{"id":66528,"date":"2015-09-17T10:45:51","date_gmt":"2015-09-17T17:45:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theavtimes.com\/?p=66528"},"modified":"2015-09-17T13:00:19","modified_gmt":"2015-09-17T20:00:19","slug":"justice-department-seeks-eligible-antelope-valley-participants-for-housing-discrimination-relief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/2015\/09\/17\/justice-department-seeks-eligible-antelope-valley-participants-for-housing-discrimination-relief\/","title":{"rendered":"Justice Department seeks eligible Antelope Valley participants for housing discrimination relief"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"DOJ<\/a>
Department of Justice Civil Rights Division attorneys, Carrie Pagnucco (left) and Katie Ladewski (right front row), talk with members of the community at Living Stone Cathedral of Worship in Littlerock on Wednesday about participating in a $2.67 million housing discrimination settlement for qualified Section 8 voucher holders. (Photo by Jim Winburn)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

LITTLEROCK – Representatives from the Department of Justice held a community meeting at the Living Stone Cathedral of Worship in Littlerock on Wednesday to notify Section 8 voucher holders in the Antelope Valley that they may be eligible for monetary relief as part of the recent $2.7 million housing discrimination settlement.<\/p>\n

Only a handful of people attended\u00a0the information session, so DOJ representatives stressed the importance of spreading the word to others in the community to participate in future interviews that seek to qualify individuals for possible compensation.<\/p>\n

According to Katie Ladewski, an attorney with the Civil Rights Division for U.S. Department of Justice, the housing-related settlement includes a total of $2,675,000 that stems from two different lawsuits – one with the County of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department; and the other with the Housing Authority of the County of Los Angeles (HACoLA) and the cities of Lancaster and Palmdale.<\/p>\n

“The Fair Housing Act includes the provision to provide monetary relief to people who are victims of housing discrimination – which is something we sought in the settlement,” Ladewski told locals at Wednesday’s meeting. “And that will be distributed to people who meet certain criteria.”<\/p>\n

She said the monetary compensation is available to past and current voucher holders, who may also qualify for housing expungements to remove past terminations from the Section 8 program.<\/p>\n

The DOJ has negotiated, as part of the settlement, the ability to reinstate voucher holder families terminated from the program. (Read more on the settlement agreement here<\/a>.)<\/em><\/p>\n

Ladewski outlined the general criteria for receiving monetary compensation from the settlement. To be eligible, Section 8 voucher holders:<\/p>\n