COLUMN: Fair housing conference addresses key issues

Community Housing Resource Board -- a pretty solemn sounding name for an organization whose mission is to educate the community about housing and promote communication among groups involved in equal housing opportunities.

Its members are committed to working for the protection, preservation and promotion of equal opportunity in housing regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, handicap or familial status. This may sound a bit ponderous, but the people involved in CHRB are anything but that. They are volunteers who support fair housing. Their goal is uplifting. In fact, their goal is about lifting up people and bringing them into the ranks of homeownership.

The board members are: Jean Norton from the Housing Division of the Nevada Department of Business and Industry; Jay Hiner of Nevada State Bank; Bill Thorne of the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors; Brian Paulson from Clark County; Bev Williams of the Southern Nevada Home Builders Association; and Matt DiOrio of the Nevada Real Estate Division.

Anyway, about 100 people gathered together on Jan. 25 for an annual conference sponsored by CHRB, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Real Estate Division.

Several topics were on the agenda, all dealing with helping people become homeowners. Deborah Marmon-Hjelmeland, senior compliance officer for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., flew in from Phoenix to discuss predatory lending. She outlined the practices that are feeding upon low-income, unsophisticated buyers who end up paying much more for a loan than they should. Marmon-Hjelmeland said the FDIC is cracking down on banks that provide funding to the small companies that are involved in predatory lending.

Sunny Pietrafesa winged in from Washington, where she is an attorney in the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. Pietrafesa is an enthusiastic watchdog over disability-related issues, and becomes passionate when discussing compliance, especially as it deals with multifamily housing.

Speaker Adrea Nairne of Empire Realty is co-founder of the Special Needs and Alternative Purchase Program. As a Realtor, she gives a hand to buyers who are in special needs categories and unsophisticated when it comes to the home-buying process.

The Equal Opportunity Board of Clark County triple-teamed the conference with information about the Housing Division's Home Buyer Education Program. Speaking were administrator Angela Quinn; deputy administrator Catherine Barnes; and Jesus Lazoya, director of the Home Center.

The Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors was ably represented by Bill Thorne, administrator of fair housing compliance. Several Realtors were in attendance to fulfill part of their continuing education requirements to maintain their license, so Thorne's lecture was punctuated by questions from the audience.

CHRB performs a necessary role in Southern Nevada. Education is fundamental for people who may find themselves preyed upon by unscrupulous members of the community. CHRB is the cherub that insulates the innocent from the unscrupulous.

Carmel Hopkins, real estate product manager for the Las Vegas Review-Journal and Las Vegas Sun, can be reached at 380-4574. Her e-mail address is Carmel_Hopkins@ lasvegasnewspapers.com. Snail mail is P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125.

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