The
Fair Housing Act was passed in 1968, soon after the assassination
of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The Act is enforced by the
U.S. Department
of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and by the U.S.
Department of Justice (DOJ), as well as through private
lawsuits filed by individuals. When violations of the Act
are established, available remedies can include damages to
victims of discrimination, orders compelling changes in policies
and practices and/or penalties paid to the government.
The
Fair
Housing Act prohibits discrimination by direct providers
of housing, such as landlords and real estate companies as
well as other entities, such as municipalities, banks or other
lending institutions and homeowners insurance companies whose
discriminatory practices make housing unavailable to persons
because of:
Race or Color | back to top
The Fair Housing Act was enacted primarily to combat racial
discrimination in the sales and rental of housing. More than
35 years later, however, race discrimination in housing continues
to be a problem. Housing providers often disguise their racism
by lying about whether a home is available or “steering”
home seekers to certain areas based on race. Often, people
looking for housing have no idea that they have been victims
of discrimination. The Central Alabama Fair Housing Center
(CAFHC) uses its testing program
to uncover this hidden race discrimination so that offending
housing providers can be held accountable.
Racial
discrimination by mortgage lenders is also a problem addressed
by both the Fair
Housing Act and the Equal
Credit Opportunity Act. A 2002 study showed that African-American
residents of Montgomery were almost three times more likely
to be denied a conventional mortgage than white applicants.
Upper income African Americans were denied a mortgage 5.29
times more often than upper income whites. Discriminatory
lending practices also make African-American residents more
vulnerable to abusive, predatory lending practices.
For
More Information on Race and Fair Housing, please consult:
A
National Report Card on Discrimination in America
www.urban.org/civil/report_card.html
Excluding
Blacks and Others From Housing: The Foundation of White Racism
www.huduser.org/periodicals/cityscpe/vol4num3/ch5.html
By
Words and Deeds: Racial Steering by Real Estate Agents in
the US in 2000
www.culma.wayne.edu/pubs/galster/By_Words_and_Deeds-no_geog_comp.pdf
Center
for Responsible Lending
www.predatorylending.org
Association
of Community Organizations for Reform Now
www.acorn.org
Religion
|
back to top
The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination based on religion.
This includes discrimination against members of a particular
religion (ex. “No Muslims”), or preferences for
practitioners of one religion over others (ex. “Christians
preferred”).
Sex/Gender
| back to top
The Fair Housing Act makes it illegal to discriminate in housing
on the basis of gender. This prohibition includes sexual harassment,
a growing problem particularly for poor women with limited
housing options. Often these women are forced to tolerate
the humiliation and degradation of sexual harassment or otherwise
risk being forced, along with their families, from their homes.
Sometimes victims of domestic violence are evicted or denied
rental housing because the landlord discovered that the woman
was in an abusive relationship or was the victim of sexual
assault. This may be a violation of the Fair Housing Act.
Unfortunately, sexual orientation is not yet a protected class
under the Fair Housing Act.
National
Origin | back to top
The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination based on “national
origin,” which refers to an individual’s country
of birth or ancestry. Housing providers must provide equal
opportunities to all prospective buyers or renters, whether
or not they speak English or are United States citizens. Housing
providers may lawfully require valid identification, but it
is inappropriate and illegal to ask for a Permanent Resident
Card (“Green Card”).
Familial
Status | back to top
The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing against
families with children under the age of 18. The Act also prevents
housing providers from imposing special requirements or conditions
on tenants with custody of children. Landlords may not place
all families with children in one area of an apartment complex,
or unreasonably limit access to recreational services made
available to other tenants. Additionally, landlords may not
unreasonably limit the total number of people living in a
house or apartment.
In
most cases, the Act prohibits a housing provider from refusing
to rent or sell to families with children. Facilities designated
as Housing for Older Persons (aged 55 or 62 and older) that
meet standards set out in the Housing
for Older Persons Act of 1995 are permitted to operate
as senior only housing.
Disability
| back to top
The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination on the basis
of disability in both the rental and sale of housing. Persons
with a disability are defined as individuals with physical
or mental impairments that substantially limit one or more
major life activities. Major life activities may include but
are not limited to, seeing, hearing, walking, breathing, performing
manual tasks, caring for one’s self, learning, speaking
or working. Covered mental and physical impairments may include,
but are not limited to, blindness, hearing impairment, mobility
impairment, HIV infection, asthma, mental retardation, a history
of alcoholism or drug addiction, chronic fatigue, learning
disability, head injury and mental illness. The Fair Housing
Act also protects persons who have a record of such impairment
or are regarded as having such an impairment. Current users
of controlled substances, persons convicted of the illegal
manufacture or distribution of a controlled substance, sex
offenders, and juvenile offenders are not considered disabled
under the Fair Housing Act because of that status.
- Reasonable
Accommodations
Housing providers are required by the Fair Housing Act to
make reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices
or services when they are essential to affording a person
with a disability the equal opportunity to enjoy a dwelling,
(including common and public use areas). Examples of reasonable
accommodations include: providing an exception to a “no
pets” policy to a disabled tenant with a service animal;
making an exception to a policy of not providing a reserved
parking space for a tenant with a wheelchair; providing
a first floor apartment to a tenant who cannot walk up stairs.
-
New Construction
Discrimination in housing against people with disabilities
includes the failure to design and construct most new multi-family
dwellings (apartment complexes and condominiums) so that
they are accessible to and usable by the disabled, particularly
those individuals who use wheelchairs. The Fair Housing
Act requires that all newly constructed multi-family dwellings
of four or more units built after 1991 have certain features:
accessible entrances on an accessible route, accessible
common and public use areas, doors wide enough to accommodate
wheelchairs, accessible routes into and through each dwelling,
light switches, electrical outlets and thermostats in accessible
locations, reinforcements in bathroom walls to accommodate
grab bar installations, and usable kitchens and bathrooms
configured so that a wheelchair can maneuver through the
space. Builders, developers, architects and owners can be
held liable if their buildings fail to meet these design
requirements. Fair
Housing First provides detailed technical guidance to
builders to assure compliance with the Fair Housing Act.
- Group
Homes
Some people with disabilities live together in arrangements
often referred to as “group homes.” Group homes
allow people with disabilities to live independently who
would otherwise be unable to do so. The Fair Housing Act
prohibits local governments from making zoning or land use
decisions that exclude or discriminate against people with
disabilities. Denial of a permit for a group home based
on the nature of the residents’ disabilities or a
municipality’s refusal to make reasonable accommodations
in land use and zoning policies to allow persons with disabilities
an equal opportunity to use and enjoy housing is prohibited
by the Fair Housing Act.
For
More Information on Disabilities and Fair Housing, Please
Consult:
HUD’s
Disability Rights and Resources Page
www.hud.gov/offices/fheo/disabilities/index.cfm
Joint
Statement of the Department of Housing and Urban Development
and the Department of Justice, Reasonable Accommodations Under
the Fair Housing Act
www.hud.gov/offices/fheo/library/huddojstatement.pdf
What
“Fair Housing” Means for People with Disabilities,
prepared by the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law
www.bazelon.org/issues/housing/publications/wfhm.pdf
The
Americans with Disabilities Act
www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/adahom1.htm |
