Because of their political connections, developers are able to quickly evict the tenants. Then the buildings are torn down to make way for high rent generating condos. The City benefits too because as the real estate values go up, this will bring in more money to the general tax fund and tenants who can afford to live in expensive condos also pay taxes to the City. Government takes in more money but at the same time, the numbers of homeless people in Los Angeles is on the rise. Poor people can’t afford to move into newly built expensive condos.

Who I am…
I do entertainment industry public relations in Hollywood, California. I am a well-known media spokes person in Los Angeles. In the last ten years, I have fought the City of Los Angeles two times in the media and I won both times. I will gladly give you the details of my past victories at a later time. I’m trying to keep this letter as short as possible.

As a landlord who owns an apartment building in REAP, I have decided to fight back against unfair laws. A few months ago, I founded “The Fair Housing Coalition”. We are a civil rights organization that believes in equality and fairness under the law for both landlords and renters.

I have many friends in the media who are ready to go public and expose the injustice that is going on in Los Angeles against minority landlords and low-income renters. We are going to create a national scandal. I know from experience that when public outrage is aimed directly at specific elected officials, it will force them to do the right thing immediately. We’re also going to add to the pressure by creating an avalanche of lawsuits against the City. For much too long, small landlords simply just sat back and accepted abuse from the City. There was no one stepping forward to organize them and inspire them to do battle when their rights are violated. I’m going to provide that leadership.

This immoral greed driven agenda must be stopped. This is a form of organized crime created by the City of Los Angeles. I’m going to fight the City on behalf of equality for everyone, for small landlords and poor people. I can understand the Mafia doing something like this when they want to acquire valuable land at a low price. For a City Council, in the United States of America, to create laws that forces small minority landlords in bankruptcy is un-American and criminal. I’m sure there will be many more surprises as we start to follow the money trail.

If you doubt anything that I’m saying here, I will gladly give you a copy of the REAP list and you can send a questionnaire to every landlord on the list. What you will discover will anger and shock you. So, will you work with me in fighting this evil agenda that is bankrupting so many minority landlords?

Yours truly,

Bill Hooey

(323) 397-8740

cc: President Barack Obama

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