Executive with HUD to address El Concilio

By J.N. Sbranti
jnsbranti@modbee.com

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Anti-discrimination advocate John Trasviña, a newly appointed fair housing administrator for the Obama administration, will speak tonight in Modesto.

Trasviña took over this spring as assistant secretary of fair housing and equal opportunity for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

He will give the keynote address at the annual gala dinner for El Concilio, which is the Council for the Spanish Speaking in Modesto. Trasviña previously was general counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund.

His speech in Modesto will be on fair-housing issues.

"We're in the midst of anti-immigrant sentiment in America," Trasviña said in a phone interview. He said the number of housing discrimination complaints filed with HUD is rising, and his office is trying to make sure people know their housing rights.

"Everybody should be able to live in their neighborhood of choice," Trasviña said. When asked if that includes illegal immigrants, Trasviña said yes.

While it "may or may not be" a violation of fair-housing law for a landlord to ask if a prospective tenant is in the country legally, Trasviña said, "Doing so inevitably leads to national origin discrimination."

Trasviña said even requiring a prospective tenant to provide a valid Social Secu- rity number on a rental application may be discriminatory.

"If there are other ways to demonstrate creditwor- thiness (other than by providing a Social Security number), then somebody should be able to do that," he said.

"Obviously, there's a legitimate need for a property owner to know that a tenant is who they say they are," Trasviña said. But "if only Latinos are asked to prove their citizenship," then landlords are discriminating.

Trasviña said HUD is focusing on making housing accessible for those with disabilities. All landlords, including those who own rental homes, he said, need to know their responsibility to abide by fair-housing laws.

On the Net: www.HUD.gov/fairhousing.

Today's gala will be 5:30 to 9 p.m. at the Del Rio Golf and Country Club, 801 Stewart Road, Modesto. Tickets will be sold at the door for $75 and include dinner. The event will honor Olivia Ruiz, Modesto editor for Vida en El Valle; Ruben Pina, a program specialist for Migrant Education Region 111 and trustee of the Patterson Unified School District; and Habitat for Humanity, the nonprofit organization that helps families buy affordable housing.

Bee staff writer J.N. Sbranti can be reached at jsbranti@modbee.com or 578-2196.