High Plains Fair Housing Center reports rising intakes, urges outreach as Fargo grows

Kelly Gores, an independent fair-housing consultant speaking on behalf of High Plains Fair Housing Center, told the Fargo Human Rights Commission on Sept. 18 that the organization has seen a rise in housing-related calls and is working statewide to educate housing providers and residents. “Where you live matters,” Gores said, adding that the organization trains providers, provides enforcement services, and does advocacy and mediation for residents.

High Plains is the only fair-housing nonprofit serving North Dakota and parts of South Dakota, Gores said. She told commissioners the group trained more than 3,500 housing providers and consumers in 2024, distributed more than 16,000 educational materials in seven languages, and handled roughly 370 fair-housing calls in its service area last year. In Fargo specifically, Gores said the center had fielded 93 intakes so far in 2025, many involving alleged discrimination against people with disabilities.

Those figures matter because discrimination can limit access to schools, jobs and services, Gores said. “All individuals have a right to access housing free from illegal discrimination,” she said, citing protections under the federal Fair Housing Act of 1968 and state law. Gores noted North Dakota law adds protections for marital status, people over 40 and people who receive public assistance.

Commissioners asked about links between large real-estate investment trusts and rising rents. Gores said she did not have testing or data on that relationship but flagged a common fair-housing concern: voucher holders priced out of the market when rents rise beyond voucher payment standards. She said such situations can make housing effectively inaccessible even when discrimination is not the explicit cause.

Commissioners also asked whether the 93 Fargo intakes had been investigated and what outcomes resulted. Gores said she did not have case‑level outcomes on hand and that some intakes remain open; she said the center resolves many cases through mediation and advocacy and would provide the commission with the annual report and follow-up numbers via email.

The commission asked Gores to supply written materials, and she agreed to share the center’s annual report and the statistics cited. Commissioners suggested the center could offer additional local briefings or training to property owners and social-service providers.

The presentation closed with a request that High Plains follow up on whether it is tracking patterns tied to investment ownership and geographic concentration of housing unaffordability, a question the consultant said she would pursue with the center’s executive director.