HUD Settles Two Fair Housing Cases
This month HUD has settled two Fair Housing cases. In the first case, it was alleged that the owners and operators of certain rental units discriminated against families with children “by refusing to rent to them and by imposing different occupancy terms and conditions to families with children.” Read the Conciliation Agreement that imposed a $10,000 fine.
According to HUD’s Press Release, this was a case involving local testing agency. The tests allegedly showed the property owners and managers “refused to rent to families with children and/or offered them different lease terms and conditions. The owners and managers also allegedly implemented an unreasonably restrictive two-person-per-bedroom occupancy policy at two rental properties.”
“Families looking for safe, decent housing shouldn’t be penalized because they have children,” said Anna María Farías, HUD Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. “Today’s agreement reaffirms HUD’s commitment to ensuring that housing providers meet their obligation to treat all applicants the same.”
The second case involved a landlord refusing to allow a disabled tenant to have a designated parking space. Read the Conciliation Agreement, which resulted in the landlord paying the resident $12,500.
This case arose when a woman with physical disabilities filed a complaint alleging the management company “refused to accommodate her by granting a request for a designated parking space. As a result, the woman alleged she was forced to navigate a steep incline each time she exited her building’s parking garage after parking in one of the regular spaces.”
These cases stress the need for community owners and operators to be ever vigilant of the Fair Housing Act and the need for proper policies and staff training.
