September 2002 Newsletter
The NDFHC has assisted a number of North
Dakotans in filing fair housing complaints this year with the North Dakota
Department of Labor’s Human Rights Division.
A description of the most recently filed complaints follows:
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The NDFHC assisted a Bismarck couple in filing a fair housing complaint alleging discrimination due to disability in the denial of reasonable accommodations and modifications.
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The NDFHC assisted a Minot resident in filing a complaint alleging discrimination due to receipt of public assistance. The complaint alleged that repairs were not made to meet inspection requirements thereby depriving Section 8 recipients from continuing to live at and renting the property.
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The NDFHC filed a complaint against a Jamestown housing provider alleging discrimination due to age and familial status in the advertising and steering of potential tenants to a “retired” people building. An investigation conducted by the NDFHC supported the allegation.
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The NDFHC filed a complaint against a Bismarck/Mandan housing provider alleging discrimination due to familial status and receipt of public assistance. The complaint alleged that an occupancy standard of 2 people per 2 bedroom unit was in place and that potential tenants were told that Section 8 voucher holders were not accepted for tenancy. An investigation conducted by the NDFHC supported the allegation.
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The NDFHC assisted a Mandan resident in filing a complaint alleging discrimination due to receipt of public assistance. The complaint alleged that repairs were not made to meet inspection requirements thereby depriving Section 8 recipients from continuing to live at and renting the property.
The NDFHC continues to receive a number of questions in regard to
disability rights under fair housing laws & Section 504.
What follows is from www.hud.gov and should answer some of these
questions.
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of
1973 states: "No
otherwise qualified individual with a disability in the United States. .
.shall, solely by reason of her or his disability, be excluded from
participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to
discrimination under any program, service or activity receiving federal
financial assistance or under any program or activity conducted by any
Executive agency or by the United States Postal Service." (29 U.S.C.
§794). This means that Section 504 prohibits discrimination on the
basis of disability in any program or activity that receives financial
assistance from any federal agency, including the U.S. Department of
Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as well as in programs conducted by
federal agencies including HUD.
What is a reasonable accommodation under
Section 504? Answer: “Reasonable
Accommodation" is a change, adaptation or modification to a policy,
program, service, or workplace which will allow a qualified person with a
disability to participate fully in a program, take advantage of a service,
or perform a job. Reasonable
accommodations may include, for example, those which are necessary in
order for the person with a disability to use and enjoy a dwelling,
including public and common use spaces.
Since persons with disabilities may have special needs due to their
disabilities, in some cases, simply treating them exactly the same as
others may not ensure that they have an equal opportunity to use and enjoy
a dwelling.
In order to show that a requested
accommodation may be necessary, there must be an identifiable
relationship, or nexus, between the requested accommodation and the
individual's disability. As
discussed in the next question and answer, what is reasonable must be
determined on a case-by-case basis. However,
experience has shown that the following examples are often reasonable
accommodations.
A federally assisted housing provider has
a policy of not providing assigned parking spaces.
A tenant with a mobility impairment, who has difficulty walking, is
provided a reasonable accommodation by being given an assigned accessible
parking space in front of the entrance to his unit.
A federally assisted housing provider has
a policy of requiring tenants to come to the rental office to pay their
rent. A tenant with a mental
disability, who is afraid to leave her unit, is provided a reasonable
accommodation by being allowed to mail her rent payment.
An older tenant has a stroke and begins
to use a wheelchair. Her
apartment has steps at the entrance and she needs a ramp to enter the
unit. Her federally assisted
housing provider pays for the construction of a ramp as a reasonable
accommodation to the tenant's disability.
How do you determine whether a request
for a certain accommodation is reasonable?
Answer: Whether a particular accommodation is
"reasonable" depends on a variety of factors and must be decided
on a case-by-case basis. The determination of whether a requested accommodation is
reasonable depends on the answers to two questions. First, does the request impose an undue financial and
administrative burden on the housing provider?
Second, would making the accommodation require a fundamental
alteration in the nature of the provider's operations?
If the answer to either question is yes, the requested
accommodation is not reasonable. However,
even where a housing provider is not obligated to provide a particular
accommodation because the particular accommodation is not reasonable, the
provider is still obligated to provide other requested accommodations that
do qualify as reasonable. For
example: As a result of a disability, a tenant is unable to open the
dumpster provided by his housing provider for his trash.
The tenant requests that the housing provider send a maintenance
staff person to collect his trash from his apartment daily.
Because the housing development is a small, low-budget operation
and the maintenance staff are not on site daily, it is an undue financial
and administrative burden for the housing provider to provide daily trash
service to the tenant and the housing provider may refuse to provide the
requested accommodation. However, the housing provider is obligated to provide the
tenant with a requested alternative accommodation - providing either an
open trash can or placing a trash can which the tenant can open in an
accessible location so that the tenant can dispose of his trash.
SETTLEMENT REACHED IN PUBLIC ASSISTANCE CASE
BISMARCK, ND – The North Dakota Fair
Housing Council (NDFHC) has reached a settlement in a case alleging
discriminatory housing practices against recipients of section 8 vouchers.
In 2000, the NDFHC received a complaint of discrimination based
upon receipt of public assistance against Trygve Leseth Limited who own
the property located at 3616 Landeco Lane in Grand Forks.
The property is managed by Builders Management & Investment Co.
As a result of the complaint, the NDFHC conducted an investigation
which included testing.
The investigation by the NDFHC confirmed the basis for the
complaint. As a result, a
complaint was filed with the North Dakota Department of Labor’s Human
Rights Division (DOL) alleging discrimination due to receipt of public
assistance. The complaint alleged that Section 8 voucher holders were
denied the opportunity to view housing.
The terms of the conciliation agreement provide that the
complainants will receive $3,500 to cover their investigative and other
related costs. The
respondents admit no liability in the conciliation agreement.
North Dakota state law states it is illegal to discriminate in the rental, sale or lending of housing based upon race, color, religion, disability, national origin, gender, familial status, age (40 and over) and status with respect to marriage and public assistance. Public assistance is defined as including rental assistance.
HUMAN
RELATIONS COMMISSION ORDINANCES
The
City of Dickinson recently passed an ordinance to create a Human Relations
Commission.
A
Bismarck Coalition is also working toward the establishment of a Human
Relations Commission in that community.