By Timothy Pratt (contact)

Wed, Jul 28, 2004 (10:41 a.m.)

The state agency charged with handling discrimination in the workplace may also soon field complaints on discrimination in housing, an official from that agency says.

The change would end the longstanding Nevada practice of leaving housing discrimination to the federal government, said Lynda Parven, administrator of the Nevada Equal Rights Commission, scheduled to offer an update on the issue at its quarterly meeting Thursday night.

It's a change that has been sought "for a long time," Parven said.

The commission is drafting a bill for the 2005 Legislature that would mirror the federal Fair Housing Act and is seeking a three-year agreement worth $345,000 in funding from the Housing and Urban Development Department -- the federal agency that currently responds to complaints about.

After those two steps, and if the bill passes, then Nevada would join at least 37 states that have state or local agencies partnering with the federal government on the issue.

People who work on civil rights say having an agency on the ground in Southern Nevada would be better than the current system, under which complaints are handled by HUD's San Francisco office.

The proposed change "is in the best interest of the citizens of the Nevada," said David Sanchez, president of a statewide commmittee that advises the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.

"Going through San Francisco is not the best way ... (and) local investigators are more in tune with the complainants."

Larry Bush, spokesman for HUD, said transferring the job to local officials is best for both sides of the complaint.

"Any time people can find a remedy close to home it makes government more accessible and it is easier for the person filing a complaint and for the person against whom the complaint is filed," Bush said.

Fafie Moore, president of Realty Executives of Nevada, said having a local presence is important in Southern Nevada, with its "large, growing, diverse population."

Bush said that the statewide number of housing discrimination complaints had risen steadily for the last three federal fiscal years, until this year, which so far seems to show a dip in cases.

The federal fiscal year runs from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30. Total cases went from 58 in 2001 to 96 in 2003.

This fiscal year there are 32 as of June 30, according to HUD figures.

Bush said one reason for the change may be the federal agency's series of "standing-room only" workshops for builders in Southern Nevada on federal laws governing access for the handicapped.

Moore said the issue of access for the handicapped and the Americans with Disabilities Act will only become more important "as our community goes vertical," referring to an increased interest among developers in building taller buildings.

The lack of handicapped access is the source of many complaints in Nevada, Bush said -- "more ... than in many other places." He attributed this to the fast pace of growth and the use of subcontractors that may not be aware of federal laws on the issue.

Regardless of the overall numbers of complaints, however, Bush said that having them dealt with locally is the right move.

Currently, though HUD has a local employee, that person only investigates cases after they've been filed with the San Francisco office by phone, mail or on the Internet.

Under the new arrangement, HUD could review cases if a complainant is not satisfied with the results, Bush said.

And the Nevada Equal Rights Commission, apart from handling complaints and their investigations, could also take on jobs like sending out what are known as "testers" to see if people are being discriminated against when it comes to applying for loans or in other situations that arise in the search for housing, Parven said.

Testers could be commission personnel posing as two people with similar qualifications for a loan who differ in such characteristics as race, for example, she said.

Assemblywoman Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, said having testers is a useful tool that has worked as a deterrent elsewhere, such as when the attorney general's office used them to test car repair shops.

"It really tends to scare off the unscrupulous," Buckley said.

As for housing discrimination, she said, "instead of having to go through a lawsuit, (with testers) you can prevent the discrimination before it happens," she said.

Buckley supported efforts in 1997 to have the Nevada Equal Rights Commission take on housing discrimination, but saw those efforts fall by the wayside when advocates and legislators had reservations about handing more duties over to an agency that then had a large backlog.

Parven said her agency is more efficient now and processes workplace discrimination cases in 230 days instead of taking more than a year. The agency has also cut its number of cases in half.

Buckley said she has "not been in a hurry to deal with" handing housing discrimination over to the state until now.

"If we're going to do it, let's do it well," she said.