The North Dakota Fair Housing Council sponsored a training seminar on Fair Housing issues for attorneys on June 9^th at the Doublewood Inn in Bismarck. Limited information provided at the training is still available by contacting the NDFHC office.

Christopher Brancart, Brancart & Brancart, presented the seminar. Mr. Brancart is a partner in Brancart & Brancart, a law firm located in Pescadero, CA which specializes in Fair Housing litigation throughout California. In 1989, he entered private practice, specializing in the litigation of Federal Fair Housing cases. Mr. Brancart has facilitated fair housing trainings nationwide for attorneys and serves on the Fair Housing-Fair Lending Editorial Advisory Board.

A total of 41 attorneys from across North Dakota attended the seminar. Attendees received CLE credits and the evaluations received stated that the seminar was extremely informative. For more information, contact the NDFHC office.

 (The following article is taken from the June 1998 issue of the Advocate, a monthly newsletter printed by the Fair Housing Council of Louisville, Kentucky.)

In March, Kay Management Company, a Washington, DC area apartment management company, agreed to set up a $250,000 fund to repay any family that may have been discriminated against by the company’s occupancy limits at seven of its apartments in the Washington area. The fund, which will also pay damages to people who tried to rent apartments or who were evicted, is part of a huge $425,000 settlement agreement reached with the Fair Housing Council of Greater Washington.

Kay Management also agreed to pay $150,000 to the Fair Housing Council. The funds will be used to support its fair housing education and enforcement efforts. $25,000 will be spent for a claims administrator who will determine who can receive settlements from the $250,000 fund.

The Fair Housing Council had charged Kay with violating federal fair housing laws. In the settlement, Kay Management denied wrongdoing.

Silver Spring attorney Jeffrey Schmieler, who represented the company in the settlement, said that the $250,000 settlement fund "sends a signal that everyone is against housing discrimination."

According to the Fair Housing Council and others in the fair housing field, the fair housing fund is the first ever created in the Washington area for the sole purpose of redressing family status discrimination. It has not been determined how many families will receive settlements from the fund.

"It should have a pretty powerful effect on property managers to let them know what the Fair Housing Act requires," attorney John Relman told the Washington Post. Relman is the fair housing project director at the Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, which represented the Fair Housing Council in its case against Kay Management. "It also sets a floor for future fair housing cases."

According to the Washington Post, Kay Management owns and operates 37 rental properties. The Fair Housing Council named seven Washington area Kay Management apartment complexes in its lawsuit: Kenilworth Towers in Bladensburg; Woodmount Park, London Park Towers and Hunting Terrace in Alexandria; Pinewood Plaza in Fairfax; and Barcroft Plaza and Barcroft View in Falls Church. All of the complexes named in the suit followed policies which had a disparate impact on families with minor children.

The Fair Housing Council had sent "testers" to the seven apartment complexes and found Kay Management had stipulated occupancy maximums that violated the federal standard of two people per bedroom. Particularly disturbing to the Council, according to a Washington Post article, was Kay Management’s policy of allowing only five people in a three-bedroom apartment and, at some of their complexes, allowing only three people in a two-bedroom apartment.

Although there is no federal occupancy law, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development has said those occupancy standards more restrictive than two persons per bedroom are too restrictive and unfairly impact families with children. Many management companies now follow national standards from industry sources like the Building Officials & Code Administrators International, Inc. (BOCA).

Applicants and tenants adversely affected by Kay Management’s occupancy rules will be entitled to receive $2,500 per application or lease or a prorated share of any money remaining in the fund. The administrator will determine eligibility by examining guest cards, applications, leases and other Kay Management records.

Amy Nelson, Executive Director of the NDFHC, was a guest speaker at the North Dakota Assisted Housing Coalition 1998 Annual Conference held in Bismarck on June 10-11. Over 75 managers and owners of all types of federally subsidized and affordable housing programs were in attendance.

Nelson’s session focused on complaints filed with the NDFHC from North Dakota residents and the differences between Section 504 and the Fair Housing Law.

Amy Nelson, Executive Director of the NDFHC, was a presenter at the Bismarck-Mandan Apartment Association Education Seminar held on April 25^th in Bismarck. In attendance were approximately 30 providers. The workshop focused on the basics of the Fair Housing Law.