skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Saturday, May 3, 2025

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Trump signs order seeking to end federal funding for NPR and PBS; NY immigrant wrongfully sent to El Salvador 'supermax' prison; PA 'Day of Action' planned for higher minimum wage, immigrants' rights; New bill in Congress seeks to overturn CA animal welfare law.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

National Security Advisor Mike Waltz is leaving that job to become UN ambassador, bipartisan Arizona poll finds Latino voters dissatisfied by Trump's first 100 days, and Florida mass deportations frighten community members.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Rural students who face hurdles going to college are getting noticed, Native Alaskans may want to live off the land but obstacles like climate change loom large, and the Cherokee language is being preserved by kids in North Carolina.

Settlement Reached in ND Housing Discrimination Case

play audio
Play

Thursday, May 18, 2023   

A housing discrimination case in North Dakota dealing with occupancy standards has resulted in a settlement, and advocates say it underscores the challenges families face in maintaining stable housing when access is scarce.

The High Plains Fair Housing Center announced this week Affordable Housing Developers Incorporated has agreed to pay $100,000 over a claim from a working mother from Mandan. The woman, who did not want to be publicly identified, said she was forced to vacate her townhome after updating her lease to note the recent birth of her fifth child.

Nicki Green, intake director for the High Plains Fair Housing Center, said the developer's standards were too restrictive.

"This woman and her children had a three-bedroom unit and the max that was allowed there was five people per household, and this was a 1572-square-foot townhome," Green explained. "This is a big unit."

Green pointed out federal recommendations allow for more flexibility, and the family's living situation did not violate any city codes. The agreement was issued by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The complex was not a HUD property, but the developers did receive federal funding. As part of the settlement, leadership with the development group denies engaging in any discrimination.

Green emphasized there is a ripple effect stemming from a case like this, noting the family, which had always paid its rent on time, was uprooted to Fargo because the situation forced the mom to get a new job there.

"It was really hard for the family, it was really hard for the kids," Green recounted. "The kids didn't understand, they didn't know why they had to move suddenly, and it felt for them like a message that they weren't welcomed there."

In 2020, the North Dakota Housing Finance Agency issued a report, which highlighted affordable housing shortages within the state.

Green noted the Mandan case does not send a good message when North Dakota is trying to recruit residents to fill jobs.

"Losing access to housing means you lose access to community, jobs, good schools," Green added. "We want families of all sizes and types and in all neighborhoods, we want that to be the norm."

Disclosure: The High Plains Fair Housing Center contributes to our fund for reporting on Budget Policy & Priorities, Civil Rights, Housing/Homelessness, and Human Rights/Racial Justice. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


get more stories like this via email
more stories
In Florida, Highway Patrol troopers and Border Patrol agents are also traveling together in the same vehicles to enforce immigration laws. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

While Gov. Ron DeSantis touts "Operation Tidal Wave" as a success, advocates for Florida's immigrant families say the crackdown is tearing them apart …


Social Issues

play sound

A new bipartisan poll looks at how Latino voters in Arizona are feeling about President Donald Trump's first 100 days in office - and pollsters descri…

Social Issues

play sound

A Minnesota proposal is in the works that supporters say would end forced labor in correctional facilities. They note the 13th Amendment was adopted …


Experts say Wildfire Community Preparedness Day on Saturday is a good time to move fuels and flammable materials away from homes. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Montana's wildfire risk is 74% higher than other states, so experts are encouraging Montanans to think ahead Saturday on Wildfire Community …

Social Issues

play sound

Thousands are expected to rally in Harrisburg on Monday for a "Raise the Wage and Immigrant Rights Day of Action." More than 47,000 Pennsylvania work…

Marian University's David Benson spotting birds at the Nina Mason Pulliam EcoLab. Enrique Saenz/Mirror Indy

Environment

play sound

By Enrique Saenz for Mirror Indy. Broadcast version by Joe Ulery for Indiana News Service reporting for the Mirror Indy-Free Press Indiana-Public …

Social Issues

play sound

By Lauren Cohen / Broadcast version by Farah Siddiqi reporting for the Kent State NewsLab-Ohio News Connection Collaboration. S.B. 109, a bill that …

Social Issues

play sound

An Illinois law professor is weighing in on what she called a "very public and open test of due process" for immigrants being deported from the United…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021