Housing Discrimination
The 2019 Fair Housing Trends report published by the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) analyzes housing discrimination complaint data collected from local, private, nonprofit fair housing organizations, state and local Fair Housing Assistance Program (FHAP) agencies; the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD); and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). The published data provides a snapshot of U. S. housing discrimination complaints for the reporting year 2018. Housing discrimination complaints totaled 31,202, an increase of eight percent over the previous reporting year.
Housing discrimination prevents individuals from exercising their rights to housing of their choice. Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, the Fair Housing Act, as amended, prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of dwellings, and in other housing-related transactions, based on the protected classes of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability or familial status. It is unlawful to coerce, threaten, intimidate, or interfere with anyone for exercising or enjoying their fair housing rights or encouraging or aiding others in the exercise or enjoyment of their fair housing rights.
Housing Discrimination comes in many forms and occurs in different types of housing transactions, such as rental, real estate sales, mortgage lending, and housing-related insurance. It also includes discriminatory advertising, discrimination by homeowners or condominium associations, discriminatory zoning policies, harassment based on race, sex, religion, or national origin, and more.
Most often housing discrimination is rental housing-related discrimination. Rental housing transactions are the most common and most frequent type of housing transactions. Rental housing transactions can be less complicated than other types of housing-related transactions and discrimination can be more easily detected.
The report analysis showed 26,020 rental housing complaints, representing a little over 80 percent of all housing transaction types. The number of rental housing complaints for this reporting year showed a slight increase over the previous year rental numbers. As with previous years, the most commonly reported housing discrimination complaints were on the basis of disability, race, and familial status.
The majority of discrimination complaints filed with fair housing agencies and HUD are on the basis of disability. The report showed 17,575 complaints of disability discrimination, an increase of 1,238 complaints over the previous reporting year. The large number of disability complaints may be attributed in part to additional fair housing protections afforded persons with disabilities, such as reasonable accommodation, reasonable modification, and accessible design and construction.
There were 5,849 discrimination complaints on the basis of race; 2,721 familial status complaints; 2,351 national origin complaints; 1,956 complaints on the basis of sex; 596 complaints on color; and 407 complaints on the basis of religion.
Complaints must specify the discriminatory actions that allegedly violated fair housing laws. The most common actions cited in complaints were discriminatory terms, conditions, privileges, services, and facilities in the rental or sale of property. Failure to make reasonable accommodation, refusal to rent, coercion, intimidation, threat, or interference with exercising fair housing rights, and housing advertising that indicated discrimination, limitation, or preference, were also common actions of alleged discrimination.
HUD Administrative Complaints
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) enforces the Fair Housing Act. HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO) is responsible for receiving and investigating fair housing complaints. If a person believes he has been discriminated against in a housing related transaction, he can file a complaint with FHEO.
HUD received 1,784 discrimination complaints in their fiscal year 2018, an increase of 473 complaints over the previous year. Discrimination on the basis of disability, race, and national origin are the most commonly reported complaints to HUD.
Department of Justice
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has authority under the Fair Housing Act to prosecute cases involving a “pattern or practice” of housing discrimination, as well as cases involving acts of discrimination that raise “an issue of general public importance.” The Fair Housing Amendments Act (FHAA) increased the Department’s authority to bring cases in which a housing discrimination complaint has been investigated and charged by HUD and one of the parties has elected to go to federal court.
DOJ’s Housing and Civil Enforcement Section filed 24 cases during their fiscal 2018, which was a decrease from the number of cases filed the previous year. Of the cases filed, 15 were pattern or practice cases, and approximately half of those cases were based on disability and sexual harassment in housing.
State and Local Fair Housing Laws
Fair housing complaints can also be complaints of discrimination against groups protected by state and local fair housing laws. The following are examples of some of the additional fair housing protections under state and local fair housing laws that prohibit discrimination on the basis of:
- Source of Income
- Section 8 Rental Assistance
- Age
- Student Status
- Sexual Orientation
- Marital Status
- Gender Identity
- Gender Expression
- Criminal Background
- Domestic Violence Victims
- Military/Veteran Status
- Ancestry
- Primary Language
- Place of Residence
- Homelessness
- Immigration Status
- Primary Language
- Arbitrary reason (California rental housing only)
It has been estimated that the amount of data collected for a study such as the Fair Housing Trends Report is only a fraction of the incidences of housing discrimination that occur each year. Housing discrimination may be unreported, or undetected because it can be difficult to identify, prove, and document. Those individuals that experience housing discrimination are reluctant to report discrimination fearing retaliation by the housing provider, the provider’s employee or agent, or another tenant. Many victims of housing discrimination have the perception that nothing will be done or can be done to remedy the situation and reporting an incident will only make matters worse.
Harassment
Housing-related harassment complaints received by fair housing organizations are also collected and analyzed. Many housing-related harassment incidents go unreported due to fear of retaliation. Vulnerable populations, such as minorities, women, and protected classes for disability and familial status, are often subject to harassment and will not report incidents for fear of losing their existing housing or being harassed even more. Harassment based on protected class can occur in the form of coercion, intimidation, threats or interference, both in the provision of housing or in a housing setting.
The report showed 897 reported complaints of harassment, a significant increase in the number of harassment complaints than in each of the previous two reporting years. The majority of harassment complaints were on the basis of disability, followed by basis of harassment for race and sex.
Housing-related harassment is illegal under the Fair Housing Act. HUD has formalized standards for use in investigations, administrative adjudications, and cases brought in federal and state courts under the Fair Housing Act involving allegations of harassment on the basis of federally protected classes.
The Quid Pro Quo and Hostile Environment Harassment and Liability for Discriminatory Housing Practices under the Fair Housing Act specifies: how HUD evaluates complaints of quid pro quo (“this for that”)harassment and hostile environment harassment under the Fair Housing Act; and clarifies when housing providers and other entities or individuals covered by the Fair Housing Act may be held directly or vicariously liable under the Act for illegal harassment as well as for other discriminatory housing practices that violate the Act.
Hate-related Incidents
There has been an increase of hate-related incidents over the past two reporting years. Similar to discrimination basis, the majority of hate-related activity is on the basis of race, ethnicity, or ancestry.
Hate incidences can be abusive language, written or oral, and property damage that is motivated by bias against the victim’s actual or perceived race, ethnicity, ancestry, gender, gender expression, gender expression, religion disability, sex, or sexual orientation.
An activity that coerces, intimidates, threatens, injures, or interferes with persons attempting to exercise and enjoy their fair housing rights because of their race, color, ethnicity, religion, gender, disability, or because they have children is considered a “housing-related hate activity” and may be a violation of the Fair Housing Act. Housing-related hate activities can include hate crimes and other hate activities not deemed as a criminal offense by law enforcement.
The report noted that not only was there an increase in hate-related activities, but also a significant percentage of hate crime incidents occur at the home or residence.
While criminal laws protect persons from hate-related activities, victims of housing-related hate incidents may use the Fair Housing Act to obtain civil relief, including injunctive relief, compensation for economic loss, and monetary relief for injury.