Fair Housing Conference March 2022

Repairing the Harms Caused by Housing Discrimination

“A Conference in Memory of Merilyn D. Brown”

The UIC Law Fair Housing Legal Support Center

Congress Plaza Hotel and Conference Center, Chicago, Illinois

March 23, 24 and 25, 2022

The UIC (formerly John Marshall) Fair Housing Legal Support Center has moved its annual fair housing conference from January 27 and 28 to March 23, 24, and 25, 2022. This rescheduling is due to safety concerns related to the COVIC virus and the related problems that have developed due to new variants. The rescheduled conference will be presented live in the Pick Congress Hotel, a few blocks from the law school. Use of the hotel will allow social distancing. The Center will follow the public recommendations of the CDC and the State of Illinois and the City of Chicago. Proof of vaccination or a negative test will be required for entry to the conference. The Center will closely monitor the situation leading up to the conference and participants will be alerted to new requirements if they become necessary. An additional half-day has been added to the conference so that we can meet University requirements on social distancing. Further adjustments to the program may be required to accommodate speakers and attendees.

The conference will honor the memory of Merilyn D. Brown. As a law student, Merilyn participated in the clinical experience at The John Marshall Law School with the Leadership Council of Open Communities. She advocated for a full-fledged fair housing clinic and her wish was granted after she graduated. She was later hired as the first Administrative Director of the Fair Housing Legal Support Center and worked on setting up the plans for the law school’s Fair Housing Legal Clinic, which continues to this day. Merilyn went on to a career in fair housing at the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. The Center’s first fair housing conference focused on damages and how they could be maximized. This year’s conference will focus more broadly on repairing the harms caused by housing discrimination and segregation. It is appropriate to open the conference with an address by Professor Roy L, Brooks, University of San Diego Law School, who has written extensively on the issue of reparations. His talk will be followed by a panel that will discuss innovative remedies for segregation and housing discrimination. Leading experts will discuss how one proves causation in fair housing cases and affirmatively marketing fair housing. We will learn about new initiatives at HUD. We will look at some of the oldest issues in fair housing and how they have evolved today: land use planning, access to home ownership, access to housing by persons with disabilities, and unfair appraisals. The discussion will end with the impact of segregation and discrimination on the racial wealth gap.

The speakers will identify the challenges ahead in the post-pandemic, Black Lives Matter future. More importantly, the speakers will call upon their experience and expertise to propose new initiatives to solve these seemingly intractable problems. This is a big assignment, but we must begin the dialogue anew and move forward.

Wednesday, March 23, 2022

1:30 p.m. Welcome

1:45 to 2:45 p.m. Keynote Address

Professor Roy L, Brooks, University of San Diego Law School

2:45 to 3:15 p.m. Break

3:15 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Discussion: Remedies for the Harms Caused by Discrimination in Housing – Systemic and Individual

Sara Pratt, Attorney, Relman Colfax, PLLC

Scott Chang, Attorney, National Fair Housing Alliance

Professor Samuel Jones, UIC Law School

Professor Michael P. Seng, UIC Law School

5:00 p.m. Conclusion

Thursday, March 24, 2022

9:00 to 9:45 a.m. What Is New at HUD FHEO

Demetria McCain, HUD, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary (invited)

Introduced by Lon Meltesen, Region V FHEO Director

9:45 to 10:30 a.m. Establishing Causation in Fair Housing Cases

Professor Emeritus Robert Schwemm, University of Kentucky

10:30 to 11:00 a.m. Break

11:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Discussion: Practical Problems in Establishing Causation in Different Contexts in Fair Housing Cases

Michael Allen, Attorney, Relman Colfax PLLC

Christopher Brancart, Attorney, Brancart & Brancart

Professor Kevin Hopkins, UIC Law School

12:15 to 1:45 p.m. Lunch

1:45 to 2:15 p.m. Tribute to the Memory of Merilyn D. Brown

Professor Michael P. Seng

Barbara Knox, Retired Director HUD FHEO, Region V

Mary Scott Knoll, Attorney

2:15 to 3:00 p.m. Affirmatively Marketing Housing

Professor Maria Krysan, UIC, Head, Sociology Department

3:00 to 3:30 p.m. Break

3:30 to 5:00 p.m. Discussion: The Parameters Controlling Affirmative Marketing Efforts

Lucy Baird, Baird & Warner

Professor Allison Bethel, UIC John Marshall Law School

Bryan Greene, Vice-President of Policy Advocacy, National Association of Realtors

Alexia Smokler, National Association of Realtors

4:30 p.m. Conclusion

Friday, March 25, 2022

9:00 to 10: 00 a.m. Discussion: New and Old Issues Confronting Fair Housing Advocates in a Post-Pandemic, Post-Black Lives Matter World

The Continuing importance of Arlington Heights in Land Use Planning

Professor Emeritus Robert Schwemm

The Continuing Challenges to Home Ownership by Persons of Color

Kevin Stein, Deputy Director, California Community Reinvestment Coalition

10:00 to 10:30 a.m. Break

10:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Unfair Appraisals

Junia Howell, Visiting Professor, UIC, Dept. of Sociology

Professor Greg Squires, George Washington U., Dept. of Sociology

11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Lunch

1:00 to 2:00 p.m. Continuing Challenges to Accessibility Faced by Persons with Disabilities

Michael Allen

Sara Pratt

2:00 to 2:45 p.m. The Growing Racial Wealth Gap and Its Impact on Fair Housing

Horacio Mendez, President, Woodstock Institute

2:45 to 3:15 p.m. Break

3:15 to 4:30 p.m. Discussion: The Challenge to Policy Makers and Fair Housing Organizations in Confronting the Racial Wealth Gap

Calvin Bradford, Calvin Bradford & Associates LTD

Spencer Cowan, Director of Research, Woodstock Institute

Professor Greg Squires

4:30 p.m. Conclusion

Conference Refund policy- A full conference refund will be available for cancellations received by 5 p.m. (CST) March 10 , 2022.

Hotel Accommodations

A block of rooms has been reserved for conference attendees at the Congress Plaza Hotel and Conference Center, located at 520 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago, Illinois,

To book a room , please call (312) 427-3800 ext. 5025 or (800) 635-1666 or click here.

Host or Publisher Fair Housing Legal Support Center