Fair Housing Discrimination Defined
Membership in one of seven protected classes: race, color, religion,
sex, national origin, disability, and familial status are the protected
classes that Fair Housing issues protect.
There are five areas that are commonly held to be Fair Housing issues
according to the US Dept of Housing and urban Development. They are:
Overt Discrimination: This is
an outright refusal to rent to a person based on the persons protected
class. Always use a tenant screening checklist click here and always
use the same guidelines regarding for all prospect inquiries.
Differential Treatment: For example, treating one sex or race or religion
differently than another. Be careful not to offer different terms or
conditions because you like someone or prefer one group over another.
Be sure your decision guidelines are the same for everyone and are
written down for anyone to see. In the event of a complaint these
guidelines can be helpful.
Steering: Be aware not to guide
people to certain locals or units because you think they may fit better
or like it better based on their group identity. This is illegal.
Disparate Impact: Enforcing an
apparently neutral rule that has a disproportionately adverse effect on
a protected class, unless the housing provider has a valid business,
health or safety reason and can show that there isnt a less
discriminatory means of achieving the same result.
Your Guidelines:. Consider
whether your rules and procedures for finding qualified tenants and the
tenant screening process you use to approve or deny. Does it carry the appearance of
discriminatory practices? Is it defensible from the standpoint of
health or safety? Is there a good business reason for this rule?
Remember, even the appearance of a discriminatory rule can cause a
complaint to be filed against you. San Francisco HUD uses the example
that a rule determining that all bedrooms shall have only one person
might discriminate against families. Be aware of the local rules in
your area, they may expand on the Federal guidelines. Call your
attorney or your local apartment association.
Procedures Manual.: If you are
a professional property manager, consider a tenant screening and tenant
approval procedure. Spell out the Federal Guidelines and include
material and links. Test your staff!
Denial of Reasonable Accommodation or Modification:.
Failing to provide reasonable accommodations or refusing to allow a
person with a disability to make reasonable modifications, or failing
to meet access requirements is illegal and wrong. An example would be a
refusal to modify a unit in a reasonable manner so that a disabled
person may enjoy or use the housing or services
Failure to Design or Construct with certain features of accessibility or modification.
Most federally subsidized housing built after July 11, 1988 must have
accessible common areas, and at least five percent of the housing units
must be fully configured for the special needs of mobility-impaired
persons. The Federal Fair Housing Act also requires that most
multifamily housing of four or more units constructed for first
occupancy after March 11, 1991 contain seven features of accessible
design, including accessible common areas, accessible entry doors and
interior passageways, usable kitchens and
Bathrooms: The Fair Housing Act
requirements apply to all ground-floor units of non-elevator buildings,
and generally to all units in elevator-equipped buildings.
If a complaint has been filed against you.
HUD is a neutral, fact-finding body. The fact that HUD has accepted and
filed an allegation of discrimination should not be construed as a
finding that discrimination has occurred.
Once a complaint is signed and HUD has established that the issues are
jurisdictional to the Fair Housing law, the complaint is considered filed HUD may process the case itself, or send it to a state or
local government agency, which is enforcing its own fair housing law.
Notification letters advising of the filing of the complaint are sent
to the complainant and to all named respondents within ten days of the
filing date. Generally, HUD attempts to name all persons involved or
potentially involved in the transaction.
This usually means that the complaint notification letters are sent to
the owner, the management agent, and the onsite manager, at a minimum.
The Federal Fair Housing Act states that a respondent named in a
housing discrimination complaint has ten days to submit a written
response to the allegations made in the complaint. A respondent who
fails to respond or produce documents can be subpoenaed to do so.
HUD and its partnering state and local enforcement agencies typically
settle between 40-50% of all complaints. Conciliation is a process of
seeking settlement goals from a complainant, communicating these to the
respondent, and working with both parties to identify mutual grounds
for final resolution.
A conciliation agreement is a three-party contract containing specific
terms of relief. It may include terms of monetary or housing relief for
the complainant. HUD or state or local enforcement agencies usually
insist on some affirmative action terms that are designed to prevent
future possible incidence of alleged discrimination, and to permit
monitoring of compliance.
If early-stage conciliation is unsuccessful, then the investigator
proceeds with an independent investigation. In most cases, HUD will
conduct the onsite portion of the investigation. This may include
reviewing applicant, current tenant, and/or eviction files in the
respondents business office, interviewing the respondent and its
staff, and interviewing current and former tenants of the complex.
Mid- and late-stage conciliation efforts will be undertaken as evidence
is compiled during an investigation. HUD will complete its
investigation and issue a letter of determination. That determination
will summarize the evidence and advise the parties either: (a) that HUD
is dismissing the case because inadequate evidence has been collected
to supprt the allegations of discrimination; or (b) that HUD is issuing
a charge of discrimination.
The vast majority of cases processed by HUD and state and local fair housing agencies are now being completed within 100 days.
Excerpted from the Pacific Currents Newsletter
