Fair Housing Laws

Title VIII

1. Refusing to sell or rent after receiving a bona fide offer 2. Changing the terms, conditions or privileges of sale or rental 3. Advertising or making statements that state a preference or limitation 4. Representing to any person that a dwelling is not for sale based on race etc. 5. Securing a profit by inducing owners to or not to sell or rent to particular race etc. 6. Denying a loan, determining the loan amt, int. rate, duration or other terms base on race etc. 7. Denying membership or participation in any MLS, RE Broker's org, or other service relating to selling or renting base on race etc.

Fair housing amendments of 1988`

1. a Broker is in violation of the law when their employees discriminate 2. discrimination against handicap or family status

Considering the income the lender may not

1. refuse public assistance 2. discount income because of Sex or Marital status 3. assume that a woman of child-bearing age will stop work 4. discount or refuse to consider income from p/t, work, pension, annuity, or retirement 5. refuse to consider consistently- received alimony, child support or sep maintenance pymts

Fair Housing act makes it illegal

1. refuse to sell or rent to handicap 2. discriminate in the sale of property 3. refuse to permit reasonable modification 4. refuse to make reasonable provisions require that all housing now be open to families with children. exemption to this law pertains to housing for the elderly

Rights of the borrower

1. to have credit in the borrowers birth name 2. to have a co-signer 3. to keep own accounts after name change, marital status or reaching a certain age or retirement 4. to know if the loan was accepted or denied within 30 days 5. to know why the app was rejected 6. if terms are not accepted - knowledge of less favorable terms

Jones Vs. Meyer

1968 Supreme court decision - Jones (blk man) alleged that developer Meyer refused to sell a home to Jones cuz he was blk. Jones Atty based his case on the Civil rights act of 1866, while the Federal fair housing act of 1968 provided for the exemptions, the 1866 law prohibits all racial discrimination w/o execption - thereby making exemptions allowed in the 1968 act ineffective.

Community Housing and Resources Board

A third party monitoring and advisory body

The Unruh Civil Rights Act pg 21,22

All person within the jurisdiction of the State are free and equal and no matter what their sex, race, color, religion, ancestry or national origin are entitled to the full and equal accommodations, advantages, facilities privileges or services in a business. liable for damages $250.00 a principle under the ac is liable for the wrongful acts committed by his agents. also to apply to age discrimination

Discrimination against blind persons

Civil code Section 54.1 requires that individuals with disabilities shall be entitled to full and equal access, as other member of the public. Such a requirement does not mean that real property owner are under obligation to modify the property to specially accommodate such blind individuals. Blind persons with guide dogs: owners can refuse individuals who use such dogs only if in general also non-handicapped individuals may not have pets

Federal fair housing act (1968)

Contained Title VIII of the Civil Right Act of 1968, prohibits discrimination not only on the basis of race and color, but also on the basis of religion, sex or national origin - 1968 Jones v. Meyer

AIDS Discrimination

Courts (Reed Vs. King) have placed a clear obligation upon sellers of real estate to disclose material facts affecting the desirability and the value of a property. "Occupant of property afflicted with or who died from AIDS; failure to disclose to transferee; no cause of action. No cause of action against an owner or agent or any agent of transferee to disclose death or manner of death more than 3 yr prior to the date of the sale... purchase, lease or rent. However if the agt or owner is directly asked the agt or owner is required to give info

Voluntary Affirmative Marketing Agreement (VAMA)

Enforcement of the fair housing laws of Title VIII through VAMA. Voluntary plans and agreements to promote HUD's equal Opportunity Goals. 1. Expanding housing options for Minorities and Women by working for a condition in which individuals of similar income levels in the same housing market have same housing choices available to them. 2. Providing equal treatment in the delivery of HUD Program Benefits 3. Expanding jobs, training and business opportunities for minorities and women. PROGRAM POLICY: 2 fold policy Cooperation and assistance in aiding persons etc to comply with the provisions of the Federal Fair Housing Law and HUD equal opportunity requirements Quasi-contractual instruments negotiated between HUD Headquarters and any National association

Title 1 ADA act

Establishes equal opportunity for qualified individuals w/disabilities in the job market "an Individual who is qualified for employment opportunity cannot be denied that opportunity because of the fact that individual is disabled. The purpose of Title 1 is to ensure that qualified individual with disabilities are protected from discrimination on the basis of disability."

FEHO NAHB NAREB NARELLO SOREA

Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity National Association of Builders National Association of Real Estate Brokers National Association of Real Estate Law Officials Society of Real Estate Appraisers

Housing and Home Finance groups that support voluntary compliance

Home Builders NAHB (National Assoc of Home Builders) Area Office FHEO division directors should establish effective liaison with these exe officers in order to implement HUD's VAMA with the NAHB adopted 10/22/1976 National Assoc of Realtors (NAR) also has an affirmative marketing agreement with HUD. NAR has revised it's code of ethics, incorporating more extensive equal housing opportunity provisions.

Checker

Person who gathers evidence of a violation - recognized as necessary

BlockBusting

Practice of inducing or attempting to induce a person to sell or rent to a particular race etc. must be profit motivated. Using phrases such as "changing neighborhood" "falling Prop values" "bad schools" or "undesirable elements"

Executive Order 11063

Prohibits discrimination of all housing sold thru Federally insured loans FHA & VA

Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA)

Reg B of the ECOA provides that lenders may not discriminate against potential borrowers by asking any of the following: 1. Sex, race, national origin, religion or discourage a borrower from applying (a lender may ask the borrower to voluntary disclose Sex etc for a RE loan - and residence or immigration status) 2. divorced or widowed 3. applying for a separate unsecured acct. not to ask for marital status 4. ask about spouse 5. plans for having children 6. if alimony, child support is being received 7. consider the sex, race etc. 8. consider if there is a telephone listing in the name of the borrower 9. consider the race of the people in the neighborhood 10. consider the age unless a. under 18 b. 62 and over and the creditor will favor c. if the age will determine credit worthiness d. scoring system which favors 62 or older

Remedies Available against discrimination

Report to HUD punitive damages up to $1000 The ace further empowers the Atty Gen to bring suits where alleged denial of rights 1. Permanent injunctions forbidding any future violation of the act 2. Damages for any victims 3. Affirmative programs

Acts that are NOT covered by the Federal Fair Housing Law

SFUnits owned by private individual owner if: 1. a broker is not used 2. discriminatory advertising is not used 3. no more that 1 house in which the owner was not the most recent resident is sold during any 2 yr period 4. rental of units or rooms in an owner-occ multi-fam structure of two to four and discriminatory advertising is not used 5. limiting the sale, rental or occ of dwelling which a religious organization owns or operates for other than commercial purposes to person of the same religion, if membership in that religion is not restricted on the basis of race etc. 6. limiting to its own members the rental or occ of lodgings that a private club owns or operates for other than commercial use

Exemptions from Title VIII

Seller or landlords of three or fewer housing units who do not use a broker or agts and don't use discriminatory advertising. Rental or rooms in 1-4 unit structures - provided that 1 unit is occ by owner.

Senior Citizen Accommodations

Senior citizens are persons 62 years or older, or one 55 years of older in a senior citizen housing development. The definition of a senior citizen housing development varies depending on its location.

Americans with Disabilities Act

Signed in to law on July 26, 1990 A federal anti-discrimination statute designed to remove barriers which prevent qualified individuals with disabilities from enjoying the same employment opportunities that are available to persons w/o disabilities.

SMSA

Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area, consisting of 150 or more units. If it's not a standard metropolitan statistical area it must consist of 35 or more units. In either case, the project must be developed for or substantially renovated for senior citizens. DOES NOT APPLY TO MOBILE HOMES

Age Discrimination - Senior Citizen Housing

The Unruh Civil Rights Act has been held to apply to age discrimination in apartment rental and condominium properties because they are considered to be businesses subject to this act. The law contains several conditions required for senior citizen housing developments. The restrictions cannot limit occupancy more strictly than to limit it to senior citizen residents and a younger spouse or cohabitant or, as an alternative to a spouse, any person who provides primary physical or financial support to the senior citizen. In either care the lower age limit is 45 years.

Housing discrimination

The law prohibits discrimination in supplying housing accommodations because of race, color, religion, sex, marital status, national origin or ancestry. Housing accommodations as used in the law means improved or unimproved real property used or intended to be used as a residence by the owner and which consists of not more than four dwelling units. Complaints directed to the Department of Fair Employment and Housing - if the accused cannot be persuaded to correct the violation, the department may file an accusation or bring an action to the Superior Court for an injunction. Punitive Damages may not exceed $1000 adjusted annually in accordance with the consumer price index and the payment of actual damages.

Title 2 ADA act

To Include nondiscrimination on the basis of disability in state and local governmental services. This Rule is further broken down into seven sub-parts. 1. General purpose of the law 2. General requirements of the law 3. Employment of public entities 4. Accessibility in existing facilities 5. requirements dealing with communication 6. Administrative procedures 7. investigating complaints and violations, and the assignment of enforcement responsibilities Title II is designed to apply to all services, programs, and activities provided at the state and local level regardless of the receipt of Federal Financial Assistance. Title II does not relate to private business entities.

Negotiating VAMA plans and agreements

VAMAs have been signed by the HUD Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FEHO) with many groups like (NAHN, (NAR), (NAREB - Brokers) and (NARELLO - Real Estate Law Officials). Each agreement is designed to carry out a broad equal opportunity program, including outreach advertising, affirmative employment, safeguards against racial steering - all designed to ensure that housing will be marked with an equal opportunity basis

VAMA Cooperation with Housing Industry groups & National business and pro organizations

Voluntary area wide affirmative marketing plans and agreements commit signatory parties to collective action National Affirmative Action programs, National assoc @ organizations are also encouraged to establish ongoing fair housing programs for their members

Redlining

While not expressly prohibited by the civil rights act of 1968 - redlining is the refusal of a financial institution to make mort loans in certain areas w/o regard to the financial qualifications of the applicant

Amendment to the Civil rights act of 1968

a 1972 Amendment to title VIII of the act of 1968 requires a poster to be displayed in the office of all persons engaging in: 1. sale or rental of dwellings or lots 2. advertising of the sale or rental of housing 3. financing of housing 4. provision of real estate brokerage services Failure to display the poster may be considered evidence of discrimination against a broker or other person. Model homes of subdivisions as well

Title 3 ADA act

addresses discrimination on the basis of disability in the private sector in businesses, providing public accommodation and commercial facilities being designed, constructed or remodeled. provides for financial rewards in the form of tax incentives for expenses incurred by those businesses that remove architectural and transportation barriers. - broken down into 6 sup-parts 1. General purpose of the law 2. General requirements of the law 3. Specific requirements of the law 4. New construction and alterations 5. enforcement of the law 6. certification of state laws or local building codes

Steering

aka Channeling, practice of directing black or white persons into neighborhoods where their race predominates. 1. discouraging blacks from buying in certain areas by using a different sales pitch 2. failing to advise blacks of listing where owner does not wish to rent or sell to blacks 3. assuming that black or white customers will want to live or should live in certain neighborhoods

HUD adopted new rules from the 1972 amendment

anyone who participates in FHA development or rehab programs will adopt and implement a marketing program designed to attract a representative cross section of the community

Handicap laws

beginning 30 months after 9/13/1988 covered multi-family dwellings. 1. public and common use portions are readily accessible by handicap persons 2. all door allow passage wide enough for wheel chairs 3. accessible route into buildings 4. light switches, grab bars etc

Civil Rights Acts of 1866

prohibited discrimination on the basis the race and held that "All citizens of the United States shall have the same rights in every state and territory as enjoyed by white citizens thereof to inherit, purchase, lease, sell, hold and convey real and personal property.

Rumford Act 1963

prohibition of discrimination in housing and making it apply to all housing accommodations. The Rumford Fair Housing Act was passed in 1963 by the California Legislature to help end racial discrimination by property owners and landlords who refused to rent or sell their property to "colored" people. It was drafted by William Byron Rumford, the first African American from Northern California to serve in the legislature. The Act provided that landlords could not deny people housing because of ethnicity, religion, sex, marital status, physical handicap, or familial status. California Proposition 14 was a 1964 ballot proposition that amended the California state constitution, nullifying the Rumford Fair Housing Act. Proposition 14 was declared unconstitutional by the California Supreme Court in 1966.

Holden act 1977

prohibits financial institutions (banks, savings and loans, mort loan brokers, mort bankers and public agencies from engaging in discriminatory loan practices. Secretary of Business, Transportation and housing regulates violators subject to fines of $1000. Financial Ins are required to notify loan applicants of existence of the act

Words for Profit

purpose of obtaining financial gain in any form

National Origin

refers to a persons ancestry and not citizenship

Home Mortgage Disclosure act of 1975

requires lenders to maintain record describing the geographic location of their mortgage lending activity - Administered and regulated by the Federal Reserve System (REGULATION C)

Consumer advisory Council

to advise and consult with it in the exercise of its functions under the consumer credit protection act - shall seek to achieve a fair representation of the interests of Creditors and consumers, not regular full time employees entitled to receive up to $100 per day for meetings