More than a quarter of Native Americans are discriminated against when attempting to rent homes, reports a new Department study released yesterday.

Discrimination in Metropolitan Housing Markets found that Native Americans in the metropolitan areas of New Mexico, Montana and Minnesota consistently receive less favorable treatment than similarly qualified whites when inquiring about the same advertised rental unit.

Native Americans were discriminated against more than 29 percent of the time. In comparison, previous HUD studies found African Americans were discriminated against 22 percent of the time, Hispanics, 26 percent and Asians, 21 percent.

The study describes an all-too familiar story: the plight of a 43-year old American Indian woman from Billings, Montana who wanted to rent a one-bedroom apartment. The building manager told her that the advertised unit was no longer available and did not tell her about or show her any alternatives. A few hours later, a 55-year old white woman met with the same building manager, and asked about the same type of apartment. She was told that the advertised unit was still available, and she was able to walk through it that afternoon.

The study was based on 297 rental paired-tests conducted in the 8 major metropolitan areas of the 3 states and 100 sales paired-tests in New Mexico.

To help combat the problem, the Department is awarding some $20 million in grants to public and private fair housing groups as well as to state and local agencies under the Department's Fair Housing Initiatives Program.

Anyone who believes they have experienced housing discrimination should call the Department's Housing Discrimination Hotline at (800) 669-9777, or visit the Department's fair housing website.