Drafted and Advocated for Legislation to Remove Racist Language From Deeds

In 2019, Charles Hobbs worked with then-Michigan State Representative Sarah Anthony to draft legislation empowering homeowners and neighborhood associations to remove racially restrictive covenant language from property deeds.

For decades, racially restrictive covenants — clauses barring Black and other non-white buyers from owning or occupying a property — were written directly into deeds across Michigan. The U.S. Supreme Court struck down their enforceability in 1948, but the language itself was never removed. It's still sitting in property records today, a permanent record of exclusion attached to people's homes.

HB 4416 gave homeowners and neighborhood associations a real process to get that language struck from their deeds. Street Democracy worked alongside Representative Sarah Anthony on the legislation, including through public op-eds explaining why the language persisted and what the bill would actually do.

Governor Whitmer signed the bill into law on December 13, 2022.

Persistent advocacy and Representative Anthony's steadfast support led to passage as HB 4416, signed into law on December 13, 2022.