COLUMN: Carmel Hopkins

It appears that the National Association of Home Builders is bringing more than delegates to its annual convention Jan. 21-24 in our beautiful city.

Since the last time the NAHB convened in Las Vegas, the Strip has reinvented itself, the population has doubled to 1.6 million, and it has acquired killer shopping. What more could Las Vegans want? A fair housing workshop.

Funded by a grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Fair Housing Accessibility Workshop will be held twice on Jan. 22: from 8 a.m. to noon and from 1 to 5 p.m. in the Verona Room at Caesars Palace.

Jeffrey Inks, who oversees all fair housing compliance with the national association, stressed this is not part of the International Builders Show, but is being held in conjunction with it.

"With all the home builders from around the nation gathering in Las Vegas, it was considered an optimum time to hold this seminar," Inks said. "These workshops are free and open to the general public, they are not just for home builders."

Inks pointed out that the association has been helping to educate members about housing requirements required by Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, which prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental and financing of dwellings based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin. In 1988, Congress amended the Fair Housing Act to include people with disabilities and families with children among the protected classes of individuals.

Co-sponsors of the seminars are the National Association of Home Builders; the International Code Council, a nonprofit organization dedicated to developing a single set of comprehensive and coordinated national model construction codes; the National Organization on Disability, which promotes the full and equal participation of America's 54 million men, women and children with disabilities in all aspects of life; and Fair Housing Accessibility First, which provides a toll-free information source for people with questions about the subject.

That's quite a mouthful. What it boils down to is: the people who are co-sponsoring the seminars are people who promote the Fair Housing Act in one form or another.

The course is divided into two parts:

--Workshop on the Adoption of HUD Safe Harbor Documents. This module gives a general overview of the Fair Housing Act, including what codes and documents meet the act, what buildings are covered, strategies for meeting the act, and examples for enforcement and compliance.

--Common Design and Construction Violations. This session examines the most common design and construction violations of the act and offers appropriate remedies. Covered are the overview of the seven design and construction requirements of the act, common violations of each of the design and construction requirements, effects violations have on people

with disabilities, and how to

correct and avoid common

violations.

I must reiterate: the sessions are free and open to the public.

HUD believes the people who most benefit from the workshop include legislators, code enforcement inspectors, contractors and developers, architects, engineers, Realtors, lenders, and disability and fair housing advocates.

I believe the people who most benefit from the workshop are those people who can't climb stairs or can't wheel their chair through tight doorways.

See you at Caesars.

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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