Objective

To determine whether the Division of Human Rights reviewed and addressed housing discrimination complaints timely and in accordance with its policies and procedures and the related laws. Our audit covered the period from April 2019 through February 2024.

About the Program

The Division of Human Rights (DHR) enforces the New York State Human Rights Law (Law) to help ensure that every individual has an equal opportunity to participate fully in the economic, cultural, and intellectual life of the State. Among other things, the Law prohibits discrimination in housing based on age, race, lawful source of income, national origin, gender identity, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, military status, and other protected classes. Under the Law, housing discrimination occurs when sellers, owners, landlords, real estate brokers, and/or agents refuse to sell or negotiate for the sale, lease, or rent of housing accommodations based on protected classes.

DHR investigates, prosecutes, and adjudicates housing discrimination cases. DHR is also a participant in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Fair Housing Assistance Program, for which DHR provides a variety of fair housing administrative and enforcement activities, including complaint investigation, training, education, and outreach. HUD refers housing discrimination complaints to DHR for investigation. Additionally, if the basis for a housing discrimination complaint filed with DHR is a class covered under both State and federal laws, DHR “dual files” the case with HUD. DHR receives reimbursement from HUD for processing, investigating, and resolving cases that are referred by HUD and for cases that are dual filed.

When DHR receives a housing discrimination complaint, it must notify the respondent that the complaint has been made against them and begin its investigation within 30 days of receipt of the complaint. DHR investigators should complete the investigation within 100 days of receipt of the complaint. Outcomes of investigations include determinations of probable cause or no probable cause, conciliations, or case dismissals.

Once a complaint has been received, DHR staff record the complaint in a variety of logs, such as an Excel spreadsheet and a handwritten log. These logs are updated and maintained by different individuals. When DHR receives a complaint that is unclear or incomplete, DHR refers to it as a defective complaint and, rather than processing it, returns it to the complainant with instructions for correcting the defect(s).

All the information regarding the complaint and investigation described above must be recorded and tracked in DHR’s Law Manager Case Management System (CMS) for housing discrimination complaints. According to data obtained from CMS, as of November 7, 2023, there were 2,263 housing discrimination cases filed with DHR from various counties within the State between April 1, 2019 and October 31, 2023. As of February 2024, DHR had a backlog of more than 350 open complaints that had not yet been assigned to an investigator.

Key Findings

• DHR does not have adequate controls over the intake of housing discrimination complaints, resulting in lost and unprocessed complaints as well as some complaints inappropriately being deemed defective.
  • At the time of our request, DHR officials could not account for 82 of 120 (68%) sampled complaints. Subsequently, officials located 40 complaints but still could not account for 42 complaints.
  • 11 of 25 (44%) sampled complaints were inappropriately deemed defective.
• DHR officials have not developed procedures to ensure complaints were processed and investigated in a timely manner. For a sample of 175 complaints filed and closed with DHR between April 2019 and October 2023:
  • DHR did not notify respondents and/or initiate an investigation within 30 days of the filing for 82 complaints (47%). In one case, it took 655 days to serve a respondent—more than 1 year and 8 months beyond the 30-day requirement.
  • DHR did not complete its investigation and notify the respondent of the outcome within the required 100-day period for 120 complaints (69%). In one case, it took over 3 years (1,099 days) to complete the investigation for determining probable cause.
• DHR investigators were not properly trained and supervised, resulting in no assurance that investigators followed investigation requirements before closing complaints. For 61 of 87 cases (70%) where an investigator reached a cause determination, CMS records did not include evidence that DHR completed all required investigation steps before the determination was issued.
• HUD cases were improperly prioritized over non-federal cases.

Key Recommendations

• Establish adequate internal controls over the handling, processing, and investigation of all complaints—including those deemed defective—and ensure that all complaints are handled on time and appropriately, including:
  • Developing and implementing comprehensive written procedures that include a streamlined process for handling and tracking all incoming housing discrimination complaints in a timely and consistent manner.
  • Monitoring and segregating the duties of the staff responsible for logging, tracking, and completing the initial review of complaints.
  • Conducting ongoing reconciliations of DHR’s various intake logs with CMS records.
  • Providing adequate training for all staff involved in the complaint intake, processing, and investigation process.
  • Actively monitoring DHR’s intake and investigation procedures to ensure that complaints—including those marked as defective and as non-federal cases—are handled on time and appropriately.
• Improve oversight of the investigation process to identify reasons for delays in case processing times and ensure case determinations are consistent and accurate.
• Investigate complaints in the order in which they were filed, regardless of federal status, to ensure all investigations are initiated within 30 days.