St. Joseph County Housing Consortium

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FY 2025-2029 Five-Year Consolidated Plan City of South Bend, IN There is a continuing need to educate persons about their rights under the Fair Housing Act and to raise community awareness to affirmatively further fair housing. Goal: All residents of St. Joseph County and the Cities of South Bend and Mishawaka will have an increased awareness and knowledge of their rights under the Fair Housing Act and the County and Cities will continue to affirmatively further fair housing, especially for low-income residents, minorities, and the disabled population. Strategies: To meet this goal,the following activities and strategies may be undertaken by St. Joseph County and the Cities of South Bend and Mishawaka: 4-A: Continue to promote fair housing awareness through the media,seminars,and training,to provide educational opportunities for all persons to learn more about their rights under the Fair Housing Act, Americans with Disabilities Act, and visibility. 4-B: Continue to provide and distribute literature and informational material in English and Spanish concerning fair housing issues, an individual's housing rights, and the landlords' responsibilities to affirmatively further fair housing, including laws regarding reasonable modifications and accommodations. 4-C: Continue to support and provide funding for the South Bend Human Rights Commission to provide testing services, education, outreach, referrals, and assistance in addressing fair housing complaints that may arise in the County and Cities. 4-D: Continue to work with the local Board of Realtors to educate and promote fair housing. 4-E: Strive for better intergovernmental cooperation between state and local partners, as well as community groups,to effectively identify and address potential barriers to affordable housing choice. Impediment 5: Private Lending Practices The HMDA data for St. Joseph County indicates that there may be a disparity between the approval rates of home mortgage loans originated from minorities and those originated from non-minority applicants. Goal:Approval rates for all originated home mortgage loans will be fair,unbiased and equal,regardless of race, familial status, and location. Strategies: To meet this goal,the following activities and strategies may be undertaken by St. Joseph County and the Cities of South Bend and Mishawaka: 5-A: The Cities and County should consider using Federal and State funding to provide housing or credit counseling to potential low- and moderate-income homebuyers in impacted neighborhoods to decrease the number of denials due to poor credit, debt-to-income ratios,or incomplete applications. 5-B: The Cities and County should consider entering into an agreement with Indiana Legal Services, Inc. to perform research to determine if any patterns of discrimination are present in home mortgage OMB Control No:2506-0117(exp.07/31/2025) 110