The Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq., prohibits discrimination by direct housing providers such as landlords and real estate companies, as well as other entities such as municipalities, banks or other credit institutions, and homeowners` insurance companies whose discriminatory practices make housing inaccessible to individuals because: “They look good to me. Why do you receive disability benefits? In cases of discrimination in mortgage or home renovation loans, the Ministry may prosecute under the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. The Department deals with cases where there are indications of a pattern or practice of discrimination, or where the denial of rights to a group of people raises an issue of importance to the general public. If force or threats of violence are used to deny or impede the right to fair housing, the Ministry of Justice may initiate criminal proceedings. The Fair Housing Act also provides procedures for dealing with individual complaints of discrimination. People who believe they have been victims of an illegal housing practice can file a complaint with the Department of Housing and Urban Development [HUD] or file their own lawsuit in federal or state court. The Department of Justice prosecutes on behalf of individuals based on HUD`s recommendations. Investigations into the nature or existence of a disability are generally prohibited by the Fair Housing Act. While this comes up most often when I review requests for adequate housing of animals with emotional support under the Fair Housing Act (FTA), the question of who is “disabled” is understandable to all of us in the field of professional housing management. By law, a person is considered “disabled” if there is a physical or mental impairment that significantly restricts one or more important activities of life, if the impairment is documented, or if the person is considered to be a physical or mental impairment. An important life activity is generally considered to be taking care of oneself, handicrafts, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning and/or working. Of course, this is not an exhaustive list and management must be prepared to assess each application based on the needs of each resident who comes forward.
The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination against families with children under the age of 18 at home, with some exceptions. The law not only prohibits the outright denial of housing to families with children, but also prevents housing providers from imposing special requirements or conditions on custodial tenants. For example, landlords may not accommodate families with children in only one part of a complex, unreasonably restrict the total number of people who can live in an apartment, or restrict their access to recreational services for other tenants. In most cases, the amended Fair Housing Act prohibits a housing provider from refusing to rent or sell to families with children. However, some facilities may be designated as housing for seniors (55 years of age). These types of housing, which meet the standards of the Aged Housing Act 1995, can function as “housing for the elderly”. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has issued additional regulations and guidelines detailing these legal requirements. It is illegal to be refused housing because of a disability. One of the main purposes of the Fair Housing Act, when Congress passed it in 1968, was to prohibit racial discrimination in the sale and rental of housing.
Yet more than 30 years later, racial discrimination is still a problem. The majority of the Department of Justice`s model cases or practices involve allegations of racial discrimination. Sometimes housing providers try to cover up their discrimination by giving false information about housing availability, either by saying that nothing is available or by directing housing applicants to specific areas based on their race. People who receive such false or misleading information may not know that they have been discriminated against.