| Identified
Impediments |
Actions
to Eliminate Identified Impediments |
Primary
Responsibility |
Partners |
Timetable |
| 1. Government Policies |
| A. Housing density and land use requirements
restrict the location of affordable multi-family developments. |
The City of Akron will maintain its practice
of issuing conditional uses for multi-family and group home development where appropriate
in order to promote affordable housing. |
City of Akron |
Fair Housing Task (FHTF) |
3 |
| B. The zoning code has not Received a major
revision in 25 years. |
Zoning Code will be reviewed to determine the
guidelines that discourage affordable housing. |
City of Akron |
FHTF, Interested Community Organizations |
2 |
| C. Developers of new housing in Akron are not
providing for accessibility upgrades (e.g. wheelchair ramps, bathroom modifications and
wider doors), of housing. |
New housing design will be encouraged to
provide for accessibility upgrades at the inception for possible future use. |
Home Builders Association, (HBA),
City of Akron Building Department, Prospective Developers |
Disability Advocate Groups Architects |
2 |
| D. Families and individuals with limited
Financial resources have limited Housing choices. |
Developers will promote mixed-income housing
developments; City will promote economic opportunities in economically distressed areas
for low and moderate income persons. |
City of Akron |
HBA |
3 |
| E. The greatest percentage of funding in City
programs to rehabilitate affordable housing does not address the oldest and most
deteriorated neighborhoods of the City. |
Support the development of CDC’s to
improve housing in the oldest areas of the City. Develop
more housing activity in the oldest areas of the City. |
City of Akron |
Lenders |
1 |
| F. Rental assistance programs and credit
repair programs are not able to meet the need for this service that helps secure
affordable housing. |
Organizations provide education awareness to
prospective or current tenants/homeowners concerning but not limited to credit repair and
assistance programs. |
AMHA, Family Services, Banks
(credit repair) |
United Way, University of Akron, Kent State
University |
1 |
| G. There does not seem to be a Mechanism to
identify housing need in Akron. |
Principal agencies will monitor housing need
in the City of Akron to identify potential housing shortages. |
AMHA, City of Akron |
HBA, University of Akron Homeless providers,
CDC’s |
1 |
| H. Accessibility requirements in multi-family
developments are not being enforced (wheelchair users do not have access to front of
building). |
Accessibility and building requirements will
be available upon request at the Building Departments. |
City of Akron, Summit County, |
FHCS, Tri-County Independent Living, Ohio
Dept. of Development |
1 |
| I. The concentration of low-income public
Housing for families in the cities of Akron, Barberton and Cuyahoga Falls limits the
housing choices for low-income families. |
The City of Akron will continue to seek 1:1
development of low-income housing in the City vs. outside the City. |
City of Akron, Akron Metropolitan
Housing Authority (AMHA) |
Summit County, NEFCO |
3 |
| J. Necessary household retail services are
limited in areas of the city where Affordable housing exists. |
Encourage the private sector to establish
groceries, pharmacies, banks, etc. |
City of Akron |
FHCS, CDC, Churches, Block Clubs, Banks,
Local Boards of Trade |
3 |
| K. There is an education gap among the public
on various aspects of conditional use policies. |
The Zoning Division will provide a written
statement of policy with regards to conditional use process and have it available upon
request. |
City of Akron Zoning |
|
1 |
| L. Certain sections of the City have
Significant amounts of housing and Infrastructure that needs replacement. |
The City will maintain a coordinated effort
to upgrade public improvements and housing investment in the oldest sections of the City. |
City of Akron |
|
3 |
| |
Actions
to Eliminate Identified Impediments |
Primary
Responsibility |
Partners |
Timetable |
| 2. Education and Outreach |
| A. Except for Fair Housing month, there is
very little information to promote awareness of fair housing and fair lending issues and
policies. |
Utilize media resources to promote Fair
Housing and increase awareness of fair lending issues and problems. |
Fair Housing Contact Services (FHCS), Akron
Board of Realtors (ABR), Summit County, AMHA, Akron Summit Public Library |
Media, Infoline, Banks, Legal Aid
Providers, Community Organizations |
1 |
| B. Effective service by agencies to the
Disabled in securing affordable Housing is hampered by ineffective Communication. |
Utilize public forums to disseminate fair
housing literature (lending, credit information, emergency assistance). |
Tri-County Independent Living |
Media |
1 |
C. Presentations on
complicated issues relating to lending or credit are difficult to understand by the
intended consumer. |
Presentation on these subjects will be
crafted in simple language, clearly structured and graphically displayed (e.g.
audio-visual display). |
Banks, City of Akron, Summit County |
Akron Metropolitan Housing
Authority, CDC’s |
1 |
| D. Fair Housing Contact Service lacks the
financial resources to advertise its services aggressively and communicate fair housing
law to the public. |
FHCS will utilize television and radio Public
Access, Op-Ed pages in newspapers and special reports in local magazines to periodically
promote Fair Housing/Fair Lending policies; FHCS should pursue additional funding. |
FHCS |
Local Media Outlets, lending
organizations |
2 |
|
| Identified
Impediments |
Actions
to Eliminate Identified Impediments |
Primary
Responsibility |
Partners |
Timetable |
| 3. Lending and Credit |
| A. Influencing lending activity
by area lenders is limited because public information on lending activity is not widely
known. |
Continue review of local lending practices
using Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) Data. Public forums discussing reports will be
held annually. |
State of Ohio Office of the Comptroller of
Currency, Local Banks |
Fair Housing Contact Services, City of Akron,
Fair Housing Task Force |
1 |
| B. The lack of bank branches in
Minority or low-income Neighborhoods reduces the Opportunity for low income or Minority
persons to know of and take advantage of lending options. |
Outreach by banks will be continued in poor
and minority communities especially to distinguish themselves from predatory lending
facilities. Community Reinvestment Officers are encouraged to become more creative in
promoting Bank programs. |
Local Banks |
Mustard Seed Development Center A Monitoring
Group FHTF |
1 |
| C. Banks and other financial Institutions do
not know the market in poor and minority census tracts. |
Banks will partner with
established neighborhood organizations to promote lending information. |
Local Banks, Community Development
Corporations |
Community Development Organization AMHA
Community Centers Churches |
2 |
| D. Residents of poor and minority census
tracts do not trust banks and other financial institutions. |
Community Development
Corporations will work to become loan originators in partnership with lending
institutions. |
CDC’s, Local Banks |
LISC, Foundations |
3 |
| E. Regardless of their Community Reinvestment
Act (CRA) ratings, banks are allowed to operate business as usual without repercussions. |
Penalty provisions of CRA should
be strengthened and enforced. Local organizations will publicize poor records locally and
communicate objections to regulatory agencies. |
Office of Comptroller of the Currency |
FHCS |
2 |
| F. Subprime lenders operate in Neighborhoods
without monitoring from any agency. The marketing used, especially in poor and minority
communities, have made these communities particularly vulnerable to high interest rates,
and poor value of service, i.e. (deceptive practices), i.e. high fees, high loan to value
ratio, over appraisals, large number of foreclosures. |
Suspected Predatory
Lenders/practices will be monitored and reported to the Better Business Bureau. |
Predatory Lending Task Force |
City Akron Bar Association FHCS Prosecution
FHCS |
3 |
|
| Identified
Impediments |
Actions
to Eliminate Identified Impediments |
Primary
Responsibility |
Partners |
Timetable |
| 4. Insurance |
| A. The lack of data on property or Mortgage
insurance redlining Restricts the public’s ability to Influence this activity. |
Partner with University to
conduct research to examine the occurrence of redlining by various insurance companies. |
University of Akron, Kent State University,
City of Akron, Summit County |
FHCS, FHTF, HUD |
2 |
| B. There are few forums held to discuss
insurance policies and practices. Citizens in poor and minority census tracts may not be
receiving information regarding fair policies. |
Using seminars and other
promotional venues, educate current and potential policyholders on insurance issues and
how to deal with insurance companies. This will provide tools to equip policy holders with
coverage and reduce cancellation of policies. |
Local Insurance Agencies/Brokers |
Housing Network, CDC’s, Block Clubs,
Universities |
2 |
|
| Identified Impediments |
Actions
to Eliminate Identified Impediments |
Primary
Responsibility |
Partners |
Timetable |
| 5. Enforcement |
| A. Adequate funding is necessary
in order to continue monitoring tools to identify discrimination in fair housing choice,
(i.e., site testing). |
Continue to provide
site testing to identify discriminatory acts/policies to fair housing choice. The results
of the tests will be utilized for community education and awareness. |
Fair Housing Contact Service |
City of Akron, University of
Akron, SC |
1 |
| B. Approved accessibility
standards not always enforced during review process. |
Inspectors will
review required accessibility standards at appropriate stages of building process. |
City of Akron, Summit County |
FHTF, FHCS, NEFCO, Tri-County |
2 |
| C. Housing developments in the
City of Akron receiving federal funds do not always exhibit diversity of occupancy |
Entities receiving
federal funds for housing projects will have affirmative marketing plans developed and
implemented in collaboration with local fair housing organizations. Development Corporations will achieve diversity within housing.
Support Public Housing Deconcentration plan developed by
AMHA. |
City of Akron, Summit County,
non-profit development corporations, (CDC) |
Housing Network, NEFCO, HUD,
AMHA, Home Builders |
2 |
| D. A broad-based group does not
systematically review Fair Housing policies and practices in the community. |
Maintain the Fair
Housing Task Force as a body to assess fair housing impediments in the City of Akron and
provide ongoing analysis. |
FHTF |
FHCS |
1 |
| E. Some owners of rental property
are not aware of fair housing regulations and requirements. |
Distribute fair
housing and landlord/tenant information at the time of Rental Registration with the Akron
Health Department. |
City of Akron |
FHCS, Akron Board of Realtors |
1 |
| F. Housing
developments are often not Diverse in the City of Akron. |
Entities
developing housing will be encouraged to have Affirmative Market Plans. |
FHCS |
CDC’s |
3 |
| Identified Impediments |
Actions
to Eliminate Identified Impediments |
Primary
Responsibility |
Partners |
Timetable |
| 6. Special Needs |
| A. Architects, inspectors, and
Construction managers do not Always know accessibility guidelines For multi-family
development resulting in costly renovations. |
Periodic
dissemination of guidelines or presentations to architect or construction trade groups. |
FHCS, Tri-County, City of Akron |
|
3 |
| B. There is a significant lack of
rent Assisted, accessible housing for Families who have a family member Using a
wheelchair. |
Provide financial
assistance for accessibility renovations. Encourage
the development of handicapped accessible or adaptable housing on all projects receiving
federal funds.
Promote the development of handicapped accessible or
adaptable housing in new private developments. |
Tri-County, FHCS, AMHA, City,
County |
FHTF, United Disability Services |
2 |
| C. Persons with disabilities may
have difficulty receiving needed services in a timely manner. |
A clearinghouse of
providers will be established to ensure persons with disabilities have access to services. |
Tri-County, MRDD Board |
City, County, FHTF, UDS. CSS,
AMHA, ADM Board |
3 |
| D. There is a pattern of
inefficient delivery of services which jeopardizes housing persons with disabilities. |
Monitoring by FHTF
and engage in dialogue with those providers. |
FHTF |
|
3 |
|
|
