January 22, 2018
The Department of Housing and Urban Development has announced a settlement in a California Fair Housing case. According to a press release on the HUD official site, the agency “has reached a conciliation agreement with the Richmond Housing Authority (RHA) in Richmond, California, settling allegations that it discriminated against a resident with disabilities.”
Federal Fair Housing Act regulations prohibit the discrimination in the process of selling or renting a place to live because of the applicant’s disability. Fair Housing laws also forbid refusal to make reasonable accommodations for those disabilities.
The settlement is the result of a resident’s complaint, “alleging that the Richmond Housing Authority failed to renew his Housing Choice Voucher before it expired” according to the press release.
The complaint states that the resident submitted a request to “have their voucher renewed before it expired, but the housing authority thought that he did not want the voucher renewed.”
Multiple attempts to contact the housing authority were made asking for a reinstatement the voucher as a reasonable accommodation, suggesting that the resident’s disability played a role in any misdirected communication, but the housing authority refused.
As a result, the press release says, the resident was forced to place his belongings in storage and live in homeless shelters.
“Reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities can mean the difference between having a place to call home and being homeless,” said Anna María Farías, HUD’s Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, who was quoted in the press release.
She adds, “HUD will continue working to ensure that no person loses his or her home because of their disability, and that housing providers understand and meet their responsibility to comply with the nation’s fair housing laws.”
Fair Housing complaints often result in financial settlements of some kind; in this case the housing authority agreed to reimburse storage expenses. The settlement also includes mandatory Fair Housing Act training for employees of the Richmond Housing Authority.
In many of these cases, the only way Fair Housing Act violations can be stopped is by reporting them. The victims of the discrimination have the power to end further violations filing a complaint with the HUD Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity at (800) 669-9777 (voice) or (800) 927-9275 (TTY).
HUD will review the facts in the case and determine the best course of action on a case-by-case basis.
Joe Wallace has been specializing in military and personal finance topics since 1995. His work has appeared on Air Force Television News, The Pentagon Channel, ABC and a variety of print and online publications. He is a 13-year Air Force veteran and a member of the Air Force Public Affairs Alumni Association. He was Managing editor for www.valoans.com for (8) years and is currently the Associate Editor for FHANewsblog.com.
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