Fair Housing Justice Center Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN: 208681674
IRS 990 coverage: 2012–2024
Forms available: Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2007
Location: Long Island City, NY, USA
Phone: 2124008201
Rating: 72
Verdict: SUPPORTED
Rating confidence: Moderate
Sector: Civil Rights, Social Action, Advocacy N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue: $5,061,105
Expenses: $3,327,463
Assets: $6,028,934
Liabilities: $1,213,790

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

KAARON BRISCOE (PRESIDENT)
ELIZABETH GROSSMAN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (LEFT 9/16/24))

Highest reported compensation

ALAINE DUNGEE (DIRECTOR OF INVESTIGATIONS): $114,371 total reported compensation
ELIZABETH GROSSMAN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (LEFT 9/16/24)): $67,097 total reported compensation
MICHELE CORTESE (INTERIM ED. (STARTED 9/19/24)): $45,283 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The corporation has been formed for the purposes of providing relief to the poor, distressed and underprivileged, and for the promotion of the public good through programs to lessen neighborhood tensions, eliminate prejudice and discrimination, to defend human and civil rights secured by law and to combat community deterioration in the New York city metropolitan area. In furtherance of these charitable purposes, the corporation shall plan and implement programs that: (a) eliminate housing discrimination, (b) promote policies that foster open, accessible, and inclusive communities; and (c) strengthen enforcement of fair housing lawsthe corporation shall conduct all lawful activities which may be useful in accomplishing the foregoing purposes.

What it reported doing in 2024

The corporation is formed for the purposes of providing relief to the poor, distressed and underprivileged, and for the promotion of the public good through programs to lessen neighborhood tensions, eliminate prejudice and discrimination, to defend human and civil rights secured by law and to combat community deterioration in the New York city metropolitan area. In furtherance of these charitable purposes, the corporation shall plan and implement programs that: (a) eliminate housing discrimination: fhjc testing investigations have led to successful litigation that opened tens of thousands of housing units to people previously excluded; recovered millions in damages and penalties to victims of housing discrimination; and most importantly, changed the way that many housing providers do business. (b) promote open and inclusive communities: the fhjc produced major policy reports and films and provides frequent outreach and training to the public so as to promote awareness of fair housing rights. (c) strengthen enforcement of fair housing laws: the fhjc established a unique and effective fair housing testing program by utilizing state-of-the-art technology and highly skilled professional actors to participate in fair housing testing investigations. The fhjc brings frequent lawsuits to eliminate discrimination and to put mechanisms in place to make sure it does not re-occur. (d) change people's lives: the fhjc has assisted well over a thousand individuals and organizations to exercise their fair housing rights by providing information, investigative assistance, and referrals.

Operating model

Revenue model: Earned-program. 62% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model: Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

Financial Efficiency: 56
Transparency & Controls: 74
Accountability: 95
Sustainability: 68
Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

Mission deployment rate: 48.4%; rating input score 48
Program expense ratio: 74.3%; rating input score 74
Fundraising efficiency: $12.13 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Pass
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Pass
Foreign activity oversight: Limited
Grant itemization coverage: Limited
Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

Operating margin: 34.3%; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.81; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.2; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
Officer compensation ratio: 6.8%; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

Program expense growth: 10.8% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
Revenue growth: 13.7% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
Asset growth: 22% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings

Details

Where the money goes: 48.4% of revenue deployed · 74.3% of spending went to programs
Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2.5M in reported program spending
Leadership: top reported pay $114K · 15 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $169K reported
Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 to 2024
Contacts: How to reach this organization
Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 48/100.
Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 44/100.
Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 58/100.
Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 42/100.
Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 44/100.
High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.