Editorial: Eliminate red tape

Thursday, July 29, 2004 | 9:12 a.m.

Currently, Southern Nevada residents who believe they've been the victim of housing discrimination have to file a complaint with the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department's regional offices in San Francisco. This inconvenient process decreases the chances that someone will file a complaint, making it more likely such discrimination will continue.

The Nevada Equal Rights Commission, which already investigates discrimination in the workplace, has a plan that would allow it to take from HUD the job of enforcing housing discrimination laws. A Nevadan no longer would have to send his complaint out of state -- it could be received here and, hopefully, addressed promptly. The commission is working with HUD to obtain a three-year agreement so that Nevada could receive funding to investigate these complaints, a partnership that exists in 48 other states. The Nevada Legislature would have to get involved, too, granting the commission the authority to respond to housing discrimination complaints that would be mirrored after federal law.

HUD officials are receptive to the change and it's one that we believe the Legislature should endorse, too. Housing discrimination doesn't get the kind of attention it deserves, but that doesn't mean that it is any less insidious than discrimination in the workplace or anywhere else in American society.