What a wonderful bunch of maroons - the Fair Housing Council of Orange County, CA.
Talk about playing the race card -- from the
Orange County Register:
Editorial: Profiting from persecution
There's something disturbingly totalitarian about the Fair Housing Council of Orange County, a nonprofit organization that polices housing "discrimination" in the county and shakes down local landlords for large settlements. The Register's Brian Joseph reported on a particularly disturbing case that should not only alarm Orange County residents, but should lead to reform in the way anti-housing-discrimination laws are enforced.
In 2006, Newport Beach resident Dan Bader placed an innocuous ad in Craigslist, seeking a tenant for a 480-square-foot room in his house. He wrote, "Well suited for professional adults" and "Perfect for 1 or 2 professionals." Any normal person would see that for what it is: a realistic description of a small room. But the housing council, which proclaims its mission as "fostering diversity in housing," saw ominous motives. Officials viewed the ad as a form of discrimination against people with children and filed a complaint with the state Department of Fair Employment and Housing. With such actions, we'll definitely see less diversity in housing as fewer people are willing to subject themselves to these Orwellian anti-discrimination enforcers.
Mr. Bader was forced to attend a hearing in Los Angeles and told that the complaint would be dropped if he paid $4,000 in fines and agreed to take five years' worth of re-education classes at $250 a pop – even though the state ruled that he does not discriminate. The four grand would go to the Fair Housing Council, which funds its operations in part from fines assessed from the people the agency targets. This is a blatant conflict of interest, an unethical system that merges enforcement with profiteering.
Even though Mr. Bader was declared innocent of any "crime," he still was asked to pay up and go to classes. What a scam. To his credit, Mr. Bader did not want to be blackmailed, and he chose to fight, leading to a two-year battle. Sure, the state ultimately dropped the suit after the housing council retracted its complaint – not out of any obvious decency, but because the council was happy that Mr. Bader was being forced to pay its attorney fees. The council gets its money, which is all this seems to be about. Meanwhile, Mr. Bader owes a total of about $44,000 in fees to his own attorney and to this council for a frivolous charge.
Don't
these people have anything better to do? Talk about a total fscking waste of time and money. Sheesh...
Posted by DaveH at May 3, 2009 10:39 AM
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