Fair Housing Update: March 2007

Washington State
FAIR HOUSING UPDATE

Northwest Fair Housing Alliance News

Northwest Fair Housing Alliance's (NWFHA) mission is to eliminate housing discrimination in Washington through education, counseling, and advocacy.

The following are some cases that NWFHA recently helped settle (actual names of complainants have been changed to protect their privacy).

Ms. Cooger applied for a 2 bedroom apartment in Spokane Valley at Southeast University Apartments. She was told that her service animal had to be certified and trained to be approved for their apartments. Ms. Cooger subsequently had a friend call and ask the manager questions and was told the same thing. Ms. Cooger contacted Northwest Fair Housing Alliance for assistance. Northwest Fair Housing Alliance sent testers to the apartment complex and the tests results confirmed the discriminatory treatment the complainant alleged. The apartment manager said that the service animals had to be certified and also needed a training certificate. A complaint was filed with HUD and investigated by the Washington State Human Rights Commission. In settlement of the complaint, the Southeast University Apartment paid the complainant $2000.00 and agreed to take fair housing classes through the Washington State Human Rights Commission.
Ms. Blake lives in Yakima. She is developmentally disabled and receives supportive services from the Living Community Center in Yakima, WA. When Ms. Blake was ready to move into her first rental apartment without roommates, staff at the Living Community Center helped her search for apartments. Seville Apartments, an apartment complex next to one of the facilities owned by the Living Community Center, would have been ideal for Ms. Blake. It would have given her daily access to meeting her friends and staff at the Living Community Center. However, when the caregivers took Ms. Blake to see Seville Apartments they were turned away. The apartment staff told the caregivers that "disabled people don't really work with the interior hallways" and referred Ms. Blake to another apartment complex. Ms. Blake and the Living Community Center called NWFHA and with NWFHA's assistance filed an administrative complaint with HUD. The case was conciliated by the Washington State Human Rights Commission. The resulting agreement gives Ms. Blake $1500.00 and respondents are required to attend fair housing training.

Return to Fair Housing Update | Upcoming Events | New Resources | Back Issues
OCR Fair Housing Home Page | Your comments about this Web page

Updated: Mar. 16. 2007

Links to external sites do not constitute endorsements by King County.
By visiting this and other King County web pages,
you expressly agree to be bound by terms and conditions of the site.
The details.