Fair Housing

Jurors Find Racial Discrimination, Not Bible, Determined Rental Criteria
A Lawrence, Kansas property manager said she was following God's law not practicing racial discrimination. A jury disagreed and awarded an unmarried interracial couple $1,695 each for emotional damages and the cost of renting a higher-priced apartment elsewhere. Punitive damages against the manager and the property's owners are to be determined at a later date. The property manager said that the Lord had told her not to rent to any more unmarried couples prior to turning down the plaintiffs. However, she was already renting to five unmarried white couples and rented to another unmarried white couple after she turned the plaintiffs down. The manager said she did not want to try ousting any of the unmarried couples living there.
Information courtesy of the Lawrence-Journal World, May 13, 2005.

Sacramento Area Owner Pays $100,000 to Settle Sexual Harassment Suit
A Sacramento area landowner paid $92,000 to 12 female residents and an additional fine to settle a sexual harassment suit. The female residents complained that the owner made unwelcome comments and entered their apartments without permission. Male residents were not subjected to similar treatment. In addition, female residents were governed by different rules than males including restrictions on having overnight guests. The Department of Justice said the owner's actions clearly violated the Fair Housing Act.
Information courtesy of the San Diego Union Tribune, May 14, 2004.

Condo Association Sued Over Forcing Handicapped Resident to Use Back Door
The family of a wheelchair-bound 9-year-old is suing a condo association after it allegedly refused to allow the boy to use the front entrance of the community. The association's policy prohibits bringing wheelchairs, strollers and furniture in through the front entrance to reduce wear and tear. According to the release the boy was forced to use a narrow back entrance instead of the front door and his mother had to wait outside near the trash disposal while waiting for his school bus. After a few months the family started using the front entrance because they didn't believe it was doing any damage to the area. The condo board sent them a letter asking them to stop. In addition, the suit alleges that the board president sent a service technician to physically bar the boy's nurse from bringing him in the front entry.
Information courtesy of WBBM Newsradio 780, Chicago Illinois, March 16, 2004.

Louisiana Complex Owners and Mangers Face Discrimination Suit
The U.S. Justice Department announced a lawsuit against the owners and managers of an apartment complex in the St. Bernard Parish of Louisiana. The suit alleges that prospective black tenants were discouraged from renting and were told that no apartments were available. White applicants were told that there were available apartments. The lawsuit seeks an order prohibiting the defendants from engaging in fair housing discrimination and monetary damages including a civil penalty and compensation for alleged victims of the discrimination.
Information courtesy of the United Press International, April 2004.

Supplemental Application May Equal Discrimination
According to the San Antonio Express News, lawyers claim that property owners that require non-citizens to fill out an additional form with questions about their immigration status are practicing discrimination. The form, known as the "supplemental rental application for non-U.S. citizens" was created by the Texas Apartment Association a couple of months after the September 11th attacks. It is supposed to help property managers improve national security and maintain "financial peace of mind." Some immigration groups feel that the form is a form of racial discrimination. An Austin lawyer wrote to TAA asking it to stop using the form.

HUD Launches Senior Housing Information Center
The Department of Housing and Urban Development opened a senior housing information center located in Tampa, Florida. Both a senior housing information site and a toll-free number will give 3,700 public housing agencies or tribally designated housing authorities help in creating and updating senior housing. For more information, please visit the HUD website.
Information courtesy of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Condo Association Sued For Not Making Reasonable Accommodation
An East Naples Florida man and his wife are suing their homeowner's association after the association refused to allow him to install a wheelchair lift that would allow him to have easier access to his second-story condo. The man offered to pay the $10,000 to purchase and install the lift and to pay the cost to remove the lift when he moved. He was not originally handicapped when he and his wife bought the home, but later lost his left leg due to illness. According to the couple, the man has great difficulty navigating the stairs on crutches and broke his hip a month after the initial request was made. The lawsuit is still pending.
Information courtesy of Naples Daily News, February 23, 2004.

Pennsylvania Housing Council Amends Overcrowding Ordinance
A local overcrowding ordinance that required a Lansdale, Pennsylvania landlord to evict a family of four from their two-bedroom apartment home has been amended after a fair housing agency notified the borough that the ordinance was in violation of federal fair housing laws. The original ordinance prohibited two children of the opposite sex over the age of 5 from sharing a bedroom. Landlords that did not comply with the law faced the loss of their rental licenses and fines. The ordinance has been amended so that occupancy standards are based on non-discriminatory criteria such as square footage and number of bedrooms.

Housing Authority Settles Over Domestic Violence Eviction
The Michigan-based housing authority, the Ypsilanti Housing Commission (YHC), settled a lawsuit brought on by a domestic violence victim that was evicted under the YHC's "one strike rule." As part of the settlement the YHC agreed to drop the rule. The "one strike rule" required residents to be evicted if there was any violence in their apartments - even if the resident was the victim. "Ending this policy will prevent women from being twice victimized, first by an abuser and again by the housing authority," said Kary Moss, ACLU of Michigan Executive Director. Because victims of domestic violence are often women, the ACLU argued that evicting the victims results in sexual discrimination which violates both federal fair housing laws and Michigan state laws.
Information courtesy of the Michigan ACLU.

Native American Renters More Likely to Face Discrimination
More than one in four Native Americans face discrimination when attempting to rent a home according to a study released by HUD on November 18, 2003. The study, Discrimination in Metropolitan Housing Markets, found that Native Americans in the metropolitan areas of Montana, New Mexico and Minnesota were discriminated against 29 percent of the time. The national rates for discrimination against other races were: 22 percent for African Americans, 26 percent for Hispanics and 21 percent for Asians. The discrimination against Native Americans is particularly severe according to Margery Austin Turner, the study's lead researcher and director of the Urban Institute's Metropolitan Housing and Communities Policy Center. They are often denied access to housing altogether while other minorities are exposed to subtler forms of discrimination such as higher rents and application costs or less advice and assistance from rental agents, Turner said. The levels for the individual states were 25.7 percent in New Mexico, 28.6 percent in Montana and 33.3 percent in Minnesota.
Information courtesy of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Owner Must Make Reasonable Accommodation
An appeals court ruled that a California owner has the responsibility to make reasonable accommodation by waiving the "no co-signer" clause in the lease for a disabled potential resident. The court found that the clause discriminated against the potential resident, who has AIDS and could no longer work, because under normal circumstances the man would have been able to afford the apartment under his previous job before his disability made it so he was unable to work. In addition, his mother had been willing (and qualified) to co-sign her son's lease or rent the apartment herself. The court reasoned that because it is not unusual for a parent to co-sign for a child in the apartment community, then it is not an unreasonable accommodation.

LA Leasing Staff Lies About Senior Housing Status; Owner Pays $51,000
The owner of a Los Angeles area apartment community was forced to pay a fine of $51,000, end the illegal practices and take a two-year fair housing training program after his leasing staff told an expectant mother that the community was "seniors only." However, fair housing testers found that adult applicants of all ages were accepted as long as they didn't have children or appear to be expecting children.

More Discrimination Complaints Filed in 2002
According to the National Fair Housing Alliance, seven percent more complaints were filed in 2002 than in 2001. There were more than 25,000 complaints filed last year. The organization found that the increase in complaints was due to increased consumer awareness not more widespread discrimination. A separate survey commissioned by HUD found that 30 percent of complaints for filed based on race, 27 percent on disability, 15 percent due to familial status and 12 percent due to national origin.

Housing Discrimination Still a Problem
California has long been a leader in fair housing. The Rumford Act, signed by the then-Governor Edmund G. Brown preceded the federal Fair Housing Act by five years. It was the result of the efforts of civil rights pioneers to abolish religious and racial discrimination and was the nation's first housing anti-discrimination law. Despite the state's fair housing legacy, however, almost a thousand complaints are filed each year with the state and many more incidents are reported to local fair housing groups. The most common complaints are from families with children, handicapped individuals (mental and physical), and people from certain racial or ethnic groups.
Information courtesy of the California Department of Real Estate.

Asians & Pacific Islanders Face Discrimination
A recent report by HUD revealed that Asians and Pacific Islanders faced housing discrimination in 11 metropolitan areas where 77 percent of the population of Asians and Pacific Islanders live in the U.S. The study used 889 "paired tests" where a white tester and a non-white tester posed as otherwise identical home seekers. The testers visited the same real estate agents or responded to the same ads and recorded their individual experiences. Asian and Pacific Islander prospective homeowners received "adverse treatment" 20.4 percent of the time. "Adverse treatment" was defined as not receiving similar treatment or offers to rent as the white tester.

Service Animal Lawsuit Costly for California Owner
The owner of an eight-unit apartment unit agreed to pay an $88,000 settlement to resolve a fair housing complaint brought against her by a blind woman and her husband after the owner repeatedly refused to rent to the couple because of the woman's service dog. The owner told the couple that she had a strict no pets policy and would not rent to them. Despite repeated efforts on the part of the applicants and a counselor at Guide Dogs for the blind to educate the owner she still refused to process the application. The woman felt victimized by the owner's refusal to rent to her and reported the owner to Project Sentinel, a non-profit fair housing agency that investigates housing discrimination. The agency sent two sets of testers. The testers with the guide dog were told that no pets were allowed and that the owner would not make exceptions - even for service animals. Testers without guide dogs were told that an apartment was available immediately.

Phone Shops
According to an inside source at the offices of Housing and Urban Development, HUD has been doing more phone shops. In one region many leasing professionals could not supply the correct (legal) answer to the following questions:

• Do you take Section 8?
• Who lives at our property?
• Do you charge for a service animal?

Discrimination Based on National Origin on the Rise
HUD has issued a warning to rental housing owners warning that it will be spending substantially more resources prosecuting discrimination based on national origin. This is based on the increased complaints since September 11, that people who appear to be Arabs or from Middle Eastern countries are facing increased discrimination in the housing market. Some of the ways discrimination can occur include rejecting customers based on national origin, steering, not offering screening alternatives for prospects without Social Security numbers, unfair occupancy standards, delays or refusing to provide services and evictions based on national origin.

Court Upholds Eviction of Disabled Resident
A South Dakota judge ruled that Arnold Murray Construction, L.L.C. was allowed to evict a disabled tenant when no reasonable accommodation could be made. Hicks, the tenant, had suffered a brain injury 23 years earlier. Hicks repeatedly violated community policies by parking in a lot reserved for guests and service technicians and by propping open the security door. In addition, he engaged in offensive, abusive and threatening behavior towards other residents and team members. Arnold issued Hicks a notice to vacate and quit. Hicks failed to surrender the apartment and Arnold initiated eviction proceedings. Hicks argued that he was entitled to reasonable accommodation because of his disability. The court ruled that although Hicks was disabled no reasonable accommodation could be made to eliminate or diminish the risk he posed. Hicks appealed and produced testimony showing accommodations he desired to deal with his parking and controlled access door issues, however did not produce any accommodations regarding the threat he posed to other residents. The court upheld the original ruling.
Information courtesy of Landlord Tenant Bulletin by Quinlan Publishing Group, Volume 23.

Fair Housing Guidelines For The Service Team
The service team normally comes in contact with customers more than any other part of the property management team. Many communities fail to train their service team properly in fair housing laws. In order to lessen potential problems the team should be well versed in fair housing law and have a code of conduct.
Courtesy of Professional Apartment Management

Fair Housing
In a case of interest for apartment firms facing nuisance fair housing suits, a HUD administrative law judge (ALJ) has ruled that HUD must pay $17,143 in attorneys' fees to a housing provider that prevailed in a housing discrimination case. (HUD v. Gunderson, No. HUDALJ 05-98-0298-8, January 3, 2001.) In its complaint, HUD alleged that the apartment owner refused to rent an apartment to a couple on the basis of race. The property owner said the prospective residents were refused because they wanted to run a home business from the apartment in violation of the local municipal code. The ALJ ruled that HUD failed to establish a prima facie case of discrimination, and that the apartment owner was eligible for attorneys' fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act.
*Courtesy of National Multi Housing Council/National Apartment Association Washington Update April 6, 2001

Fair Housing
An apartment firm has asked a federal court to rule that the rental preferences permissible under the federal Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 (HCDA) preempt California's Fair Employment and Housing Act. The firm owns six properties in California that accept Section 8 residents and have elected a rental preference for elderly and near-elderly households as permitted under the HCDA. Despite the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) statement that the preferences satisfy HUD requirements and that removal of the federally-permitted preferences would jeopardize the firm's Section 8 subsidies, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) has filed an administrative charge alleging that the firm is violating the federal Fair Housing Act's age discrimination prohibition and California state law's prohibition against familial status discrimination. DFEH asserts that the California law is an expansion of the federal Fair Housing Act. While DFEH may yet file a civil lawsuit, the apartment firm has had the administrative charge transferred to state court.
*Courtesy of National Multi Housing Council/National Apartment Association Property Management Update March 23, 2001

Fair Housing
A New Jersey appeals court has held that an apartment provider's liability insurance policy does not cover claims of housing discrimination (Powell v. Alemaz, Inc., No. A-207-99T1, N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. Nov. 8, 2000). In the case, a potential renter alleged that the housing provider misrepresented an apartment's rent because the applicant was African-American. The court found that although the policy language covered, as personal injury, claims of wrongful eviction made by third parties, the language did not apply to complainants who were not in possession of the property. Additionally, the court found that the policy did not cover willful violations of penal laws.
*Courtesy of National Multi Housing Council/National Apartment Association Property Management Update March 23, 2001

Fair Housing
A recent HUD consent order underscores the importance of educating site-level staff about which questions can and cannot be asked when qualifying applicants who appear to be disabled or who are claiming a disability. The HUD order was issued in an administrative case involving a rental housing provider accused of discriminating against four individuals with mild mental retardation (HUD v. Wilmette Real Estate Management Co., No. HUDALJ 05-98-0148-8). HUD alleged that the property owner acted illegally in asking the applicants if they could live independently and nonviolently, and by requiring cosigners for their leases but not for the leases of other applicants. Without admitting fault, the housing provider agreed to pay $30,000 in damages to the complainants. The housing provider further agreed to record keeping requirements imposed in the order, to attend fair housing training, and to an injunction prohibiting them from disability discrimination.
*Courtesy of National Multi Housing Council/National Apartment Association Property Management Update March 23, 2001

Fair Housing
NAA/NMHC have submitted comments to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on its proposed new standards for housing-related sexual harassment. This proposed rule breaks new ground by suggesting that legal standards found in employment-related sexual harassment be applied to the housing context. NAA/NMHC's comments note that because of the major factual and legal differences between the employer-employee relationship and the housing provider-resident relationship, HUD should seek specific Congressional authority before expanding the Fair Housing Act. These changes point to the importance of training every on-site employee. Click here to view specific Computer-Based Training available from I.T. Partners. .
*Courtesy of National Multi Housing Council/National Apartment Association Washington Update January 26, 2001

Fair Housing
Two Baltimore mothers and a nonprofit fair housing organization, Baltimore Neighborhoods Inc., have settled a lawsuit filed against a firm, which refused to rent to families with children who have high levels of lead in their blood. Under the terms of the settlement, the firm will discontinue its practice of requiring lead testing for children under six and will pay $13,000 in damages. The suit alleged that the firm violated the Fair Housing Act, which prohibits discrimination against families with children.
*Courtesy of National Multi Housing Council/National Apartment Association Washington Update December 15, 2000

Sexual Orientation
The Fort Worth, TX City Council has added sexual orientation as a protected class under the city's anti-discrimination ordinance, protecting gays and lesbians against discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodations. Housing providers should be aware that while no federal anti-discrimination laws explicitly protect sexual orientation, gays and lesbians are protected against discrimination under the statutes of states, counties, and cities in many locations.
*Courtesy of National Multi Housing Council/National Apartment Association Property Management Update December 15, 2000

Fair Housing
HUD has referred a housing discrimination case against the city of Elgin, IL to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for possible prosecution. The city is accused of enforcing its housing occupancy code in such a way that discriminates against Hispanics. The city began aggressively enforcing its property maintenance code in the early- to mid-1990s when it began experiencing severe overcrowding conditions. Between 1995 and 1998, city officials issued 268 citations for occupancy code violations. Sixty-four percent went to families with Hispanic surnames although Hispanics comprise just 8 percent of the city's homeowners and occupy just 20 percent of Elgin's rental units. HUD says it was forced to send the complaints to the DOJ after attempts with the city to reach a voluntary agreement in a timely manner failed.
*Courtesy of National Multi Housing Council/National Apartment Association Washington Update December 1, 2000

Accessibility
NAA/NMHC's eight-year effort to have the federal accessibility requirements written into building code language scored a major victory last month when the International Code Council (ICC) published the long- awaited Code Requirements Housing Accessibility (CRHA). For the first time since the federal accessibility requirements were enacted in 1988, apartment professionals now have an easy-to-follow guide explaining how to meet the standards. Moreover, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has endorsed the guide as a "safe harbor" design standard, meaning that builders who follow the provisions in the CRHA will automatically comply with the Fair Housing Act and will have an affirmative defense against alleged noncompliance.

Since 1993, NAA/NMHC have worked with the code organizations to revise the building codes so they better reflect the federal accessibility requirements. In 1997, we led the coalition effort to develop a matrix comparing the federal requirements and the model code provisions. When HUD's approval of the matrix was not forthcoming, NAA/NMHC had language inserted in the 1999 HUD appropriations bill requiring the Department to expedite its review. Most recently, we have worked with the National Association of Home Builders to consolidate all of the relevant building code and standards provisions into the new CRHA. The CRHA can be ordered from any of the three model code organizations: BOCA (708-799-2300); ICBO (562-699-0541); or SBCCI (205-591-1853).
*Courtesy of National Multi Housing Council/National Apartment Association Washington Update November 17, 2000

Accessibility
Publication of Code Requirements for Housing Accessibility (CRHA) was intended to consolidate into one document all of the housing accessibility requirements contained in the IBC to serve as an easy-to-follow guide to complying with federal accessibility requirements. The ICC declined to publish it after disability advocates protested that it contains language never acted upon in any code/standard developing process. Instead, ICC has offered HUD the licensing rights to publish the CRHA. HUD, which has already endorsed the document as a "safe harbor" for compliance with the Fair Housing Act, has not yet indicated whether it will accept ICC's offer.
*Courtesy of National Multi Housing Council/National Apartment Association Building Codes Update September 8, 2000

Enforcement Statistics
The U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) has released a new report on HUD's implementation of the Fair Housing Act's accessibility provisions. According to the report (GAO/RCED-00-160R), discrimination complaints based on race or familial status far outnumber disability-related complaints. Of more than 70,000 fair housing complaints logged from 1991 to 1999, only 842 involved accessibility design and construction issues. NAA/NMHC participated in the study at GAO's request. The full report can be found online at www.gao.gov.
*Courtesy of National Multi Housing Council/National Apartment Association Washington Update September 8, 2000

Fair Housing
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), U.S. Department of Treasury and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) have announced a cooperative agreement and a new monitoring process to ensure that LIHTC properties are complying with the Fair Housing Act. Under the agreement, HUD and DOJ will notify the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and state housing finance agencies of fair housing enforcement actions involving LIHTC owners. The IRS will then notify owners that a discrimination finding could result in the loss of tax credits.
*Courtesy of National Multi Housing Council/National Apartment Association Washington Update August 25, 2000

Accessibility
On March 23, HUD released its long-awaited review of the accessible design features in the model building codes for conformity with the Fair Housing Act's accessible design requirements. NMHC/NAA have been urging HUD to eliminate the confusion associated with the Fair Housing Act Accessibility Guidelines since they were first published in 1991. The now-completed HUD review will help create a safe harbor design standard for apartment practitioners and reduce the degree of inadvertent noncompliance. The Department's report specifically identifies where the building codes do not meet the Fair Housing Act design and construction requirements. The HUD Building Code Review is available online at www.hud.gov/fhe/modelcodes/.
*Courtesy of National Multi Housing Council/National Apartment Association Washington Update March 24, 2000

Fair Housing
On December 15, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded $15 million to private organizations in 53 cities for fair housing education and enforcement activities under the Fair Housing Initiatives Program.
*Courtesy of National Multi Housing Council/National Apartment Association Washington Update January 7, 2000

Back to Recent Rulings and Findings.