Beth Rosen-Prinz
Regional Administrator
Department of Fair Employment & Housing
April, Fair Housing month, provides an opportunity for housing providers to renew their commitment to providing equal opportunity in housing. It also is an excellent time to review and revise policies and procedures to ensure that they are fully in compliance with fair housing laws. Recent cases handled by the DFEH identify emerging issues and provide a framework for identifying problems.
A tenant with a disability was denied the opportunity to have an emotional support animal as a reasonable accommodation and was evicted from the apartment in which she had resided for over ten years. The matter was resolved prior to a final determination for nearly $15,000 in damages and an agreement to develop a reasonable accommodation policy and attend fair housing training (Los Angeles County).
Testing by a fair housing group revealed that the landlord had no reasonable accommodation policy and refused to provide a person with a disability the opportunity to have a companion animal as a reasonable accommodation. The matter was resolved prior to an administrative hearing for $2,500 and an agreement to develop a fair housing policy, post fair housing posters and notify current and future tenants and applicants of their fair housing rights (Santa Clara County).
Tenants with children were subjected to overly restrictive rules that limited pool use and prohibited children from playing in the complex. The matter was resolved prior to trial for $70,000 in damages. The landlord also agreed to rescind the discriminatory rules and replace them with new non-discriminatory rules, attend fair housing training for three years, develop a fair housing policy and advertise affirmatively (Orange County).
A resident with children in a condominium complex was subjected to overly restrictive rules that prohibited children from playing in the complex. The matter was resolved prior to trial for $115,000 in damages. The homeowners’ association also agreed to revise its discriminatory rules, post DFEH posters, and attend fair housing training for four years (Sacramento County).
A resident with a disability was denied reasonable accommodation and forced to remove a therapeutic Jacuzzi she had installed. The matter was resolved prior to trial for $40,000 in damages and transfer of a two and a half acre property to the complainant. The landlord also agreed to attend fair housing training, to develop and disseminate a non-discrimination policy and to develop procedures for requesting reasonable accommodation (Kern County).
A tenant with a disability was denied unrestricted access to the elevator in the apartment building as a reasonable accommodation for her disability. The landlord had a locked elevator policy that restricted use of the elevator by tenants on the second and third floors. After an administrative hearing before the Fair Employment & Housing Commission, the landlord was ordered to pay the complainant $4,000 in damages, develop and disseminate a disability/reasonable accommodation policy, and post notices of violation and rights and responsibilities (Sacramento County).
As part of its ongoing outreach and education activities DFEH distributed its Fair Housing 101 videos to over 1700 high schools in California. The goal is to educate high school students and their families about their fair housing rights and responsibilities.
DFEH is also working in partnership with the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development and Rio Hondo College in Whittier to educate community college students about fair housing law and enforcement options.
On April 22, 2011 the DFEH-initiated Fair Housing & Public Accommodations subsection of the Real Property Section of the California State Bar will be holding its 3rd annual symposium at Golden Gate University School of Law in San Francisco. Additional information is available at http://realpropertylaw.calbar.ca.gov/Education/FairHousingSymposium.aspx.
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