April 2024 - Fair Housing Wisdom
< Back to All Newsletters
Welcome Note
With May 4th right around the corner (Star Wars Day - May the fourth be with you) we thought we’d have a little fun and pass on some Fair Housing ‘wisdom’ to all of our partners and advocates out there. This month we share lessons from the road, common trends, and red flags to keep in mind!
Fair Housing Wisdom
Did You Know…
"Truly wonderful, the mind of a child is." – Attack of the Clones
Families with Children is probably the most often overlooked protected class of the Fair Housing Act. They only account for less than 5% of nationwide claims. However, when we do outreach into the community, it is a very common reason for concern. Families need to be aware that the simplest of things can be a violation of Families with Children protections. For example, an HOA enforcing a ‘no basketball hoops allowed on driveways after dark’ rule is going to impact families with children much more than other residents. And what business purpose does it serve to have hoops brought inside at night only? Just a simple example of what might qualify as a violation.
“That is why you fail.” – Empire Strikes Back
In our experience, the biggest reason why claims of fair housing violation fail is because the timeline of one’s story does not reflect proper notice or communication with the housing provider. We encourage both sides to keep very organized records of communication. If a tenant tells us that a landlord refuses to allow for reasonable accommodation, our first question is, “When did you make the request for an accommodation?” If the tenant cannot provide a time or a date or any sort of evidence that the request was made, then the landlord cannot be guilty of denying a request when one was never made. Keep track of conversations, text messages, and emails, and be sure to engage with your landlord as soon as you can regarding requests and needs.
“You must unlearn, what you have learned.” Empire Strikes Back
The Fair Housing Act is alive and is always growing. Since its passage in 1968, additional protected classes, enforcement, and interpretations of the law have occurred through all three branches of government. Not to mention, state and local fair housing laws often offer additional rights and protections as well. This is why we encourage housing providers to get rid of any ‘Blanket Policies’ and respond to applicants and tenants on a case-by-case basis. Blanket policies are a recipe for violation, as they often do not account for the actual and current needs of tenants, and fail to consider updates to the law.
“May the Force be with you.”
Let us be your force. Florida Legal Services operates a Fair Housing project that engages with communities, advocates, and housing providers. We routinely educate and train people on the rights and protections offered by the FHA. And, when violations are properly identified, we can assist and represent tenants and residents with Fair Housing complaints, and seek justice and remedy for bad actions. Remember, the dark side to injustice is when people get left out of the process. So Fair Housing complaints take time and patience while investigations allow for everyone to be heard. Contact us today with any of your own red flags or concerns you’ve heard from clients or friends.
Community Outreach
Upcoming Outreach Events
May 15 - Family Life Center - Flagler County
May 17 - Migrant Parents Meeting - Volusia County
May 18 - Children Without Borders Tabling event
May 31 - Brevard Affordable Housing Summit - Brevard County
Tuesdays afternoons in May - Fair Housing Training series (online)
What We’ve Been Up To
We had a very active and successful Fair Housing Month 2024. Thank you to all of our partners for helping us make it happen!
Orlando Pride Center’s Trans Day of Visibility
Our Outreach Coordinator, Pia Molina, got the chance to present information about the intersection between Fair Housing and LGBTQ+ rights at Orlando Pride Center’s first Trans Day of Visibility. It was a packed event with a lot of uplifting community updates on the state of trans rights in Florida.
Apartment Association of Greater Orlando Fair Housing Training
Our Fair Housing team, including Survivor Advocacy attorney, Erika Recek, got together to present a full day of Fair Housing information to housing providers part of the Apartment Association. As always, this is a great opportunity for our team to learn more about Fair Housing questions from the housing provider community.
Flagler Cares Community Resource Help Night: This was an amazing event. Our project manager Joe Cordova hosted a free consultation table and had 10 community members bring their legal questions and concerns to his table. He was busy from 3:30 to 7:15pm, still meeting with people as they put all the tables and room back in place! Thank you Flagler Cares for such a great evening!
Deland Family Fun Day: We got the chance to share fair housing information with the families and children involved with Deland’s Early Head Start program. Their Family Days are always filled with fun activities for children so it is awesome to get the chance to be there as a resource for everyone attending.
Crescent City Family Day: The team at Children’s Home Society in Putnam County is consistently planning resource sharing events for families. We appreciate any chance we get to share information with Putnam County families so it was awesome to be in Crescent City this month with our fair housing information.
City of Orlando Fair Housing Month Event
Our Fair Housing attorneys presented information on Reasonable Accommodations and LGBTQ+ protections under Fair Housing as part of the City of Orlando’s event for Fair Housing Month 2024. It was an engaging time with plenty of great questions for us to think about together. Thank you so much for having us!
Apopka Farmworkers Office Community Office Hours: The Farmworkers Association continues to be one of our strongest partners, always keeping an eye out for potential violations and issues of concern. These monthly office hours allow us to meet with community members and FWA staff to keep our finger on the pulse of this community.
Free Grocery Store and FLS Food Justice Workshop
As part of our Fair Housing Month events, Pia collaborated with Gainesville’s Free Grocery Store organization to put together information on how Fair Housing often intersects with families and residents facing food insecurity. It was a great way to support the mutual aid efforts happening every day in Gainesville while pairing it up with the work we do. A huge thank you to all the organizers who worked with us to make this event possible.
Fair Housing Bootcamp Trainings - Basics (online) - We kicked off our 6-week Fair Housing boot camp this week. We got started with Fair Housing basics and will be diving deeper into specific Protected Classes throughout the month of May. Attached is the program flier for more information.
Survivors Rock Resource Event with the University of Florida Office of Victim Services
April is also Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month and this last week of April is also National Crime Victims’ Rights Week. Our Survivor Advocacy Attorney Erika Recek was able to provide information on resources available for survivors, including the importance of Fair Housing rights that protect survivors of domestic violence and other crimes.
Flagler County Spring Outreach Resource Event
A great day, great turnout and great advocates providing everything from information to haircuts!! Located at the Cattleman’s Hall in Bunnell, FL, just another community event we’re grateful to be a part of!
Bronson Food Mobile
It is heating up here in North Florida but it was still another amazing day of mobile food distribution in Bronson, FL. We got the chance to participate in passing out food to about 200+ families in Levy county. We made sure everyone also went home with some Fair Housing information. Thank you again to Bread of the Mighty for always having us!
The Lynx Bookstore Grand Opening & Coloring Book Launch
Our last event for this month was our Coloring Book launch at The Lynx Bookstore Grand Opening in Gainesville, FL. It was an amazing turn out of community support for this new bookstore. Thank you to everyone who stopped by with enthusiasm and curiosity about our Fair Housing work. It was a great experience to be able to support by giving out our newly printed Coloring Book.
Recent Department of Justice Accomplishments
On February 13, 2024, the court entered a consent order in United States v. First National Bank of Pennsylvania, et al. (M.D.N.C.). The complaint, which was filed on February 5, 2024, by the United States and North Carolina Department of Justice, alleges that First National Bank of Pennsylvania (including as successor in interest to Yadkin Bank, which it acquired in 2017) violated the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and the Fair Housing Act by engaging in unlawful redlining in its service areas in the Charlotte and Winston-Salem, North Carolina markets. Specifically, among other things, the complaint alleges the bank located and maintained nearly all of its branches and mortgage loan officers outside of majority-Black and Hispanic neighborhoods, relied on mortgage loan officers concentrated in majority-white areas as the primary source of new loan applications, and maintained inadequate internal fair lending policies and procedures to ensure that the bank was positioned to provide equal access to majority-Black and Hispanic neighborhoods.
On January 8, 2024, the court entered consent decrees resolving the Department’s claims against each of the three defendants in United States v. Isle of Paradise "B", Inc., Isle of Paradise "C", Inc., and Isle of Paradise "E", Inc. (S.D. Fla.). The complaint in this Fair Housing Act pattern or practice lawsuit, which was filed on November 30, 2023, alleges that the defendants—nonprofit cooperative corporations that each own a residential building on an island known as Isle of Paradise in Hallandale Beach, Florida—discriminated on the basis of familial status in violation of the Fair Housing Act (FHA) by maintaining and/or enforcing a no-children-under-12 policy. The consent decrees require defendants to remove their no-children-under-12 policy (except that one defendant, Isle of Paradise “C”, Inc., can instead show that it is exempt as housing for older persons); to undergo other standard injunctive relief; and to pay a total of $52,000 in monetary relief, composed of $20,000 in damages to a mother and son who were turned away and $6,000 to their real estate agent, $13,000 in settlement funds, and $13,000 in civil penalties.
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.