Fair Housing & Landlord/Tenant Responsibilities

1. HUMAN RELATIONS DEPARMENT Fair Housing & Landlord/Tenant Responsibilities Al Heggins, Human Relations Director

2. The following presentation and/or training contains legal information and recommendations for policies & practices; it is intended only as a reference. Persons using the information contained in this presentation who engage in real estate transactions for the purposes of selling, renting, or buying must use their best judgment in how to implement affirmative fair housing. Individual cases and circumstances vary widely, and the law is always subject to change through legislative or judicial action. The author is not an attorney and the information presented here is not a substitute for legal advice nor to establish or give the appearance of establishing any lawyer-client relationship or any type of relationship in which the author and affiliated entities take on an advocacy role on any person’s or organization’s behalf.

3. Training Objectives • Identify the laws governing housing transactions • Understand discrimination & the role of racism • Name the protected classes • Determine the elements of a housing discrimination complaint • Distinguish reasonable accommodations from reasonable modifications • Address requests for reasonable accommodations and/or modifications • Identify landlord /management responsibilities • Identify tenant responsibilities • Understand the purpose of a conciliated/mediated settlement agreement

4. What is discrimination? It is treatment or consideration based on a class or category rather than individual merit; partiality or prejudice.

5. Components of Discrimination • Formula for a racist disposition is: RACE PREJUDICE + POWER = RACISM (race, color) • This formula can be replaced with: GENDER BIAS + “” = SEXISM (sex, familial status, sexual orientation) XENOPHOBIA + “” = TERRITORIALISM (national origin, religion) SOCIAL PRACTICES + “” = MAINSTREAMISM (disability, sexual orientation)

6. Laws Governing Fair Housing • Fair Housing Act of 1968 (Title VIII) • Americans w/Disabilities Act (Titles II & III) • Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 • State Fair Housing Act (N.C.G.S. 41A) • City of High Point Fair Housing Ordinance

7. The Protected Classes • Familial Status • Religion • Sex • Handicap (disability) • Color • Race • National Origin

8. Discriminatory Actions Cause Grief Any real estate related transaction that produces a discriminatory outcome, like a… **denied housing opportunity **steering **disparate treatment/impact, etc. due to a decision premised on one of the protected classes, is AGAINST THE LAW!!

9. Elements of a Housing Discrimination Complaint • Covered property or dwelling: Any property not exempted by the Act • Covered housing transaction/practice Actions covered by the Act in Sections 804, 805, 806, 818 • Covered basis Protected classes listed in the Act (fresh corn!)

10. Reasonable Accommodations vs. Reasonable Modifications Reasonable Accommodation: a change in policy, practices, rules, or services. Reasonable Modification: a structural change.

11. Landlord/Tenant Responsibilities Laws: N.C.G.S. 42 The NC Residential Rental Agreement Act of 1977

12. N.C.G.S. 42 Covers the nuts and bolts of what the landlords and the tenants are responsible for: • Security deposits • Repairs • Evictions • Fees • Etc,…

13. The NC Residential Rental Agreement Act of 1977 The NC Residential Rental Agreement Act of 1977 defines the duties of both the landlord and the tenant with respect to the maintenance and repair of the premises. NOTE: Prior to this Act, many of the listed legal duties never existed for the landlord.

14. Conciliated/Mediated Agreements The purpose of a conciliated/mediated settlement agreement: to arrive at a solution that serves the best interests of the complainant, the respondent, and the public.

15. QUESTIONS????? THANK YOU!!!