A Civil Rights Act For the Ages: How the FHA
So, you’re considering property, either to purchase or rent. Until the subject of your child comes up, everything might seem to be going well. Or maybe the subject of your unmarried partner comes up and the landlord or seller discovers you two plan to move into the new property together. Ethnicity, disability or religion are factors you can easily substitute into a similar scenario. At any rate, the landlord or seller subsequently ends up denying your offers, through no fault of yours or any proof that you’re unable to afford the property in question.
The FHA, or Fair Housing Act, comes in at this point. Federal fair housing laws date back to the 1960s in the United States. As that was a time of great civil rights achievements, those surrounded the desegregation of all-white and all-black neighborhoods included, this makes sense.
The Fair Housing Act was written into law in 1968. Its main purpose was to protect those seeking to purchase or to rent a property from discrimination on a seller’s or landlord’s part. The Act’s goal was primarily to create a housing market where the only factor that could restrict a buyer or renter from obtaining the dwelling place of their choice was financial resources, as opposed to their personal background.
The Fair Housing Act prohibited housing discrimination based on race, color, religion and national origin when it was originally created. Sex also became a protected class six years later in 1974. Also added were disability and familial status, as it relates to the existence of children in a household, in 1988. The federal Fair Housing Act is identical to many states’ fair housing laws. Sexual orientation is even a protected class in states like California, which have more inclusive laws than even the federal Act.
A complaint needs to be filed with the Housing and Urban Development office (HUD), if you believe you have experienced housing discrimination. The Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO) investigates these complaints. FHEO will schedule a hearing before a HUD administrative law judge who will ultimately decide the case in question, if FHEO determines there is reasonable cause for the complaint.
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