Fair Housing Advisory Board: How new Broome group will help residents facing barriers
Broome County’s first Fair Housing Advisory board is a grassroots, community-led organization, with a mission to be the voice for community members, inform them of their rights, and help share access to resources already set in place.
The frontline work being done by the advisory board is not new, and has been in the works for about a year. The Fair Housing Advisory Board's first meeting will be held in June.
“We are no longer willing to stand by as our neighbors face chronic displacement and uninhabitable conditions as well as harassment or exploitation due to their income level, race or disability status,” local housing justice consultant Rebecca Rathmell said during a press conference announcing the board in April. “We believe everyone deserves the opportunity in finding and keeping a place to call home.”
In 2019, New York passed a housing stability and tenant protection act. Five years later, the fair housing advisory board believes there are still gaps, and is stepping in when they encounter residents, tenant groups and providers all across Broome County who continue to report housing discrimination.
What will the Fair Housing Board do?
Monitor tenant screening
Property maintenance
Help tenants identify and address discriminatory practices
Enhance capacity of legal aid/services
Gather feedback from renters experience
Create public policy and protocols promoting accessibly housing opportunities
The board's work is funded by the Community Foundation’s housing trust fund and developed by community members who have personal experience with housing inequality, homelessness and instability.
Partnering with other housing organizations like Legal Services of Central New York, Legal Aid Society of Mid-New York, CNY fair housing, United Way, Citizen Action, the board also works to address issues Broome County residents are facing with housing violations and the filing of civil lawsuits.
The advisory board is also pushing for the City of Binghamton to revise the human right laws to include unhoused status as a protected class, ensuring sheltered and unsheltered individuals have equal rights when it pertains to employment, emergency medical care, education and free movement in public spaces.
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Broome income, housing by the numbers
According to the U.S. Census Bureau in 2023, 19.5% of Broome County’s population was living in poverty. The median income for a Broome County household comes in at $54,000 with 45% of households bringing home under $50,000.
In the beginning of the year Broome County conducted a Housing Needs Assessment and Strategy receiving 1,050 responses from the community. When asked about the most important housing issues residents of Broome County are facing, the top two answers were quality housing and lack of affordable housing. As of January 2024, out of the 92,200 total units, 57% are owner-occupied, 31% are renter-occupied and 12% are vacant.
According to the survey 14% of the respondents felt they have been unfairly treated when applying for a loan or mortgage and 36% of renters expressed unfair treatment when looking for housing.
Board member Jabari Randolph, a Binghamton University alum and mission impact director at the YWCA, said options are limited and more expensive for renters in the City of Binghamton who are not students and can be cost prohibitive.
“It is time for Binghamton to hold themselves accountable," Randolph said, "for the increases in homelessness that have resulted from more than a decade of failed housing policies."
This article originally appeared on Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin: Fair Housing board steps in for Broome residents facing barriers
