On Sept. 23, Westchester County settled a lawsuit with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Anti-Discrimination Center of Metro New York under which it agreed to develop and carry out an implementation plan to construct 750 affordable housing units in Westchester communities with low percentages of African American and Hispanic households.1 Under this agreement, the county will provide over $50 million to create housing in these communities; if needed, the county agreed to withhold benefits from the communities or to bring litigation against them if the 750 units are not constructed. The county will be supervised by a federal monitor.
The settlement arose from a civil action brought by the Anti-Discrimination Center against the county under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. §§3729, for damages sustained by the U.S. government. The county received federal funding for housing and community development from several federal funding programs including the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. Recipients of such funding are required by the Housing and Community Development Act to affirmatively further fair housing under 42 U.S.C. §5304(b)(2). From 2000 to the present, the county certified its compliance with this requirement. The Anti-Discrimination Center alleged that the county had failed to take such actions and, as a result, that its certifications were false. The U.S. government intervened and filed a complaint.
