Tom Horne Arizona Attorney General Always remain alert and prepared to protect you and your family Arizona Attorney General’s Office 1275 West Washington Street Phoenix, Arizona 85007 602.542.5025 400 West Congress South Building Suite 315 Tucson, Arizona 85701 520.628.6504 Outside the Phoenix or Tucson metro area 800.352.8431 www.azag.gov HOUSING DISCRIMINATION Get The Facts Message from Attorney General Tom Horne In 1963, I marched with thousands of people on Washington, D.C. to hear Martin Luther King give his transformational “I have a dream” speech in which he said all people should be judged by the “content of their character.” I am passionate about holding to that standard, and nowhere is doing that more important than when people are looking for a place to live. Housing discrimination is particularly serious because our nation was founded on the ideals of individual freedoms, and one of the most fundamental freedoms in a democracy is the freedom to move about and live where you choose. Whether that choice involves transferring from one city 2 to another, or just moving across the street, a person’s ethnicity, family situation or disability should never be a barrier to selecting a home, apartment, or any other kind of dwelling. This guide to fair housing is designed to help you if you believe you have been subjected to unfair housing practices. If you need more information, please contact the Attorney General’s Community Services Program at 602-542-2123 or the Civil Rights Division at 602-542-5263. Thank you, Tom Horne Arizona Attorney General 3 Fair Housing Act In Arizona, everyone has a right to fair housing Arizona law protects your right to have a place to live and makes it unlawful for any person to discriminate in connection with housing because of an individual’s race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status or physical or mental disability. 4 Discrimination can be obvious and easily recognized, but many times it is subtle or apologetic. When people discriminate against a person, they sometimes: Housing providers and professionals include: • Home Builders • Apartment Owners and Management Companies • Only show you apartments or homes in certain neighborhoods. • Set terms, conditions or privileges for sale or rental of a dwelling that are different from other customers’. • Mobile Home Park Owners and Operators • Provide housing services or facilities that are different from other customers’. • Real Estate Firms • Advertise housing to preferred groups of people only. • Leasing Agents • Refuse to provide you with information regarding mortgage loans, deny you a mortgage loan for which you qualify, or impose different terms and conditions on a mortgage loan. • Lenders and Bankers • Mortgage Brokers • Imply that they cannot help you. • Title Companies • R  efuse to give you services that they appear to give others. • Appraisers The Equal Housing Opportunity logo is displayed by Housing Professionals who have committed to equal treatment of everyone. Look for realtors or properties that display this logo: • Tell you housing is unavailable when it actually is available. • Mobile Home Dealers • Ask questions that belittle you. • S  uggest that you work with someone else or seek housing elsewhere. Under the Fair Housing Act it is against the law to engage in the following activities if done on the basis of a person’s race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status or physical or mental disability: • Title and Home Insurance Providers • Home Owners’ Associations • Deny you property insurance. • Conduct property appraisals in a discriminatory manner. • Refuse to make reasonable accommodations or modifications for a person with a disability if the accommodation or modification is necessary to afford such person an equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling. Examples include accommodations for assistive aides or animals, accessible parking and minor physical modifications to existing properties. • Fail to design and construct multi-family housing in an accessible manner (applies to housing constructed after 1991). • Harass, coerce, intimidate or interfere with anyone exercising or assisting someone else with exercising their fair housing rights. • Refuse to rent to you or to sell you housing if a realtor is involved in the transaction. 5 Fair Housing Act Disability – Additional Protections 6 People with physical, mental or developmental disabilities, as well as people who have HIV/ AIDS-related illnesses or who are recovering from alcohol or substance abuse, receive additional protections under the Fair Housing Act. Housing providers and professionals should communicate with disabled persons to determine the most appropriate and reasonable accommodation for them. Persons with disabilities also have the right to make improvements to rented homes at their own expense if the work is necessary for them to live there, as long as they return the property to its original condition when it is vacated. Familial Status The law also protects families with children under 18. This category includes pregnant women, people arranging for an adoption and any person who has permanent or occasional custody of children under 18, such as foster parents or grandparents. Housing facilities or communities specifically designated for persons over age 55 and seniors 62 years of age and over are exempt from this requirement. The owners or management of a housing community or facility designated for use by seniors may legally exclude families with children. Transactions not covered under the Fair Housing Act: • S  ale or rental of single family houses that are not sold or rented through a real estate broker or through discriminatory advertising. An owner has the right to sell or rent directly to whomever he or she wants, as long as the owner does not run an ad or make other discriminatory statements that violate the Fair Housing Act (such as stating that the neighborhood has a certain racial makeup) and does not own more than three single family homes. • R  ental of apartments or rooms in a building containing no more than four units, if one unit is inhabited by the building’s owner. • H  ousing transactions by nonprofit religious organizations (that give preference to persons of the same religion) or private clubs. 7 If you believe you are a victim of housing discrimination, you can file a complaint at: Arizona Attorney General’s Office Other Resources for Fair Housing Education and Training Civil Rights Division Arizona Department of Housing www.azag.gov 1110 W. Washington, Suite 310 Phoenix Tucson Phoenix, AZ 85007 1275 W. Washington Street 400 W. Congress, Suite S-215 www.housingaz.com Phoenix, Arizona 85007 Tucson, Arizona 85701 602-771-1000 602-542-5263 520-628-6500 Arizona Center for Disability Law 877-491-5742 (toll free) 877-491-5740 (toll free) 5025 E. Washington Street, Suite 202 02-542-5002 (TDD) 520-628-6872 (TDD) Phoenix, AZ 85034 877-624-8090 (toll free TDD) 877-881-7552 (toll free TDD) 602-274-6287 www.acdl.com 8 The Civil Rights Division investigates and resolves housing discrimin- Arizona Fair Housing Center ation complaints. It also mediates and conciliates complaints and 615 N. 5th Ave. can bring legal action on an individual’s behalf if no solution can be Phoenix, AZ 85003 found prior to litigation being initiated. Most housing discrimination 602-548-1599 charges filed with the Attorney General’s Office are considered to be www.azfairhousing.net dual-filed with the United States Department of Housing and Urban Arizona Multihousing Development (HUD). There is no cost to file a housing discrimination Association complaint with the Civil Rights Division or HUD. Fair housing 5110 N. 44th St., Suite L160 complaints must be filed within one year after the discriminatory act(s). Phoenix, AZ 85018 The Attorney General’s Office works in collaboration with other agencies and organizations to educate and train real estate professionals, housing providers and consumers. 1-800-326-6403 602-296-6200 www.azama.org Southwest Fair Housing Council 2030 E. Broadway, Suite 101 Tucson, AZ 85719 520-798-1568 1-888-624-4611 9 Arizona Department of Real Estate 2910 N. 44th Street Phoenix, AZ 85018 602-771-7799 www.azre.gov City of Phoenix Equal Opportunity Department 251 W. Washington, 7th Floor Phoenix, AZ 85003 602-262-7716, 602-534-1557 (TTY) www.phoenix.gov/eod U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 600 Harrison Street, 3rd Floor 10 San Francisco, CA 94107-1387 415-489-6524 1-800-347-3739 415-436-6564 (TTY) www.hud.gov Acknowledgements We want to acknowledge the contributions of many individuals and groups from throughout Arizona who served on the Arizona Fair Housing Initiative Steering Committee and helped make this publication possible. Funds for this publication were provided by the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The material in this brochure is not copyrighted. Organizations are encouraged to reprint this booklet or excerpts and do not need to contact the Attorney General’s Office for permission. 11 Community Services Initiatives For more information, contact: Other publications available from the Arizona Attorney General’s Office include: