PAINESVILLE, Ohio — The Fair Housing Resource Center, based in Painesville, is one of several nonprofits across the country that has filed suit against the federal government following the clawback of more than $56 million of federal funding originally directed toward housing counseling.
"It's the kind of nonprofit agency nobody knows about until they need it," Executive Director Patricia Kidd said.
The lawsuit comes following a White House announcement to rescind more than $56 million in housing counseling grants.
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The announcement, signed by President Trump, justified the decision by saying, "Grantees have included NGOs with divisive and DEI-centric agendas that peddle discrimination based on race. Further, the program has not shown reduced delinquencies for counseled homebuyers. Enacting the rescission would eliminate unnecessary and wasteful spending."
The move is getting local pushback.
"Show me the data that statement is supported by because I will show you data that it's not true," Kidd said. "Nine times out of 10, most of the people who get behind on their mortgages, it's not because they're irresponsible individuals. It's some kind of crisis."
The Fair Housing Resource Center, which serves Lake, Geauga and Ashtabula counties, provides assistance with foreclosure prevention, housing discrimination complaints, renter disputes and other housing-related concerns. Its executive director said the funding cuts threaten services that assist many of the 3,000 calls it receives each year.
"We're starting to see a real uptick in foreclosure counseling requests," Kidd said. "One a month was going to two a month, to three. Now we're up to five to seven requests a week."
The Fair Housing Resource Center said its staff has dropped from 22 employees to three over the past year as a result of several different funding factors, including this latest one.
"When the bank sends you this letter, and it talks about foreclosure and tells you specifically to call a certified HUD counseling agency—if you call the 1-800 number and you put in your zip code, you get us," Kidd explained. "We pick up the phone and say we can’t help you cause we’re out of funds."
On Sept. 30, a judge for the U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia issued a stay, preventing the government from reclaiming the appropriated funds while the case is reviewed.
Clay LePard is the Ashtabula, Geauga and Portage counties reporter at News 5 Cleveland. Follow him on X @ClayLePard, on Facebook ClayLePardTV or email him at Clay.LePard@wews.com.
