Rights
and Responsibilities of Landlords and Residents in Preventing Housing
Discrimination Based on Race, Religion, or National Origin in the
Wake of the Events of September 11, 2001
In
response to the widespread concern of future terrorist attacks,
landlords and property managers throughout the country have been
developing new security procedures to protect their buildings and
residents. Many have educated their residents on the signs of possible
terrorist activity and how to communicate security concerns to management
or law enforcement. Landlords and property managers are working
to keep their buildings safe, but at the same time they are responsible
for making sure their efforts do not infringe on the fair housing
rights of current or potential residents. Since the attacks of September
11, 2001, persons who are, or are perceived to be, Muslim or of
Middle Eastern or South Asian descent have reported increased discrimination
and harassment, sometimes in connection with their housing. To help
address this growing concern, the following is a review of federal
fair housing laws and answers to some questions regarding housing
discrimination that have been raised since the events of September
11, 2001.
The
Fair Housing Act
The
Fair Housing Act (the Act) prohibits discrimination because
of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, and
familial status in most housing related transactions. Further, the
Act makes it unlawful to indicate any preference or limitation on
these bases when advertising the sale or rental of a dwelling. The
Act also prohibits harassment of anyone exercising a fair housing
right and retaliation against an individual because s/he has assisted,
or participated in any manner, in a fair housing investigation.
Screening
and Rental Procedures
It
is unlawful to screen housing applicants on the basis of race, color,
religion, sex, national origin, disability, or familial status.
In the wake of the attacks of September 11, 2001, landlords and
property managers have inquired about the legality of screening
housing applicants on the basis of their citizenship status. The
Act does not prohibit discrimination based solely on a person's
citizenship status. Accordingly, asking housing applicants to provide
documentation of their citizenship or immigration status during
the screening process would not violate the Fair Housing Act. In
fact, such measures have been in place for a number of years in
screening applicants for federally-assisted housing. For these properties,
HUD regulations define what kind of documents are considered acceptable
evidence of citizenship or eligible immigration status and outline
the process for collecting and verifying such documents.* These
procedures are uniformly applied to every applicant. Landlords who
are considering implementing similar measures must make sure they
are carried out in a nondiscriminatory fashion.
Example
1: A person from the Middle East who is in the United States
applies for an apartment. Because the person is from the Middle
East, the landlord requires the person to provide additional information
and forms of identification, and refuses to rent the apartment to
him. Later, a person from Europe who is in the United States applies
for an apartment at the same complex. Because the person is from
Europe, the landlord does not have him complete additional paperwork,
does not verify the information on the application, and rents the
apartment. This is disparate treatment on the basis of national
origin.
Example
2: A person who is applying for an apartment mentions in the
interview that he left his native country to come study in the United
States. The landlord, concerned that the student's visa may expire
during tenancy, asks the student for documentation to determine
how long he is legally allowed to be in the United States. If the
landlord requests this information, regardless of the applicant's
race or specific national origin, the landlord has not violated
the Fair Housing Act.
*See
HUD Regulations at 24 CFR 5.506-5.512
Rules
and Privileges of Tenancy
A
landlord must make sure s/he enforces the rules of tenancy in a
nondiscriminatory manner. A landlord's response to a violation of
the rules must not differ based on the person's race, religion,
or national origin. A landlord may not impose more severe penalties
because the person is Muslim, of Middle Eastern or South Asian descent.
While
landlords must be responsive to complaints from tenants, they should
be careful to take action against residents only on the basis of
legitimate property management concerns. Landlords should consider
whether a complaint may actually be motivated by race, religion,
or national origin.
Example:
A landlord receives a complaint from a tenant who claims a Muslim
tenant is "having a group of about five or six other Muslim
men over to his apartment every Monday night." The tenant claims
"the men appear unfriendly" and thinks they may be "up
to something." However, the tenant's visitors do not disturb
the other residents in their peaceful enjoyment of the premises.
A landlord could be accused of religious discrimination if s/he
asks the tenant to refrain from having Muslim guests when there
is no evidence of any violation of established property management
rules.
Landlords
must also give all tenants the same privileges. A landlord cannot
limit the use of building amenities such as community rooms, gyms,
etc. based on person's race, religion, or national origin.
Example:
A landlord typically allows building residents to reserve the
community room for activities such as birthday parties. When a tenant
who is Arab American asks to reserve the building's community room
for a birthday party for his son, his request is denied even though
the room was available. Later, the landlord grants the reservation
to a tenant who is white, of European descent. By failing to give
persons of different national origins the same privileges, this
landlord could be accused of national origin discrimination.
Responding
to Problem Tenants
The
Fair Housing Act does not protect tenants who are unruly or who
pose a danger to other residents. Landlords are allowed to take
action against persons whose behavior is disruptive to the neighborhood,
including evicting such persons from the property. Of course, landlords
must have the same eviction procedures for all tenants. Any disciplinary
action taken must be on the basis of a person's behavior or other
violations of property management rules, and not on race, national
origin, religion, sex, color, disability, or familial status.
Landlords
also do not have to rent to persons who do not financially qualify
for the housing and may evict tenants who are delinquent in their
payments. As long as the landlord uses the same standards to determine
if an applicant is financially suitable and takes the same action
against all persons who fall behind in payments, the landlord's
actions would not violate the Fair Housing Act.
Filing
a Complaint
If
you feel your rights have been violated, you may file a fair housing
complaint with HUD by doing any of the following:
- Completing
our online
complaint form
- Calling
our toll free number 1-800-669-9777
- Writing
a letter that includes
- Your
name and address
- The
name and address of the person your complaint is about
- The
address of the house or apartment you were trying to rent
or buy
- The
date when this incident occurred
- A
short description of what happened
Then
mail it to:
Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity
Department of Housing and Urban Development Rm. 5204
451 Seventh Street SW
Washington, DC 20410-2000
HUD
will investigate the complaint at no charge to you. You have one
year after an alleged violation to file a complaint with HUD, but
you should file as soon as possible. For more fair housing information,
visit the web site for HUD's Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity
at www.hud.gov/fairhousing.
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