erika finkler - housing and urban development
DESCRIPTION
Housing and Urban Development presentation from One Minneapolis: A Call to Action! conference December 2, 2011 hosted by the Minneapolis Department of Civil RightsTRANSCRIPT
Erika FinklerHousing Discrimination as
a Barrier to Affordable Housing
Agenda
o Housing Discrimination under the Fair Housing Act (FHA)oWho is Covered?o Jurisdictiono Actions Prohibitedo Filing a Complaint
o Housing Discrimination as a Barrier to Affordable HousingoCases
Who is Covered?
o Protected Classes: oRace oDisability oNational OriginoColoroReligiono Families with Childreno Sex
Jurisdiction of the Act
o Law of the Land:o Applies to unsubsidized (market rate) and
subsidized properties
o Needs to be a violation of the Act o Needs to be within one year of the alleged
discriminatory acto Other local ordinances and the Minnesota
Human Rights Act
Actions Prohibited by the Act
o Failure to Rent or Sell o Differential Treatmento Discriminatory Statementso Steering o Retaliationo Not allowing a reasonable
accommodation/modification
Failure to Rent or Sell
o Landlord claims that apartment is no longer available
o Landlord won’t set up appointment to view apartment or real estate agent won’t show a property
o Landlord denies your application but not those of another protected class
Differential Treatment
o Landlord won’t repair items in your apartment but will in apartments of tenants not in same protected class
o Landlord requires an extra deposit for families with children or those with motorized scooters (disabled)
o Landlord only evicts certain classes of tenants
Discriminatory Statements
o Can be verbal, letters, emails, advertisements
o “Adults only”o “Able-bodied” or “Independent Living”o “English only”o “I don’t rent to families with small children”
Steering
o Landlord places families with children on the ground level floors of the building
o Landlord places all the African American families in the building furthest from the road
o Realtor suggests that the prospective buyer might feel more comfortable in certain neighborhoods or only shows houses to a buyer in certain neighborhoods
Retaliation
o Landlord sends a non-renewal or eviction notice after the tenant files a complaint with HUD
o Landlord begins to send unwarranted lease violation notices once the tenant stands up for his/her fair housing rights and/or those of others in the building
Reasonable Accommodations/Modificationso Reasonable Accommodations – Residents with
disabilities have the right to request a change or exception to a rule/policy/procedure that is necessary to afford a person with a disability the equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling
o Reasonable Modifications – Residents with disabilities have the right to request modifications to the physical aspects of their unit or the common areas of a building to afford such persons full enjoyment of the premises
Disability Definition
o The Act defines a person with a disability to include: o Individuals with a physical or mental impairment that
substantially limits one or more major life activities; o Individuals who are regarded as having such an
impairment; and o Individuals with a record of such an impairment
o Major life activities include: seeing, hearing, walking, breathing, performing manual tasks, speaking, learning, caring for one’s self
Reasonable Accommodations
o Don’t need to use the phrase “reasonable accommodation” or “reasonable modification”
o Requests must be related to the disability and reasonable (not a financial or administratvie burden, does not fundamentally alter operation/program)
o Examples include: o Mailing rent to office, instead of dropping it offo Companion/Service animal o Extra time to get apartment cleaned
Reasonable Modifications
o Responsibility for cost of modifications depends on whether there are federal funds involved
o The disability has to be related to the need and must be reasonable (not an administrative or financial burden, does not fundamentally alter operation/program)
o Examples include:o Installing grab bars o Installing accessible ramp to dwellingo Widening doors
Filing a Complaint
o Region V intake: call 1-800-765-9372o Washington DC intake: call 1-800-669-9777o Or file on the HUD website, www.hud.gov or at:
https://www5.hud.gov/Hud903/main/pagHUD903Form.jsp
o My contact information: 612-370-3000, ext. 2131, or [email protected]
Housing Discrimination as a Barrier to Affordable Housing
o Cases:o http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/hce/
documents/beckcomp.pdf - United States v. Pearl Beck and Gregory Beck (D. Minn) 2009
o http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/hce/documents/milwaukeecomp.php United States v. City of Milwaukee (E.D. Wis) 1997
o http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/hce/documents/milwaukeecomp.php United States v. City of New Berlin (E.D. Wis.) 2011