U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
               Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity

Special Attention of:                        Notice FHEO 96-1

All Directors, Fair Housing                   Issued:  May 24, 1996
 Enforcement Centers                         Expires:  May 23, 1997
All Directors, Program Operations
  and Compliance Centers                     Cross References:

Subject:  Multi-jurisdictional Complaints

I.   Overview

     The purpose of this Notice is to describe the policies and
procedures for accepting and processing multi-jurisdictional
complaints.  These are complaints that are investigated under more
than one statutory authority. 1 Please implement this guidance
immediately.  More detailed guidance, including specific procedural
instructions and data entry directions, will be issued in the
future.

     The following general principles, which are described in
greater detail below, should apply to your concurrent processing
activity.

     1.   Except under unusual circumstances, file complaints under
          all of the Department's relevant statutory authorities.

     2.   In most instances, treat multi-jurisdictional complaints
          as one investigation, prepare one final investigative
          report and document them in one file.

1    The statutory authorities included in the scope of this
     memorandum are: the Fair Housing Act; Title VI of the Civil
     Rights Act of 1964; Section 109 of the Housing and Community
     Development Act of 1974; Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act
     of 1973; Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of
     1990; and Executive Order 11063.

EECC:   Distribution:   W-3-1, R-3-1 (FHEO), W-2(FHEO)
                                                                      2

     3.   Where possible, a single document should contain the
          terms of the settlement or conciliation of the multi-
          jurisdictional complaint.  As with single complaints,
          such resolutions may occur before the completion of the
          investigation and the issuance of findings.

     4.   When possible, execute settlements of currently processed
          complaints in one agreement, address all of the practices
          of the respondent that were found to have caused the
          violation and cite all applicable regulations, statutes,
          Executive Orders, etc.

     5.   Whenever possible, communicate the Department's findings
          from the consolidated investigation to the parties at the
          same time, in one document.

     6.   Potential violations of one or more statutes unrelated to
          the complainant's allegations that are uncovered during
          the investigation shall be referred for appropriate
          Department-initiated action rather than addressed in the
          context of the complaint.

     This notice consists of two parts.  The first describes
various substantive and procedural facts that affect consolidated
investigations of multi-jurisdictional complaints.  The second part
addresses specific case processing issues, such as when a complaint
may be "filed" and how much time may be allocated to investigations
when the regulations provide different answers to these questions.

II.  Multi-jurisdictional Processing: Substantive Issues

                    Fair Housing Act and Other Statutes

     The Department has an obligation to enforce all of the
statutes for which it is responsible.  Moreover, it strengthens the
Department's enforcement efforts to conduct investigations using
all relevant civil rights statutes.  A common instance of a
concurrent complaint is one filed under the Fair Housing Act and
Title VI.  The benefits of investigating a complaint under the Fair
Housing Act are apparent.  Usually the complainant's monetary
remedy is greater than it might be under Title VI. Second, because
the Fair Housing Act covers both Federally funded and private
housing it gives the Department clear authority to conduct
investigations and to seek remedies for proven violations without
the necessity of establishing Federal financial assistance.

     Unlike the Fair Housing Act, both Title VI and Section 504
provide for the termination of funds, disapproving funding
requests, conditioning funds,
                                                                      3

debarment, and other sanctions. The immediate impact of this remedy
often persuades a recipient respondent to ameliorate findings of
housing discrimination.

     Consequently, when a potential complaint of housing
discrimination is filed, determine whether the respondent is a
recipient of Federal funds.  In some cases this can be determined
easily, as when the respondent is a housing authority. Sometimes,
the complainant will know whether the respondent receives HUD
funds.  In some cases, however, the intake analyst should inquire
of a program office or conduct other research to determine whether
the respondent receives Federal financial assistance.

     A.   Concurrent Processing

          If the respondent in a Fair Housing Act complaint
     receives Federal funds, and the complaint meets the other
     jurisdictional requirements, 2 it should be concurrently
     processed under all relevant statutes 3 except under the
     following circumstances:

          1.   The complainant insists on anonymity.

               Title VI and Section 504 regulations require that
               the identity of the complainant be kept
               confidential absent written authorization from the
               complainant to the contrary.

2 Timeliness of a complaint is one "jurisdictional" element to
review.  However, the Department may extend the 180 day filing
period for "good cause" under Title VI, Section 109, the Age
Discrimination Act, the ADA, and Section 504.  Field Offices should
grant "good cause" extensions when evidence suggests that the
complainant was misinformed by a government official about the
complainant's rights, when it isn't clear until the investigative
stage that the respondent is a Federal recipient, or when it
otherwise would be in the best interest of the government to
process the complaint, especially where the same complaint is
timely under Title VIII.  The filing period under Title VIII is one
year.

3 Where a complainant is alleging discrimination on more than one
protected basis, the complaint may be concurrently processed under
more than two statutes.  For example, a housing discrimination
complaint filed against a Federal recipient that alleges
discrimination on the bases of national origin, age, and
disability, should be processed under the Fair Housing Act, the Age
Discrimination Act, Section 504, and the Americans with
Disabilities Act.  Please note of the different procedures for
mediating Age discrimination Act claims. (see i.e., supra)
               4

               Therefore, in order to process a concurrent
               complaint, the intake specialist should obtain and
               include in the investigative file a written waiver
               of confidentiality.  If the Title VI, Section 109,
               and/or Section 504 complaint is submitted on the
               HUD-903 form, it is not necessary to obtain a
               waiver of confidentiality.

               If there is a need to obtain a waiver, the intake
               specialist should explain to the complainant that
               it is more difficult to investigate complaints and
               to obtain relief on behalf of the complainant, if
               the Department cannot disclose the complainant's
               identity.  The intake specialist also should
               explain that the complainant's individual remedy
               may be greater if the complaint is processed under
               the nonconfidential provisions of the Fair Housing
               Act.  If the complainant refuses to provide a
               waiver, contact the Office of Investigations at
               Headquarters for instructions on filing a possible
               Jane Doe or John Doe complaint.

          2.   The complainant refuses to file a complaint under
               more than one statute.

               In some rare instances, a complainant, after
               counselling, may refuse to file a complaint under a
               statute that the complainant did not initially
               contemplate.  Of course, in such instances, the
               wishes of the complainant must be honored.  It
               would be advisable to obtain a statement from the
               complainant stating that he or she understands the
               implications of his or her decision, and that he or
               she voluntarily refuses to file under other
               statutes.

     B.   Exceptions to A Single, Combined Investigation

          In most instances, cases that are concurrently processed
     should be consolidated in one investigation for reasons of
     consistency and efficiency.  The exceptions to this general
     rule include the following:

          1.   When a Fair Housing Act complaint is referred to a
               substantially equivalent agency.

               In these cases, complaints should be taken under
               all relevant statutes.  When the Fair Housing Act
               complaint is to be handled by the substantially
               equivalent agency, the complaint may be separated
               with the Title VIII portion being dually-filed with
               the agency, and the allegations under all other
                              5

               civil rights authorities will be handled by HUD.
               This is appropriate in single-issue or straight
               forward cases without systemic implications.  In
               the discretion of the FHEC Director (with
               consultation with the POCC Director, if
               appropriate), cases with broad implications under
               civil rights authorities may be retained to permit
               the entire case to be handled by the Department.
               The Enforcement Center should establish procedures
               to coordinate the investigation of the complaints
               and to ensure that the investigations do not result
               in inconsistent findings.  There will be one case
               file for the substantially equivalent agency with a
               Title VIII case number, and one case file for the
               HUD office with the remaining case numbers.  Before
               the substantially equivalent agency issues a
               determination, both HUD and the agency must
               coordinate the findings and the dates of the
               issuance of the findings/determination.

               In making the initial determination whether to
               retain or refer mixed Title VIII cases, those cases
               in which other civil rights statutes offer stronger
               protection should be kept by HUD.

               For example: A complainant files a complaint
               against a housing authority alleging that the
               housing authority failed to allow the resident to
               install a ramp.  Under Section 504, the housing
               authority must install the ramp at their own
               expense, as long as it is not an undue financial
               and administrative burden, whereas, a Title VIII
               remedy would result in the tenant paying for
               installation of the ramp.

               Of course, allegations under civil rights
               authorities that are not covered by Title VIII are
               only investigated by HUD.

               For example: an activity under the CDBG program
               involving an employee of a city planning department
               alleging failure to promote based on racial
               discrimination and failure to accommodate for a
               disability.

               At any point in this process, the Director of the
               Fair Housing Enforcement Center may determine
               whether a request for reactivation will be made by
               mutual consent with respect to the Fair Housing Act
               complaint.
                                                                      6

          2.   The complainant alleges systemic regulatory
               violations.

               A complainant may specifically allege that the
               respondent's actions are part of a broader systemic
               violation of one or more statutes, and include
               claims which appear to be regulatory violations.

               In those cases, complaints should be taken under
               all appropriate statutes.  The Fair Housing Act
               complaint may be identified for systemic processing
               using a mutual reactivation procedure, even if the
               investigation is in progress by the substantially
               equivalent agency.

               For example: HUD receives two complaints from
               residents at a public housing authority alleging
               disparity in maintenance.  The complaints are
               forwarded to the substantially equivalent agency
               for investigation.  The next week HUD receives 25
               additional complaints alleging the same disparity
               in maintenance.  Even though the substantially
               equivalent agency has initiated an investigation of
               the two complaints, these may be reactivated by
               mutual consent for a systemic investigation by HUD.

               HUD may want to open a compliance review.  After
               consultation between the Director of the
               Enforcement Center and the Director of the Program
               Operations and Compliance Center (PoCC) , a
               decision should be made by the Director of the POCC
               as to whether a compliance review is warranted and
               feasible.  This decision will be based on a number
               of factors, including:

                    --   The identity of the recipient(s).  This
                         includes consideration of the recipient's
                         location and the size of its program (how
                         many beneficiaries are potentially
                         affected by the practice at issue),
                         whether it has recently been the subject
                         of other compliance/enforcement activity.

                    --   The practice or policy at issue.  Does it
                         affect (or have the potential to affect)
                         a significant number of beneficiaries or
                         program applicants?

                    --   The availability of resources to conduct
                         the review.
                                                                      7

          3.   The Fair Housing Act complaint will be referred to
               the Department of Justice for prompt judicial
               action.

               A complaint that is identified as requiring prompt
               judicial action may be processed separately.  The
               decision to separate the processing should be made
               only after the Department of Justice (DOJ) has
               agreed to prosecute the Fair Housing Act complaint.
               The investigation of the non-Fair Housing Act
               complaints can proceed; however, they should be
               coordinated closely with the Assistant General
               Counsel in the Area Office and with the DOJ
               representative.

     C.   Section 504 and Americans with Disabilities Act
          complaints

          1.   General

               The DOJ requires that HUD investigate disability
               discrimination complaints under both Section 504
               and the ADA whenever possible.  This applies to the
               vast majority of the Section 504 and ADA
               complaints.  One result of this requirement is that
               a concurrent Section 504 and Title VIII complaint,
               in most instances, will be processed under the ADA.
               Because the complaint procedures under the ADA and
               Section 504, by design, are very similar,
               concurrent case processing will pose few procedural
               problems.  The differences in processing are
               discussed below.

          2.   Employment

               Employment discrimination complaints for which the
               Department has jurisdiction or responsibility under
               both Section 504 and the ADA present special
               concurrent processing problems.  Section 504
               coverage of employment complaints extends only to
               recipients of HUD funds.  Title II of the ADA
               covers all state or local governmental units,
               whether or not the unit receives Federal funds.
               Title I of the ADA covers private and public
               entities, if the entity had 25 employees from July
               26, 1992 to July 26, 1994, or 15 employees from
               that date forward.  The procedures for processing
               employment discrimination complaints filed on the
               basis of disability are included in a separate
               memorandum, entitled: "Procedural Guidance on
               Implementation of Title II of the Americans with
               Disabilities Act of 1990."
                                                                      8

               Note that some employment cases also may involve
               violations of the Fair Housing Act.  For example,
               when an employee alleges discrimination against the
               employer for opposing discriminatory practices.
               Such cases should be processed concurrently under
               the Fair Housing Act.

     D.   Title VI and Section 109 Complaints

          The majority of complaints against State and local
          governments that are covered under Title VI also are
          covered under Section 109.  If a complainant does not
          insist otherwise, an allegation that falls under both
          Title VI and Section 109 normally should be accepted
          under both statutes.  Typically, these allegations should
          be consolidated for processing.

     E.   Age Discrimination and Other Statutes

          When a complainant alleges discrimination on more than
          one basis, and one of the protected basis is age,
          complaints should be taken under all of the relevant
          statutes, including the Age Discrimination Act. However,
          allegations of age discrimination typically will not be
          consolidated in the concurrent investigation.  This is
          because the requirement for initial referral to the
          Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services (FMCS) for
          mediation makes concurrent processing of the complaint
          not feasible. The age discrimination complaint should be
          processed under the provisions of 24 CFR part 146.

     F.   Example of a Multi-jurisdictional Complaint

          An employee of a city government receiving Community
          Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds alleges that she was
          fired because she refused to limit information concerning
          the availability of housing rehabilitation money only to
          White persons and because she had become legally blind.
          The Department would have jurisdiction to investigate her
          claims under the Fair Housing Act, Title VI, Section 109,
          Section 504, and Title II of the ADA.  The complaint
          should be concurrently processed under all of those
          statutes.

          Title VI applies because the actions against the employee
          had the effect of denying the participation of non-White
          persons in the benefits of the program.  A Title VI
          investigation would focus on discrimination on the basis

4 Keep in mind that Section 109 also covers religion and sex,
unlike Title VI.
                                                                      9

          of race in program services and benefits.  The Section 109
          investigation would also focus on whether the complainant was
          fired because the employee opposed an unlawful practice under
          Section 109.  The ADA and Section 504 investigations would focus
          on whether the complainant was fired because of her
          disability.  The Fair Housing Act investigation would
          focus on whether the respondent violated Section 818, as
          well as the other race-based allegations.

III. Multi-Jurisdictional Processing: Administrative Issues

     A.   Complaint Notification Procedures

          The general principle that applies to multi-
          jurisdictional complaints is that there should be one
          investigation, one record of that investigation, and one
          effort to resolve the matter.  This principle applies
          during the notification process as well.  However, assign
          a separate complaint number for each statutory basis in
          the complaint.

          1.   Consolidated Fair Housing Act Case Processing

               Enter the Fair Housing Act number into the
               Integrated Title VIII Tracking System (ITTS)
               Indicate that the complaint is being concurrently
               processed under Title VI, Section 504, or Section
               109 5/ as described on pages 30 and 31 of the ITTS
               Data Dictionary.

               Unfortunately, the regulations are not consistent
               with regard to complaint notification procedures.

               --   The Fair Housing Act regulations, at 24 CFR
                    Sec. 103.40, state that a complaint is
                    considered to be filed when it contains the
                    names of the complainant and respondent, the
                    address of the dwelling, if relevant, and a
                    statement of facts and dates concerning the
                    alleged discriminatory practice.  The
                    respondent must be notified

5  As stated above, the Department has prepared a proposed rule
implementing Section 109.  The complaint processing procedures
under the proposed rule are very similar to those under Section
504.  Until the final rule is published, Field Offices should
follow Section 504 processing procedures with respect to Section
109 complaints.  References in this discussion of notification
procedures should be read to include Section 109 complaints.
                                                                      10

                    within 10 calendar days of the filing of the
                    complaint under 24 CFR 103.50, except in the
                    case of an amended complaint which is,
                    nonetheless, considered to be filed as of the
                    original date of filing (24 CFR 103.42).

               --   The Section 504 rule, 24 CFR 8.56(e), provides
                    for a two-step process.  In step one, the
                    complaint is filed and, within 10 calendar
                    days, the respondent is provided with notice
                    to that effect.  In step two, however, the
                    Department conducts an evaluation of whether
                    to "accept" the complaint.  This 'evaluation
                    period takes place over 20 calendar days.  The
                    parties (and the award official, if the
                    complaint is accepted) are then notified of
                    the Department's decision to accept, reject,
                    or refer the complaint to another agency.

               --   There is no formal notification period
                    described in the ADA rule.  However, the
                    Department of Justice rule, 28 CFR  35.171,
                    states that Section 504 procedures are to be
                    applied to concurrent Section 504/ADA
                    complaints.6

               Note that a complaint is "filed" under the ADA when
               it is received by any Federal agency.  Therefore,
               there may be different filing dates for the Section
               504 and the ADA complaint if the ADA complaint is
               received first (e.g., via a referral from the
               Department of Justice).  In that case, the filing
               date of the ADA complaint is the date that it was
               received in any Federal agency; the filing date of
               the Section 504 complaint is the date that the
               complaint was received by the Department.

               To facilitate consolidated processing with Fair
               Housing Act cases, the two-step process described
               above should be eliminated.  Otherwise, for the
               reasons discussed in III (A) (2), a respondent's
               answer to the non-Fair Housing Act complaint may
               not be required, delaying the investigation until
               60 days after the complaint is filed.  The Section

6/  The Department must first review the complaint and determine
whether it has jurisdiction under Section 504 or under the ADA
because it is the designated agency to process the complaint under
subpart G of the Title II regulations.  If HUD is not the proper
agency, it must refer the complaint to the appropriate agency or to
the Department of Justice.  This should be accomplished within the
20 day "acceptance" period specified in Section 504.
                                                                      11

               The Section 504/ADA complaint should be considered
               to be accepted at the same time as the initial 10-
               day notice is given under the Fair Housing Act and
               Section 504.  This 10-day notice/acceptance period
               will be applied to Title VI and Section 109
               complaints that are consolidated for processing
               with Fair Housing Act complaints.7/

               Presently, the Fair Housing Act 10-day notification
               letters are generated by the computerized database.
               Until we develop the capability to issue one
               notification letter including all appropriate
               statutes, regulations and Executive Orders, use
               current notification letters under Section 504, the
               ADA, and Section 109.  Moreover, send all of these
               notification letters to the respondent(s) at the
               same time, in one envelope.

          2.   Consolidated non-Fair Housing Act Cases

               When the Fair Housing Act is not one of the
               statutes under which a consolidated case is being
               processed (e.g., Section 504 and ADA; Title VI and
               Section 504), follow Section 504's 20-day period
               for review and acceptance and rejection of the
               complaint for all statutes.  (Depending on the
               facts, it may be appropriate to reject the 504
               complaint and to accept the Title VI complaint.)
               Note that the complaints should be recorded as
               being received in the MCATS system on the date that
               they are received.

               a.   Respondent's Answer

                    Only the Fair Housing Act and the Section 504
                    regulation contain formal requirements
                    involving the respondent's answer to the
                    complaint.  The Fair Housing Act provides that
                    the respondent's answer may be submitted
                    within 10 days of receipt of notice that a
                    complaint has been filed.  Section 504
                    requires that the respondent answer the
                    complaint within 30 days of receiving
                    notification of acceptance of the complaint.
                    In situations where the concurrent complaint
                    is under the Fair Housing Act and other
                    statutes, follow the 10-day time period, not
                    10 days for the FHA and 30 days for 504.

7/  The proposed Section 109 rule follows Section 504; Title VI
does not include a formal notification requirement.
                                                                      12

               b.  Pre-finding Settlement Attempts

                    All of the civil rights statutes encourage
                    informal resolution of complaints.  The fact
                    that complaints are being concurrently
                    processed should not hinder those attempts.
                    If a complaint is being concurrently
                    processed, it can be resolved at any time.  If
                    the settlement does not resolve all of the
                    issues in all of the concurrently processed
                    complaints, the agreement must ensure that the
                    settlement does not preclude processing under
                    the remaining statutes.  Under no circumstance
                    should the proposed relief violate other
                    statutes.

                    The relief that the Department obtains in
                    concurrently processed cases should be the
                    relief that the complainant requests and, to
                    which the respondent agrees, as well as any
                    other relief that the Department, at that
                    stage of the investigation, believes is
                    appropriate. In most cases, all specific
                    relief (as opposed to general formula
                    statements about complying with the law, non-
                    retaliation, etc.) will be tailored to the
                    allegations raised by the complainant.

                    The Agreement should be entitled "Conciliation
                    and Voluntary Compliance Agreement." It should
                    indicate which statutes and complaint numbers
                    it covers. 8/

                    Occasionally a situation will arise when a
                    complainant is dissatisfied with monetary
                    relief to which the Department otherwise would
                    agree in resolution of a complaint.  Under the
                    Fair Housing Act, the complainant must sign a
                    conciliation agreement to resolve the
                    complaint; however, the complainant does not
                    have to agree to the terms of a Voluntary
                    Compliance Agreement (VCA) and does not sign
                    the agreement.  As a practical matter, there
                    is little advantage to a respondent in a
                    concurrent case agreeing to a settlement that
                    does not entirely resolve the dispute(s).
                    However, if the respondent does

8/  The right of the Department to conduct a Department initiated
complaint (either a Secretary-initiated complaint investigation or
a compliance review) of facts and issue not covered in the
Agreement should be stated explicitly in the Agreement.
                                                                      13

                    agree to enter into a VCA, the Enforcement
                    Center may choose to take one of the following
                    courses of action:

                    1)   eliminate any reference to individual
                         relief in the VCA, and continue the Title
                         VIII complaint;

                    2)   include a non-disputed amount in the VCA,
                         include the remaining disputed amount in
                         the Title VIII negotiations, enter into
                         the VCA, and close the non-Title VIII
                         complaint.

               c.   Investigation

                    Concurrent complaint investigations should be
                    assigned to one person for investigation.  In
                    complex cases, more than one person may be
                    assigned to the investigation, but all issues
                    should be investigated at one time.  The Equal
                    Opportunity Specialist(s) should investigate
                    all aspects of the complaints under all
                    statutes and record the results of his fact-
                    gathering in one file.  If the investigation
                    focuses on the allegations related to the
                    complainant.and the harm that the complainant
                    suffered, investigations of concurrent
                    complaints should not take longer to complete.

                    Use the Fair Housing Act case file format for
                    locating and tabbing evidence.  The
                    investigative plan should include an
                    anticipated completion date of 75 days after
                    the complaints were filed.  The subpoena power
                    available under the Fair Housing Act may be
                    helpful in meeting this deadline.  Use the
                    case analysis worksheet(s) to reflect the
                    analysis under all of the statutes.  The
                    record of the investigation should be made in
                    one Final Investigative Report (FIR).  The
                    format of the FIR should follow the Title VIII
                    format in accordance with the guidance dated
                    April 27, 1995.

                    If the investigation is being conducted under
                    more than one statute other than the Fair
                    Housing Act, then either the Section 504
                    format for compiling the file and preparing a
                    FIR or the Fair Housing Act format may be
                    used.  There should be one file and one FIR.
                    The investigative plan should include an
                    anticipated completion date of no longer than
                    155 days.
                                   14

               d.   Notification of Findings

                    Under the Fair Housing Act, findings are
                    communicated through a Determination and
                    Charge. While a Determination of No Reasonable
                    Cause is a single document, a Determination of
                    Reasonable Cause involves two documents:
                    issuance of a Determination and a Charge of
                    Discrimination. The other civil rights
                    statutes use a different two step process: a
                    Letter of Findings (LOF), which may be subject
                    to challenge by the parties, followed by a
                    Letter of Determination (LOD).

                    Under Section 504 (and the ADA and Section
                    109), the parties have a right to request a
                    review of the LOF in Headquarters, whether the
                    finding is one of compliance (complainant
                    requests review) or noncompliance (respondent
                    requests review). There is no right to request
                    a review of a compliance finding under Title
                    VI.  Under Title VI, if compliance is found,
                    the LOF and LOD are issued simultaneously.  If
                    the LOF finds noncompliance, then the
                    respondent is given a chance to respond to the
                    LOF prior to issuance of the LOD.

                    These differences make concurrent and
                    consolidated processing at this stage
                    difficult, but not impossible.  The most
                    important objectives should be: 1) to ensure
                    that the findings differ only because of
                    substantive differences in the covered bases
                    or the statutes themselves; 9/  2) to provide
                    timely and effective notice to the parties of
                    the findings, at or near the same time; 3) to
                    communicate effectively the parties' post-
                    finding review rights, if any; and 4) to
                    facilitate the Department's future efforts to
                    obtain a remedy for proven discrimination.  A
                    sample Letter of Determination/Letter of
                    Findings is attached.

9/  The Field Office should make sure to issue consistent findings
in cases where complaints have been filed under multiple statutes
involving the same allegations but a decision has been made to
process the cases separately.
                                                                      15

                    If, under Section 504/ADA/section 109, the
                    complainant requests a review, the review by
                    Headquarters will encompass those statutes and
                    the Fair Housing Act finding.  Either the
                    Office of Investigations or the Office of
                    Program Compliance and Disability Rights will
                    take the lead on the review as determined by
                    the appropriate Assistant Secretary.  If a
                    decision is made to remand or reverse the
                    finding of compliance, and that decision would
                    apply to the Fair Housing Act finding as well,
                    the parties will be notified that the
                    Assistant Secretary has exercised her
                    discretion to review and reopen the Fair
                    Housing Act finding.

               e.  Post-finding settlement Attempts 10/

                    The only major difference among the statutes
                    in post-finding settlements is the name of the
                    document that memorializes the agreement.  The
                    document is either a Conciliation Agreement
                    (Title VIII) or a Voluntary Compliance
                    Agreement (Section 504/ADA/Section 109/Title
                    VI) This difference is rather easily solved;
                    any such document should be entitled
                    "Conciliation and Voluntary Compliance
                    Agreement." The substance of the document will
                    identify and treat relief that is provided
                    under different statutes as separate remedial
                    provisions.

                    For example, the individual relief section
                    might provide that under the Fair sousing Act
                    and Section 504, the complainant is being
                    provided a public housing unit and
                    compensation for higher rent that the
                    complainant paid while the complainant was
                    unlawfully denied the unit because of
                    disability.  A separate paragraph under that
                    section of the Agreement might state that the
                    complainant is being paid pursuant to the Fair
                    Housing Act, $25,000 for the humiliation,
                    anxiety and emotional distress suffered as a
                    result of the discrimination.  A third
                    paragraph may state that under

10/  This section refers to settlement attempts of Title VIII cases
during the 26-day period after the issuance of the charge but
before either an election is made or the administrative proceeding
has commenced.  After that time, any efforts to settle a case must
involve the participation of either the Office of General Counsel
or the Department of Justice.
                                                                      16

                    Section 504, the Public Housing Authority
                    (PHA) will install a ramp and a roll-in shower
                    in the complainant's unit at the PHA's
                    expense.

               f.   Enforcement of Findings of Violations

                    The language of that part of the Conciliation
                    and VCA that discusses how the Agreement will
                    be enforced will reflect the different
                    mechanisms and options under all statutes.
                    For example, a concurrent Fair Housing Act
                    case will specify that a breach of the
                    Agreement could lead to direct court
                    enforcement action by the DOJ.  The agreement
                    will also state that the Department will take
                    all other available actions for a breach of
                    the agreement, up to and including termination
                    or refusal to approve funds.  If one of the
                    concurrent violations is of the ADA, then the
                    Agreement will reflect that violations will be
                    referred to the Attorney General.

                    In some cases, the substantive provisions of
                    the ADA are broader than Section 504.  If the
                    recipient is found to be in noncompliance with
                    the ADA but not the comparable Section 504
                    standards, the Department will seek funding
                    termination only with respect to those acts
                    that do constitute a violation of Section 504.
                    All of the other noncompliance findings will
                    be referred to the DOJ for other appropriate
                    action, if conciliation is not possible.

                                             Elizabeth K. Julian
                                             Assistant Secretary

Attachments
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDE TABLES OF COMPARISON OF COMPLAINT PROCESSING
REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS.