Inclusive Communities Program 

The Inclusive Communities Program of the Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana engages in neighborhood stabilization and community investment work; combats systemic factors impacting housing choice; advocates for strong fair housing planning; brings awareness of market forces impacting housing consumers; and offers activities and programs to assist persons, neighborhoods, and communities who have been impacted by inequities, disinvestment, or unequal housing opportunity.

The FHCCI has several active initiatives to ensure open housing for all. Please note that this list is not all-inclusive. PLEASE NOTE: The FHCCI is in process of updating this page. Please check back for updates.

Mortgage Lending: Homeownership is the primary means for most Americans to build wealth, and lack of access to homeownership greatly impacts long-term financial needs, retirement, and generational wealth. Unfortunately, many people may experience barriers to their access of mortgage products. The FHCCI has been active since 2015 in promoting equal access to credit for all. We also believe that there has been a lack of information shared publicly that is for consumers to help them make their mortgage choices.

As a result, to inform the public of these issues, the FHCCI has:

Land Contracts: They go by several names—land contracts, contracts for deed, land installment contracts, owner-financed agreements, or land leased agreements—but all are forms of seller residential financing. Unlike a traditional mortgage, these contracts do not involve a third-party lender. A buyer makes payments directly to the seller over a specified period through a private contract.

In land contracts, the buyer does not gain equity or obtain the title or deed to the home until the contract is concluded. Some of these contracts include terms often viewed as predatory, such as high interest rates, forfeiture clauses, back paying taxes, prepayment penalties, and/or balloon payments.

In 2024, the FHCCI released a report, Land Contracts: The Promise and Perils of Alternative Home Financing, to share its findings. We also identified several needed policy changes to ensure more successful outcomes for housing consumers. To further reach impacted persons, the FHCCI has created a fact sheet, FHCCI Land Contracts – What You Need to Know, available in English and Spanish

The FHCCI also has an updated Education topical page on Rent to Own/Land Contracts.

The FHCCI is interested in visiting with you if you have entered into a land contract in Indiana.

Tenant Screening: The FHCCI has been evaluating what it is like to go through the tenant screening process while searching for rental housing in Indiana. We have and continue to interview home seekers who have experienced barriers to housing acquisition. If you have been denied housing due to your credit scores, eviction history, and/or criminal record, the FHCCI would like to talk to you about your experience.

We have also analyzed market and court data. In 2023, we submitted comments to the Federal Trade Commission and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s “Tenant Screening Request for Information.”

We also released a report, No Way Home: Tenant Screening Barriers to Housing, which shared these comments. The report draws from the experiences of FHCCI clients, research and investigation of local housing provider policies and practices, and conversations with community organizations that work with tenants most often to experience barriers to housing acquisition. We identified how prospective renters with errors on their tenant screening report face confusion and difficulty getting those errors corrected. We also reviewed the three main areas of tenant screening that most impact prospective renters—credit scores, eviction history, and criminal records—and how their use creates potential discrimination against renters based on race, gender, presence of children, disability status, and national origin. Finally, we will outlined the barriers renters face during the application process and the impact of their outcomes on the safety and well-being of residents.

In 2024, the FHCCI had a billboard campaign to bring further awareness of these issues impacting housing consumers. A sample of one of the billboards is on the right. In addition, a bus campaign was also conducted.

FHCCI Previous Inclusive Communities Projects: The FHCCI fights housing discrimination not only because it is unlawful, but also because it is a divisive force that perpetuates poverty, segregation, ignorance, fear, and hatred. Housing discrimination can also impair the FHCCI’s mission and activities. As a result, the FHCCI works to eradicate housing discrimination and other housing inequities, which may result in specific actions to redress harm by challenging alleged violations of law. Through these actions, the FHCCI has initiated programs which have had broad based community impact. Some of the past projects have included:

  • Through a settlement of a lawsuit alleging discrimination against people with disabilities in the design and construction of 14 multi-family properties, the FHCCI awarded two nonprofits funds of $35,000 each to expand housing modifications for accessibility and safety. Read more here. (2022)
  • Through settlement of a national lawsuit alleging discrimination in the marketing and maintenance of foreclosed properties in Indianapolis Black and white neighborhoods, the FHCCI has distributed $604,0000 in grants through different phases. Read the full press release here. (2022)
  • Through a settlement of a lawsuit alleging redlining and discriminatory lending by an Indiana lender, $1.3 million for grants to local CDCs and community organizations based in or serving majority-Black neighborhoods in Indianapolis. The lender will also offer $1.1 million in loan subsidies and open two new full-service branches in majority-Black census tracts in Indianapolis. Other community relief also obtained. Learn more about this settlement here. (2021)
  • Through a $15,000 donation made by the FHCCI, RIP Medical Debt relieved $2,524,207.81 of medical debt impacting 2,354 persons and families living in Indianapolis zip code 46218. (2020)
  • Through a settlement of an enforcement action alleging redlining and discriminatory lending by an Indiana lender, required donation of $500,000 to be shared by three CDCs that serve majority-black census tracts of Marion County. The lender will also offer $1.12 in loan subsidies, open a new new full-service banking center in one of Marion County’s majority-black census tracts as well as a new loan production office to be located in Marion County. Other community relief also obtained. Learn more about this settlement here. (2019)
  • Through a settlement of an enforcement action alleging violations of accessibility in two Indianapolis multi-family complexes, required donation by Respondent of $52,500 to a local disability nonprofit organization for harm incurred. Learn more about this settlement here. (2018)
  • Through a settlement of an enforcement action with a national lender alleging violations of fair housing laws in how it maintained its foreclosures, the FHCCI distributed $1,278,947 in pass-through grants. Grants funded rehab of previously vacant and/or abandoned housing for occupancy, accessibility retrofit funds, homeowner repairs, a pocket park, a Farmer’s Market, Urban Teaching Garden, and Summer Biking Camp. Learn more about this settlement here. (2013-2016)

Community Voices

Learn how the FHCCI is working in our neighborhoods to ensure that those most negatively impacted by housing discrimination receive vital programs to address decades of redlining, blockbusting, and other harmful incidents of segregation and disinvestment. And, how to get involved to ensure civil rights and equity are addressed to all communities throughout Indiana.