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Fair Housing Month reminder of equal rights

Tue, 04/14/2009 - 11:10
Photo Courtesy iStockPhoto.

In April 1968 Congress passed the Fair Housing Act to eliminate discrimination in the rental, purchase or sale of real property. Now April is recognized every year as Fair Housing Month.

 
“It is a reminder to our society that everyone has an equal right to housing in our country regardless of race, color, religion, gender, country of origin, disability, familial status or (source of income),” Executive Director of the Utah Apartment Association Paul Smith said. “It is very important that we continue to promote awareness. Discrimination is still alive and well in our world.”
 
Last year the Utah Antidiscrimination and Labor Department, which is authorized by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development to enforce the provisions of the Fair Housing Act, reviewed 105 housing discrimination cases compared to 63 in 2007, said Heather Morrison, director of the Utah Antidiscrimination and Labor Department. She guesses the increase is related to the current state of the housing industry, suggesting that more people have been forced to rent and that has put more pressure on apartment owners and managers.
 
Whatever the cause, Morrison said the increase in case files isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
 
“It lets me know people are aware of their rights,” Morrison said.
 
Morrison said the main goal of the Antidiscrimination Department is to prevent discrimination and to eradicate it from society. To do this, the department often offers outreach programs and training courses. A free landlord/tenant fair housing training will be from 2 to 4 p.m. on Thursday, April 16, at the Utah Labor Commission office, 160 E. 300 South, Suite 300, Salt Lake City.
 
“We don’t want landlords to get in trouble because they don’t know what the law requires of them,” Morrison said.
 
Most often the filed claims deal with discrimination against national origin or disability, Morrison said. Many landlords do not understand that sometimes their reasons to refuse someone a place to live — perhaps an animal used as a companion animal for someone with disabilities — are illegal. Getting landlords to understand that what they are doing is unacceptable is a key component of preventing discrimination, Morrison said.
 
Smith would agree.
 
“We as an association are vigilant in our promotion of fair housing in order to protect everyone’s housing right and to help landlords not get in trouble,” Smith said.
 
As part of its vigilance and as part of Fair Housing Month, the Utah Apartment Association sponsors an annual Fair Housing Education Conference at the South Town Exposition Center every April. This year it will be held on Wednesday, April 15. The trade show offers various education courses on fair housing, Smith said.
 
In addition to recognition through the Fair Housing Conference, HUD requests that each state, county and city sign a proclamation declaring April “Fair Housing Month,” Smith said.
 
“Fair Housing Month is a good opportunity for everybody, not only in the real estate industry, to recognize the importance of fair housing and treating everybody equally,” Morrison said.
 
For more information on Fair Housing, visit the National Association of Realtors Web site.
 
By Kelly Lux

 

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