February 2024 - Gender
< Back to All Newsletters
Welcome Note
In this issue, we look at the unique history of discrimination against women in housing over the last century. While gender based protections under the Fair Housing Act apply equally to all gender identities, women continue to represent the majority of housing discrimination complaints based on sex for a variety of reasons that include additional areas of protection such as VAWA and Familial Status.
Did You Know…
Throughout much of the 20th century, banks were lawfully allowed to deny a home loan to a single female borrower unless a male co-signer was added to the application. (1)
Children of divorce statistics show that it is usually the father who is absent from a child’s life, leading to the number of children living only with custodial mothers doubling in the past 50 years. (2)
Women continue to experience a wide gap in income compared to their male counterparts, earning 82 cents for every dollar a man makes. (3)
Just under 15% of women and 4% of men in the US have been injured as a result of intimate partner violence that included rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner, making women 3 times more likely to be on the receiving end of such abuse. (4)
So What Does It All Mean?
The hurdles facing women are still much higher and frequent when it comes to establishing affordable and stable housing.
Because women earn less money than men, they pay a higher percentage of their income towards housing, and are therefore more likely to be rent burdened. (5)
Because women are more likely to be single and raising children, they are also more susceptible than men to being denied housing based on Familial Status, another protected class of the Fair Housing Act.
Because women are more often on the receiving end of Domestic Violence abuse, they are also more likely to have an eviction record due to no fault of their own, which can increase the likelihood of being denied housing.
What Can We Do?
First, we need to applaud the generations of women who have endured and overcome such restrictions and limitations over the years. For example, in 1981, 74 percent of home buyers were married couples, while just 11 percent were single women and 10 percent were single men, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Fast forward to 2023: 61 percent of homebuyers are married, while 17 percent are single women and 9 percent are single men. (6) Single women now outpace single men as homeowners by nearly 2 to 1.
Second, we need to recognize how and when we may either be serving as obstacles or can remove such obstacles that continue to stand in their way. All things lead back to housing and we may be unaware of how certain decisions may impact women differently than men.
And as always, we need to advocate for women to better identify when housing discrimination is occurring so that they can better exercise their rights. For example:
Being charged a higher deposit or denied housing due to an eviction record based on domestic violence.
Making a romantic or sexual relationship a condition of housing.
Denying housing due to having children.
Increasing the minimum income threshold for housing approval.
Community Outreach
Upcoming Outreach Events
March 2 - Partnership for Strong Families’ Brunch and Learn
March 6- Flagler/ Volusia County: Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) Summit and Resource Sharing Event
March 18 - UF Healthstreet Presentation
March 30 - Orlando Pride Center’s Trans Day of Visibility
April 23- May 28 - Tuesday afternoons Fair Housing Training series (online)
What We’ve Been Up To
February 17 - Neighborhood Housing and Development Corporation’s New Home Buyers Class
We started the year off with a community fair focusing on community health and wellness. It was a great opportunity to address the overlap between our work as Fair Housing advocates and the expansive definition of community wellness.
February 24 - City of Orlando Fair Housing Fair
Our Program Director, Joseph Cordova, and Survivor Advocacy Director, Erika Recek, attended the City of Orlando’s annual Fair Housing Fair this month. It was a great turn out, and as always, a great event full of fair housing resources. Thank you so much for having us this year.
February 29 - Palatka Resource Fair
Our Outreach Coordinator, Pia Molina, got the chance to work with the Children’s Home Society (CHS) of Palatka to participate in their resource fair. The event was full of great resources and providers for the community to learn about. It was great to share the table with another one of our FLS projects, Connecting Kids to Coverage Thank you so much for having us, CHS!
State & Nationwide Legal Update
On January 11, 2024, the United States filed a complaint in United States v. Shevis D. Petties, et al. (W.D. Okla.). The complaint alleges that Shevis D. Petties discriminated on the basis of sex in violation of the Fair Housing Act by sexually harassing female tenants at residential rental properties he owned and/or operated and managed in the Western District of Oklahoma since at least 2016. The lawsuit alleges that Mr. Petties, among other things, subjected female tenants to unwelcome sexual comments and contact, physically assaulted female tenants, photographed and/or filmed female tenants in their bedrooms and bathrooms without their knowledge and permission, and demanded that female tenants engage in sexual acts with him in order not to lose housing. The lawsuit further alleges that the other defendants, the owners of these residential rental properties, are vicariously liable for the actions of their agent, Mr. Petties.
On September 6, 2023, the United States filed a complaint in United States v. Joseph Pedaline, et al. (N.D. Ohio). The complaint alleges that Joseph Pedaline discriminated on the basis of sex in violation of the Fair Housing Act by sexually harassing female tenants at residential properties that he owned or managed in Youngstown since at least 2009. The lawsuit alleges that Mr. Pedaline subjected tenants to repeated and unwelcome sexual comments; touched them without their consent; entered their homes without permission; offered to overlook late rent payments, waive rent, or perform repairs in exchange for sexual contact; and initiated evictions or threatened to evict tenants who refused his sexual advances. On February 21, 2024, the court denied defendants’ motions to dismiss.
The federal Fair Housing Act (FHA) protects you from discrimination in housing based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability, and familial status. This applies to renting, buying, mortgages, appraisals, insurance, and looking for a place to live.
IF YOU THINK YOU’VE BEEN THE VICTIM OF HOUSING DISCRIMINATION, PLEASE CONTACT US AT:
407-801- 4224
850-680-1729 (Spanish)
fairhousing@floridalegal.org
www.floridalegal.org/fairhousing
The work that provided the basis for this publication was supported by funding under a grant with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The author and publisher are solely responsible for the accuracy of the statements and interpretations contained in this publication. Such interpretations do not necessarily reflect the views of the Federal Government.