Atlanta Through the Archives
Northside Public Housing Discourse
Summary
Northside, as an almost entirely white, wealthy enclave of Atlanta, did not
see the development of any public housing until after the 1970s. The main catalyst for movements to
integrate the area and for the construction of public housing developments were court orders against
Northside Realty Associates, the largest realty firm in Georgia. Northside Realty steered white and
black home seekers to different neighborhoods, refusing to work with black homebuyers who wanted to
buy in Northside. They were found in violation of the Fair Housing Act, and later in contempt of
court for not effectively altering their policies. As a result, city government was pressured to
increase public housing in Northside, lifting some of this burden from the southeastern part of the
city; a federal court order also mandated this shift. However, all projects met fierce resistance,
including lawsuits, from local white residents and community groups over false concerns.
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The Atlanta Region Open Housing Coalition (AROHC) and the Atlanta Community Relations Commission
(ACRC) conducted a study in 1975 regarding the Fair Housing Act of 1968. The study sent testers to
visit the offices of real estate companies and inquire about homes for sale in a specified price
range. Comments from firms were recorded and forwarded to the United States Department of Justice.
In 1971, a case brought against Northside Realty found it in violation of the Fair Housing Act, with
the ruling that they must cease their violation immediately. With the evidence of testers, in June
1975, the DOJ, the AROHC, and the ACRC filed a motion to hold Northside Realty in contempt of court
for their continued violation of the Fair Housing Act.
The motion filed against Northside Realty claims that the firm steered white home seekers and
minority home seekers into different communities. One witness, Reverend Claude Peterson, an African
American resident, was told repeatedly that he could not afford a home in Northside and that he
would need to “pre-qualify” twice before he could even see listings. Other black witnesses shared
similar experiences, while white witnesses described how they were encouraged to look at homes.
In response, Northside Realty filed a counter, class-action lawsuit on behalf of all persons in the
real estate business against all testers, claiming that they are guilty of misconduct, including
trespassing and manufacturing false reports. The AROHC claims that this lawsuit violates federal law
meant to protect against intimidation preventing equal housing opportunity.
In 1977, the lawsuit finds Northside Realty in contempt of court. Attorney Schwelb sought that the
court demand Northside Realty to allocate 15% of its advertising budget to black media and seek
black real estate agents for employment. However, the judge refused to agree to any such measures of
progress to be made by Northside Realty, but did not find it unreasonable that they must include an
equal housing opportunity logo in all advertising.