Fair Housing Survey For Broomfield, Boulder Co. Residents

BROOMFIELD, CO -- Broomfield and Boulder County residents are asked to take an online housing survey to determine if their housing needs are being met, if they feel their neighborhoods are safe and if they have been discriminated against for housing in any way. It's all part of changing U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) criteria for how communities are evaluated in order to accept federal housing and community development funding.

The new evaluation process is called an Assessment of Fair Housing, or AFH. In order to receive federal funds from HUD, states, counties and cities must certify that they will take steps to “Affirmatively Further Fair Housing” choice—(AFFH).

To qualify, municipal, state and counties must "research housing barriers and develop a plan for mitigating barriers," according to the Denver-Boulder-Aurora AFH site. It is important to note that the AFH is not a tool to change zoning or land use, HUD said on the website.

The confidential survey asks if your housing is adequate, if you have had trouble obtaining a mortgage or renting a property because of bad credit, if you feel your schools, shopping and parks are adequate.

The Boulder Co. AFFH project began with an October Fair Housing Stakeholder Meeting. [See video above].

The survey, which ends Dec. 31, is the first step in a fair-housing analysis — co-sponsored by the Boulder-Broomfield HOME Consortium, the City of Aurora, the Aurora Housing Authority, The City and County of Denver and the Denver Housing Authority and the Boulder/Broomfield HOME Consortium.

Boulder-Broomfield HOME Consortium members include Longmont, Boulder County, Broomfield, BoulderHousing partners, Boulder, the Boulder County Housing Authority and the Longmont Housing Authority.

The survey is part of the first component of the AFH process, which calls for community engagement. The total report to HUD will include seven components: Community engagement, segregation and integration patterns, housing needs and housing availability, access to opportunity , disability and access, fair housing enforcement and potential barriers to housing choice.

The consortium's draft report to HUD is scheduled to accept public comment between Feb. 15 and March 31.

Read more about HUD's new methodology here

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