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FAIR HOUSING IN WASHINGTON STATE
Top 100 Frequently Asked Questions & Answers for Property Owners and Managers

CHAPTER ONE — FAIR HOUSING BASICS

Section A: A Brief History

The Civil Rights Act of 1866, passed by the Reconstruction Congress, guaranteed property rights to all citizens regardless of race. Unfortunately, it took another hundred years before any real change in fair housing came about with the passage of the federal Fair Housing Act (Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968). The Fair Housing Act represented the culmination of years of congressional consideration of housing discrimination legislation. Its legislative history spanned the urban riots of 1967, the release of the Report of the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders (the Kerner Commission Report, which concluded that America was moving toward two societies, separate and unequal), and the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

On September 13, 1988, President Reagan signed into law the Fair Housing Amendments Act, making major changes to Title VIII, including adding two protected classes—families with children and people with disabilities—strengthening the administrative and judicial enforcement process for U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) complaints and providing monetary penalties in cases where housing discrimination is found to have occurred.

Section B: Fair Housing Laws

Question 1. What fair housing laws apply in Washington state?

The federal Fair Housing Act and its 1988 amendments (FHA) protect people from negative housing actions that are taken because of their race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, or family status. Race, color, national origin, etc. are referred to under the law as "protected classes." The FHA also protects against the disproportionately harsh impact of an otherwise neutral policy on members of a protected class. Finally, the FHA protects people from adverse treatment or retaliation simply because they exercised their rights under the Act.

The Washington State Human Rights Commission (WSHRC) enforces the state law against discrimination, RCW 49.60, which is considered substantially equivalent to the FHA and has the additional protected class of marital status. Three local agencies enforce local fair housing laws that are also considered substantially equivalent to the FHA. These agencies, King County Office of Civil Rights, Seattle Office for Civil Rights, and the Tacoma Human Rights and Human Services Department, have ordinances that include additional protected classes.


Question 2. How do I know which laws apply to my property?

To determine which laws apply to your property, refer to the agency chart in Appendix A. The chart includes contact information, a description of each agency's geographical jurisdiction, the time period during which a fair housing complaint must be filed and the protected classes each agency covers. Please note that the City of Bellevue also requires that housing providers accept qualified tenants who are on Section 8. The agency chart has contact information for the City of Bellevue as well as two organizations in the state that advocate for fair housing and provide training, education and outreach.


Question 3. How do I know which agency has geographical jurisdiction over my property?

All properties are covered by the FHA and the state law against discrimination. You may always contact HUD or WSHRC with general questions about fair housing laws. However, if your property is located in unincorporated King County or within the city limits of Seattle or Tacoma, contact the local fair housing agency with jurisdiction in these areas. For example, if your property is located just outside the city limits of Kent in King County, it is in an unincorporated area and falls in the geographical jurisdiction of the King County Office of Civil Rights. If your property is located in Bellevue, WSHRC is your local agency unless it involves a Section 8 issue in which case you would contact the City of Bellevue directly. Using the agency chart, determine which fair housing agency is your local agency that can answer your fair housing questions.


Question 4. Some of the protected classes are confusing. What do they actually mean?

The federal, state and local fair housing laws all protect people who have been discriminated against based on their race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status or disability. The state law against discrimination has an additional protected class of marital status. The local agencies have additional protected classes including age, sexual orientation, gender identity, Section 8 and political ideology. Again, refer to the chart in Appendix A to see which protected classes are covered by your local agency.

The general definitions of the protected classes are as follows (check each agency's ordinance for specific definitions):
  • race includes all races—African-American, Asian, Caucasian, etc.
  • color refers to the color of one's skin
  • national origin means the country where one was born
  • ancestry means the country where one's parents, grandparents or forebears were born (in some jurisdictions ancestry is covered as national origin)
  • religion/creed includes one's membership (or lack thereof) in an organized religious group and one's spiritual ideas or beliefs
  • sex includes male and female
  • familial status and parental status are the same thing—the presence of one or more children under the age of 18 in the household. It includes being a parent, step-parent, adoptive parent, guardian, foster parent or custodian of a minor child, as well as any person who is pregnant or who is in the process of acquiring legal custody of a child
  • disability includes physical, mental and sensory conditions—this is discussed in more detail in Chapter Six
  • marital status includes being single, married, separated, engaged, widowed, divorced or cohabiting
  • Section 8 means the person participates in the Section 8 housing program
  • political ideology, includes any idea or belief, or coordinated body of ideas or beliefs, relating to the purpose, conduct, organization, function or basis of government and related institutions and activities, whether or not characteristic of any political party or group
  • age means individuals of any age
  • sexual orientation means actual or perceived male or female heterosexuality, bisexuality, or homosexuality, and includes a person's attitudes, preferences, beliefs and practices pertaining thereto. In some jurisdictions, sexual orientation includes gender identity
  • gender identity means a person's identity, expression, or physical characteristics, whether or not traditionally associated with one's biological sex or one's sex at birth, including transsexual, transvestite, and transgendered, and including a person's attitudes, preferences, beliefs, and practices pertaining thereto.

Question 5. The fair housing agency chart lists retaliation. What should we know about that?

Retaliation is an act of harm by the housing provider against a resident or applicant because that resident or applicant has asserted his or her fair housing rights or has been a witness in a fair housing investigation. Examples of retaliation are refusing to make repairs or not making them in a timely manner because the tenant was involved in a discrimination complaint, or evicting a tenant because he was a witness in a discrimination investigation. The way a person asserts his or her fair housing rights can be as informal as a verbal complaint to the manager or as formal as a complaint filed with a fair housing enforcement agency.

It is illegal to retaliate against someone who has raised an issue of discrimination, even if the original allegation of discrimination is not supported by sufficient evidence. Therefore, make sure the actions you take after an allegation of discrimination is raised are not a result of the allegation itself but would have happened regardless of the allegation.

On the other hand, when a tenant alleges discrimination, you are not required to stop taking appropriate actions when that tenant violates the rules. Just make sure that you are consistent in issuing rule violation notices throughout a person's tenancy, so you can support any legitimate actions you take after a tenant makes an allegation. It helps to make a timeline that includes notices issued and complaints made before and after you receive an allegation of discrimination. If you previously did not issue notices for certain violations, then don't start issuing those notices after you receive a complaint. If you have issued violation notices consistently, then you may continue to do so.

Please note that enforcement agencies routinely ask housing providers to delay evictions for 30 days to attempt mediation if an eviction is taking place right when a discrimination complaint is filed. Housing providers have been very cooperative in working with our agencies in these situations and we thank you for your ongoing assistance.


Question 6. What housing actions are covered by the fair housing laws?

Although not a complete list of all violations, the following housing actions are prohibited by the fair housing laws:
  • Refusing to rent to someone or telling someone that a unit is not available even though it is, because of his or her protected class.
  • Discriminating in the terms and conditions of a rental because of a tenant's protected class. Some examples include sending rule violation notices to an African American tenant who breaks a rule but not to a Caucasian tenant who breaks the same rule; charging additional security deposits to families with teenagers or people using wheelchairs; allowing a Russian tenant to reserve the community center in the evenings but not a Saudi tenant.
  • Making, printing or publishing a notice, statement, or advertisement that indicates any preference, limitation, or discrimination based on a protected class. This is covered in Chapter 2, Filling Your Vacancies.
  • Failing to provide reasonable accommodations to a person with a disability, refusing to allow a person with a disability to make reasonable modifications, or failing to meet access requirements. These issues are covered in Chapter 6, People with Disabilities.
  • Enforcing an apparently neutral rule that has a disproportionately adverse effect on a protected class, unless the housing provider has a valid business, health or safety reason for the rule or policy and is able to show that there is no less discriminatory means of achieving the same result. For example, an apartment may have a zero-tolerance for violence policy, which on its face sounds like a good policy to have; however, in domestic violence situations it could have an unintended, disproportionately harsher impact on women who are the victims of domestic violence in 90-95% of cases. (See Question 44) This type of case is analyzed under a "disparate impact" theory, which is also used to analyze occupancy standard cases. (See Question 59)
Although the FHA includes exceptions to the types of housing covered, in Washington State, most housing situations are covered by state and local laws: apartments leased or rented; condominiums sold, leased or rented; houses sold, leased or rented; housing construction sites; rooming houses; roommate situations (except an individual can specify what sex a roommate must be); cooperatives; temporary shelters; mobile home parks; empty lots. If you have questions about whether your property is covered by fair housing laws, call your local fair housing agency.


Question 7. How long does a tenant have to file a fair housing complaint in the various jurisdictions?

Generally, an individual must file a fair housing complaint within six months to a year of the harmful housing action, depending on the agency. HUD, WSHRC, and Tacoma Human Rights and Human Services Department require that complaints be filed within a year of the harmful action. King County and Seattle require filing within 180 days. This information is included on the agency chart for quick reference. (See Appendix A) It is a good idea to keep applications, tenant files and other housing-related records on file for a long enough period to be able to respond to housing complaints filed up to a year after an alleged discriminatory housing action takes place. Lawsuits may be filed up to three years after the action.


Question 8. Who is held responsible for violations?

Fair housing complaints usually name all parties related to the property. In the rental context, this includes property owners, property managers, management companies, housing developers and contractors, advertising media, screening companies, other tenants, even insurance companies (See Question 82).


Question 9. Who can file a fair housing complaint?

Anyone who has been harmed by a housing action may file a fair housing complaint. Fair housing laws also protect anyone who is harmed because they associated with members of a protected class. For example, if a housing provider treated a Caucasian tenant negatively because the tenant had Asian guests, both the tenant and the guests would be able to file complaints. Fair housing advocacy organizations that spend resources substantiating fair housing violations also may file a complaint. In addition, enforcement agencies have the authority to file a complaint without a complaining party where a fair housing violation merits such an action (for example, if random testing were to show a fair housing violation).


Question 10. What is the relationship between the Landlord-Tenant laws and fair housing laws?

The Residential Landlord-Tenant Act (RLTA, RCW 59.18), the Manufactured/Mobile Home Landlord-Tenant Act (MHLTA, RCW 59.20), and fair housing laws overlap frequently. Fair housing agencies don't investigate violations of the landlord-tenant laws; however, they do investigate inconsistent application of tenancy rules based on protected class. The landlord-tenant laws cover rental agreements and leases; deposits and other fees; landlord and tenant responsibilities; a landlord's access to the unit; repairs; moving out and return of deposits; evictions; and abandonment. Fair housing agencies would not investigate whether a landlord properly returned a deposit under the landlord-tenant laws, but it would investigate an allegation that a Caucasian tenant's deposit was returned despite carpet damage when a Latino family's deposit was withheld for similar damage. Also note that the landlord-tenant laws define retaliation differently than the fair housing laws. See Question 5)


Question 11. A complaint was just filed against us alleging discrimination. What happens now?

Most housing complaints in this state are filed both with HUD and with the state or local fair housing agency that has jurisdiction over the property. Although a bit confusing at first, you will be receiving paperwork from HUD and the state or local agency with jurisdiction. Because the state and local agencies have laws that are "substantially equivalent" to the FHA, HUD contracts with the state and local agencies to handle its investigations. In some circumstances where HUD doesn't have jurisdiction, a case would only be filed with the state or local agency. For example, a tenant in Seattle may file a complaint with the Seattle Office for Civil Rights based on sexual orientation, which is not covered by HUD; or a tenant in Spokane may file a complaint with WSHRC against a housing provider who is renting out a room in her home—housing that is covered by the state fair housing laws but not by the federal Fair Housing Act.

Fair housing agencies all follow a similar complaint processing procedure. You will be required to respond to the complaint within a certain number of days. Most agencies also have a formal dispute resolution process to attempt a voluntary, mutually agreed upon conciliation of the allegations before starting a formal investigation. HUD requires that each agency attempt conciliation within 30 days after a complaint has been filed and throughout the investigation if early conciliation efforts fail.

The enforcement agencies investigate complaints as neutral fact-finders, evaluating documentation, interviewing relevant witnesses, conducting site visits, and making a final determination once all the evidence has been gathered and both the tenant and housing provider have had the opportunity to respond to each side's evidence.

If an investigator is unable to find sufficient evidence to support the allegations, a case is closed with a no reasonable cause finding. The complaining party may request a reconsideration of a no cause finding and a housing provider is also given the opportunity to respond to the complaining party's request.

If an investigator finds sufficient evidence to support the allegations, and efforts at conciliation fail, a case is closed with a reasonable cause finding and referred to the agency's legal department. A case will either be taken through an administrative process or go through the court system that covers the investigating agency's jurisdiction, depending on the decision of the parties involved.


FAIR HOUSING IN WASHINGTON STATE

If you have questions about fair housing laws and enforcement, contact the King County Office of Civil Rights at 206-296-7592 or 206-296-7596 TTY.

Fair Housing | Fair Housing Services
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Updated: Dec. 28, 2004

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