INFORMATION PROVIDED BY
Concrete ChangeOn Thursday, October 28, the House Judiciary's subcommittee on the Constitution will hold a hearing to consider HR 2437, the so-called "Justice in Fair Housing Enforcement Act of 1999." This bill is the opposite of justice. The Fair Housing Act Ammendment of 1988 required that all apartment buildings and condominiums built after March 1991 would have basic access in EVERY ground floor unit ...and if the building has an elevator, in EVERY unit.
On the upside, this has resulted in thousands of new visitable/useable apartments over the last 8 years. On the downside. hundreds of developers have flouted the law and built illegal steps and narrow doors. Eventually, fed-up disability advocates began to seek redress through the courts for wrongly buiilt apartment buildings. Now the National Association of Home Builders and its allies are trying to evade thier responsibility by promoting HR2437, a bill to UNDO the Fair Housing Act's access design and construction requirements for all multifamily housing that has been built since 1991.
The bill's sponsor is Representative Walter Jones, Republican, of North Carolina.
If any of the Representatives on the relevant committee (listed below) live in your district, please call their office and send the message. Do not allow HB2437 to lessen the builders' responsibility to have followed the law since 1991. Do not pass HB2437. If you know someone in the representative's district, please have them call. If none live in your district, please call the chair of the subcommittee, Charles Candy, at (202)225-1252.
House Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on THE CONSITUTION
Republicans
1. Charles Canady, FL, Chairman
2. Henry Hyde, IL
3. Asa Hutcheinson, AR
4. Spencer Bachus, AL
5. Bob Goodlatte, VA
6. Bob Barr, GA
7. William Jenkins, TN
8. Lindsey Graham, SC
Democrats
1. Melvin L Watt, NC
2. Maxine Waters, CA
3. Barney Frank, MA
4. John Conyers Jr., MI
5. Jerrold Nadler, NY
For links to send email to Congressional representatives, go to the website thomas.loc.gov
---------------- THE BILL ----------------------
Justice in Fair Housing Enforcement Act of 1999 (Introduced in the House)
HR 2437 IH
106th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2437
To provide an exception from the enforcement of an accessibility construction requirement of the Fair Housing Act for certain buildings constructed in compliance with a local building code.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 1, 1999
Mr. JONES of North Carolina introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To provide an exception from the enforcement of an accessibility construction requirement of the Fair Housing Act for certain buildings constructed in compliance with a local building code.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `Justice in Fair Housing Enforcement Act of 1999 '.
SEC. 2. EXCEPTION FROM ENFORCEMENT OF CONSTRUCTION REQUIREMENT.
The requirement of section 804(f)(3)(C) of the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3604(f)(3)(C)) shall not apply with respect to any building that--
(1) was designed for first occupancy during the period beginning March 13, 1991 and ending on the date of the enactment of this Act ; and
(2) received a building permit or other similar approval from the relevant State or local building authorities as meeting the requirements of the applicable building code.
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SHORT TITLE(S) AS INTRODUCED: Justice in Fair Housing Enforcement Act of 1999
OFFICIAL TITLE AS INTRODUCED: A bill to provide an exception from the enforcement of an accessibility construction requirement of the Fair Housing Act for certain buildings constructed in compliance with a local building code.
STATUS: Floor Actions
***NONE***
STATUS: Detailed Legislative Status
House Actions
Jul 1, 99: Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. Jul 13, 99: Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution.