BALTIMORE — A complaint was filed against the Housing Authority, Mayor Brandon Scott and the city council after people in the Poppleton community said they were discriminated against.
A consumer rights group held a press conference Monday morning to announce the complaint filed.
Many people in Poppleton were thrown out of their homes after promises were made to revitalize the community. However, years later, those properties are still vacant.
Marceline White, whos the executive director of Economic Action Maryland, said people in that community blame city leaders because they didn’t fulfill their commitment to the community.
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“What we’re saying is there is both a violation of the Fair Housing Act itself, and a goal of the Fair Housing Act which is to affirmatively further fair housing. We’re saying that actually the city, the way it’s used eminent domain policies has done the opposite,” White said.
For years, city leaders used eminent domain displacing more than 200 families in Poppleton. This week, Economic Action Maryland filed a complaint against the Department of Housing and Urban Development otherwise known as HUD, mayor Scott and the city council.
The complainants said the Fair Housing Act was violated in Poppleton due to the way the city used eminent domain to displace residents.
“While we’re holding the mayor and the city Council responsible because they haven’t ended these policies or programs, they are not solely to blame, this has been going on for decades,” White said.
Neighbors who remained living in the area said city leaders promised to develop the neighborhood, but instead they’ve witnessed more vacant and dilapidated houses.
“It’s painful to walk by empty houses where you used to know the people who live there. It’s painful to see homes crumbling because they’ve been left vacant and no one‘s moved in and no one’s done anything with them,” White said.
Neighbors also said it’s equally painful to know their property value has declined because of promises on behalf of the city that were never fulfilled.
“I think what you’re seeing is a real frustration. If you’re a homeowner seeing housing value decline when you lived and worked and scraped to buy a house then you see your housing values plummet, not from anything that you’ve done but from decisions that the city made to the community around you,” White said.
And they’re hoping the city leaders will do what’s needed to make it right.
“So there’s some direct relief that we would like to see but also things like a right of return. That’s where you provide support for legacy residence to return, either getting the first chance [to] add an opportunity at buying a home in the community, or if they’re renting helping to support and subsidize their rent so that they can move back into their community,” White said.
Mayor Scott responded to the complaint on behalf of the city, part of which read :
“Mayor Scott is acutely aware of the critical importance of fair housing and has taken significant steps to address the housing inequities of the past through substantial investments in formerly redlined communities."
Officials from Department of Housing and Urban Development have not yet responded to the complaint.
