Indeed. And I'm not attempting to be facetious when I use the term "infestation." We know where it's coming from, although they appear to be far more slick than anyone anticipated.
Hiding in plain sight, really.
Posted on 04/22/2005 10:54:48 PM PDT by freepatriot32
The modest brick house, with its yard full of wilting tulips and rusted old cars, isn't a candidate for the pages of Better Homes and Gardens.
But on a spring day in 2002, it was just what Nealie Pitts had in mind. She approached the owner, Rufus T. Matthews, and asked the price.
According to court documents, Matthews said the house was selling for $83,000 - but that a deed restriction meant only whites were eligible to buy it.
"I was hurt and angry, like he had slapped me in the face," Pitts, who is black, said in an e-mail.
Nearly three years later, the Virginia Office of the Attorney General said it will soon take Matthews to court for the alleged fair housing law violation.
It's a bittersweet victory for fair housing proponents, who wonder how many other people are turned away by racially restrictive deed covenants.
"We very rarely encounter anybody who believes they can be enforced," said Connie Chamberlin, president of Housing Opportunities Made Equal (HOME). "We are aware they're certainly out there."
In milder forms, covenants can be used to control things like the color homeowners can paint their houses.
But in the Jim Crow South, they were often used to keep neighborhoods white. Racially restrictive covenants were ruled illegal by the Supreme Court in 1948.
"Many people don't even know they're in their deeds," Chamberlin said, adding would-be homebuyers can ask to have the racist language removed. "That can't be used as a reason to stop a sale."
According to court documents, Matthews told Pitts his house in suburban Richmond was "not for colored. We decided we are going to keep this area right here all white."
The next day she contacted HOME, which sent out a black test buyer.
"Precisely the same thing happened," Chamberlin said. "We have it on tape."
On Thursday, Matthews told The Associated Press that he would sell his home only to a white buyer. But he denied the house was for sale, saying a sale sign he had was for items in his yard. "The house has never been for sale," he said.
Matthews is accused of violating the Virginia Fair Housing Law. The same code says officials can attempt an out-of-court settlement in cases where the law has been violated.
At an April 13 meeting, the Virginia Fair Housing Board rejected a settlement offer. Board Chairman David Rubinstein declined to detail why it refused the proposal from the attorney general's office.
But Thomas Wolf, an attorney representing Pitts, said the offer would have required Matthews take two hours of class on fair housing law, at taxpayer expense.
"That is not a serious settlement proposal given the facts of the case," Wolf said. "Were they planning to pass out Happy Meals with little Confederate flags?"
Emily Lucier, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Judith Williams Jagdmann, could not explain how the proposal was formulated, but said settlement is not unheard of in discrimination cases.
Pitts is seeking $100,000 in damages in a separate case against Matthews. Lucier said because Pitts has gotten her own lawyer, the office cannot legally seek monetary damages in the civil matter.
Instead, she said, the office will continue pressing for injunctive relief and education. A court date has not been set
It most certainly does matter, especially if a political movement is being defined. The Supreme Court has indirectly reversed itself many times by approaching issues with previously unused arguments and questions.
It most certainly does matter, especially if a political movement is being defined. The Supreme Court has indirectly reversed itself many times by approaching issues with previously unused arguments and questions.
I see the professional troublemakers are thawing out...
"You're right, but it wouldn't be a news item... and there would be no condemnation of the person who inserted the clause."
Actually your wrong.
All such covenants are unenforceable, and the attempt to enforce any such racial make up in a community is a violation of fair housing law.
IT'S ALSO STUPID TO DO SO.
If your attempting to sell a home, a seller (with any common sense) wants the greatest number of buyers possibe.
The more buyers (demand) = the greater the price.
Any seller who doesn't get that is dumb as a rock.
Oh, about the same kind that would ask a court to make a guy sell a house he does't want to sell...
"My suspicions aren't about race but money. Why are a rich couple going door to door trying to buy property in a poor neighborhood? "
Could they be... investors?
"The National Association of Realtors has over a million members, it is the biggest non union trade organization in the nation. They fight everyday for our private property rights, and monitor legislation to protect land owners rights."
Please God. Do not speak for Realtors, and try to make this a property rights issue.
The fair housing law in play dates back to the Civil War.
"On Thursday, Matthews told The Associated Press that he would sell his home only to a white buyer. But he denied the house was for sale, saying a sale sign he had was for items in his yard. "
ping for later
And people get surprised when racial slurs and offensive photos like the idiot this past week show up on FR.
Indeed. And I'm not attempting to be facetious when I use the term "infestation." We know where it's coming from, although they appear to be far more slick than anyone anticipated.
Hiding in plain sight, really.
This is why most of the good people are leaving FR.
What tribe are you with?
I'd much rather any civil penalty be paid to Pitts than to the bureaucracy.
Ridiculous, though she probably would have done better to socialize her desires by word of mouth at several local churches.
Why should he be rewarded?
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