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- Latest news item posted on 05/08/2008 at 03:57 PM
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Abuse victims face bias, study says
(WASHINGTON, May 08, 2008)
-- A new study has found that victims of domestic abuse are likely to face discrimination when seeking rental housing in the District, despite a law prohibiting such bias.
The investigation was initiated by the Equal Rights Center, a Washington fair-housing advocacy group that has conducted civil-rights testing for 25 years. The study, done in January and February, covered 93 rental properties. It found that in 65 percent of the cases of domestic-abuse victims seeking housing, they were denied it outright or offered disadvantageous conditions to get an apartment.
The study was intended to calculate the extent of the problem one year after a law took effect in the District to protect victims of domestic violence from being denied rental housing, said Rabbi Bruce E. Kahn, the center's executive director. The legislation was designed, in part, to stem homelessness among women and children, who make up about half the city's homeless population. The leading cause of homelessness among women is domestic violence, advocates say.
FULL STORY in The Washington Post
Student apartment complex sued for alleged discrimination
(BOISE, Idaho, May 08, 2008)
-- A Twin Falls apartment complex that caters to students at the College of Southern Idaho is being sued by the Intermountain Fair Housing Council in federal court.
The nonprofit housing council contends that the 12-unit Caliber Courts apartments and its owner Debbie Broadie committed gender discrimination by prohibiting tenants from having overnight guests of the opposite gender.
FULL STORY at montanasnewsstation.com
Justice Department files fair housing lawsuit against city of Satsuma, Alabama
(WASHINGTON, May 08, 2008)
-- The Justice Department today sued the City of Satsuma, Ala., for violating the Fair Housing Act
when the city refused to allow three women with disabilities to live together in a group home. The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for
the Southern District of Alabama, charges that Satsuma refused to make reasonable accommodations in its rules, policies, practices or services, which were necessary to afford the residents an opportunity to use and enjoy their home.
The three adult residents lived in a single-family home with supportive services provided by professional care-givers. The City's zoning ordinance permits five unrelated persons to reside together in single-family homes in
residential zones of the City.
"The Fair Housing Act ensures that persons with disabilities have the right to live in communities of their choice. We will continue to enforce the Act vigorously," said Grace Chung Becker, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division.
PRESS RELEASE by the Department of Justice
Landlords question discrimination complaints
(CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa, May 03, 2008)
-- Landlords and property managers are questioning the validity of 30 complaints alleging race-based discrimination that have been filed against 29 property management companies in Cedar Rapids.
The Cedar Rapids Civil Rights Commission filed the complaints after conducting a housing audit from December to April 2 that found black testers faced some degree of discrimination at three out of every four companies visited.
Cedar Rapids landlords and property managers said they were shocked by the audit results, given their efforts to observe fair housing laws.
In addition, some are suggesting that variables could have created the appearance of differential treatment. And some wondered how many times each property was tested. Most cite the need for more education about fair housing laws.
FULL STORY in The Cedar Rapids Gazette
Cities consider how to deal with group homes with new laws
(BOISE, Idaho, May 02, 2008)
-- City officials in southwest Idaho are trying to determine if using new state laws to restrict group homes for drug felons and sex offenders in residential neighborhoods would violate the federal Fair Housing Act.
"A misconception with the public is, 'We've got this legislation, and it'll do away with transition homes,'" Jerry Todd, spokesman for Boise planning and development services, told the Idaho Statesman. "That is not the case. This legislation is really just a starting point."
Boise has about 50 transition homes, Todd said, and that number includes housing for registered sex offenders, parolees, and people who might need special services but haven't been in trouble with the law.
Some neighbors of group homes have complained that homes housing as many as 12 parolees or probationers were inappropriate for residential neighborhoods.
Earlier this year, the Legislature passed and Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter signed a bill allowing cities and counties to more closely regulate group homes for people on felony probation or parole. Another new law limits to two the number of registered sex offenders who can live in the same single-family dwelling.
FULL STORY in The Idaho Statesman
Attorney challenges Bruning on bias fights
(OMAHA, Neb., May 02, 2008)
-- If Jon Bruning is certain he's on the right side of the law in his refusal to prosecute housing discrimination cases, he should be willing to argue his case in court.
That's according to Lincoln attorney Kathleen Neary.
She's among attorneys offering the Nebraska Equal Opportunity Commission free legal counsel if the agency wants to sue the Nebraska attorney general.
FULL STORY by NTV
Groups sue developer over accessibility
(WASHINGTON, April 30, 2008)
-- The Miami Valley Fair Housing Center, Metropolitan Milwaukee Fair Housing Council and National Fair Housing Alliance today filed a housing discrimination lawsuit against Steiner + Associates, a national developer of town centers that contain retail, residential and office spaces. The lawsuit alleges that Steiner, et al., failed to comply with federal accessibility standards in the design and construction of their properties.
The organizations investigated apartment units at Gilbert Court at the Greene in Beavercreek, Ohio, Lofts at Zona Rosa in Kansas City, Missouri, and Bayshore in Glendale, Wisconsin. All of the properties, including 272 individual apartments, were developed by Steiner + Associates and failed to meet the accessibility requirements of fair housing and disability laws. Steiner is developing additional properties in Virginia, Texas and Pennsylvania.
The lawsuit also names Mecham & Apel, Architects, Inc., Development Design Group, Inc., Torti Gallas and Partners, Inc., Messer Construction Co., Corna/Kokosing Construction Co., and others. The Fair Housing Act makes it illegal to discriminate based on disability, race, color, national origin, religion, sex or familial status.
PRESS RELEASE by the National Fair Housing Alliance (PDF)
Napa renter with big family wins eviction case
(NAPA, Calif., April 30, 2008)
-- Two Napa landlords accused of evicting a woman because they felt she had too many children have agreed to pay her $18,000 to settle her housing-discrimination complaint, officials said today.
Arlene Dennett and Dottie Rentschler did not admit to any wrongdoing as part of their settlement with Sonia Navarrete, according to the state Department of Fair Employment and Housing. They must undergo fair-housing training and implement nondiscrimination policies for all their rental properties in the state.
Navarrete, who lives in a four-bedroom house on Sequoia Street in Napa, was served with an eviction notice after she gave birth to a third child and became pregnant with a fourth, the department said when it filed a complaint on her behalf with the state Fair Employment and Housing Commission in November.
The landlords said the size of Navarrete's family violated a Napa Housing Authority contract that limited the number of occupants in the house. But state officials said they found no evidence to support that assertion. The Housing Authority was involved because Navarrete received Section 8 federal rent subsidies for the house, where she has lived for more than two years, officials said.
FULL STORY in The San Francisco Chronicle
Fight for fair housing: One man's story
(HAPPY VALLEY, Ore., April 30, 2008)
-- Brian McComiskey had been telling his apartment managers for months; put down something solid, even something cheap like a highway snow fence, from the sidewalk to his patio door. Otherwise he was going to get stuck once the rain started.
McComiskey, 71, uses a motorized scooter. There were steps leading to his front door, so he used the patio to get out. He’d moved to the Sunnyside Place Apartments in Happy Valley last spring and knew that by fall he’d need another solution.
But, he said, the managers ignored the request.
“I told them we had to get this done and they said, ‘it’s a low priority,’” he said. “I said it’s a low priority for you, I have to do all my shopping and everything,” and if there’s no solid path, “I’d get snowed in for the winter.”
FULL STORY in The Clackamas Review
Company apologizes for agent's 2006 blockbusting letter
(MERRILLVILLE, In., April 30, 2008)
-- It's been more than a year since an alleged scare tactic letter was sent to residents by a McColly real estate agent.
But Monday, McColly Real Estate in Schererville ran an ad in the Post-Tribune and apologized for the action.
The incident involved a former McColly real estate agent, Mary Ann Winslow, who in October 2006 sent letters to residents on Merrill-ville's north side, claiming a bill would allow Gary to annex their area.
The letter stated: "If the (bill) ... goes through, it will greatly decrease property values. You will no longer have a Merrillville address. ... So if you have been thinking about selling your home, now will be the time to do so."
The letters, which appeared on Winslow's McColly letterhead, caused an uproar and McColly promptly fired her.
FULL STORY in The Post-Tribune
Lawsuit filed against city, utilities board over stormwater fee
(EL PASO, Texas, April 30, 2008)
-- People living in apartments pay nearly four times more in stormwater fees than those living in homes, a lawsuit against the city and the Public Service Board filed in federal court on Monday states.
The El Paso Apartment Association and nearly 50 other individual apartment complexes in the county claim the stormwater fee that began to be imposed on water users last month breaks several state and federal laws, and could even be considered racist under the Fair Housing Act of 1968.
"This fee has a racially unfair aspect to it, because it's minorities that live in apartments and therefore it's minorities that have to pay the higher stormwater fee," said James Martinez, the lawyer representing the apartment association.
The lawsuit was filed against the city and Ed Archuleta, the president of the Public Service Board.
FULL STORY in The El Paso Times
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