Mass Fair Housing welcomes new head, keeps fighting discrimination

Vineeth Hemavathi, the new executive director of Mass Fair Housing.
Reminder Publishing file photo

HOLYOKE — April is Fair Housing Month, commemorating President Lyndon B. Johnson signing the Fair Housing Act on April 11, 1968.

But while the law is nearly 60 years old, organizations are still fighting for fair housing every day.

One of those organizations is Holyoke-based Mass Fair Housing, which recently welcomed Executive Director Vineeth Hemavathi.
Despite logging just two weeks on the job so far, Hemavathi is no stranger to Mass Fair Housing. The lawyer, with a background in housing and domestic violence, spent the past year working with Harvard Law School’s Housing Justice for Survivors Project. Prior to that, however, he was a staff attorney at Mass Fair Housing.

Speaking of returning to the organization as its leader, Hemavathi said, “When this opened, I had to go for this role that was different in this organization that I love.”

Mass Fair Housing is one of four fair housing organizations in Massachusetts and the oldest. It serves people from Worcester County to the Berkshires. Last year, the organization helped more than 500 people, more than half of whom live in Hampden County — mostly in Springfield, Holyoke and Chicopee. Hemavathi said that is largely because there are larger populations in those cities and more rental units.

Aside from direct legal services, Mass Fair Housing tests for housing discrimination. “It’s kind of like Secret Shopper,” Hemavathi said. He explained that a housing ad may include discriminatory language, or someone may come to them believing they have been discriminated against. A member of the organization will approach the landlord posing as a potential tenant to determine if there is discrimination taking place.

Mass Fair Housing also offers educational know-your-rights events. Hemavathi said many people do not know they have been discriminated against because they do not know the law. While many people think of discrimination as being race-based — 86% of Black people face housing discrimination — one of the most common discriminations Mass Fair Housing sees is against people with disabilities, including veterans and the elderly.

“Landlords cannot deny reasonable accommodations unless it is a financial burden,” Hemavathi said. Such accommodations may include a ramp, an accessible parking space or grab bars for the shower. “Because we get people the modifications they need, it helps people age in place,” Hemavathi said. He added that it also relieves pressure on overwhelmed state and local shelters.

Another common target of discrimination is families with children under 6 years of age. In Massachusetts, owners of property built before 1978 are required to comply with lead laws if children under 8 reside in the unit. That includes testing and deleading, if needed. Hemavathi said many landlords do not want to cover the cost of deleading, so they will deny the rental or not respond to a prospective tenant.

“We see families with children under 6 that have been looking for two years, and they keep getting denied, but don’t know why,” Hemavathi said. “Sometimes folks have a sense that something is wrong, but don’t know what it is.”

Occasionally, landlords will not rent to people with children, which is also illegal. They might say they are “too noisy” or that features in the unit would be “unsafe,” rather than leaving that determination to the parent.

Another widespread type of housing discrimination that Mass Fair Housing is working to combat occurs against people who have a housing voucher, be it because they are low-income, seniors or individuals with disabilities. He said it can take years for someone to receive a voucher through the federal Housing Choice Voucher Program, which pays a percentage of the tenant’s housing costs. Hemavathi said that, due to stereotypes about people who have vouchers, landlords may deny renting them.

“At Mass Fair Housing, we believe everybody deserves housing,” Hemavathi said. He said stable housing makes it easier to secure and retain a job, keep their children in one school district, and make plans for their future.

As a nonprofit, Mass Fair Housing is working to stabilize its funding, Hemavathi said. One amendment to the proposed state budget would support the commonwealth’s fair housing organizations, while another would support Mass Fair Housing, in particular. While the organization and others like it have long relied on federal funding for a portion of their operating costs, those funds are now in question, Hemavathi said.

To learn more about Mass Fair Housing, visit massfairhousing.org.