| |
 |
| WA State FAIR HOUSING UPDATE: October 2006 |
|
Can Ann Banks advertise her rental complex like this? "Two-bedroom apartment available Nov. 1. Large complex has exercise room, pool, clubhouse, chapel." Advertisements should not contain an explicit preference, limitation or discrimination on account of religion (for example, "no Jews" or "Christian home"). Advertisements that use the legal name of an entity which contains a religious reference (for example, Roselawn Catholic Home), or those which contain a religious symbol (such as a cross), standing alone, may indicate religious preference. However, if such an advertisement includes a disclaimer, it will not violate the Act. (For example: "This home does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, handicap or familial status.") Advertisements containing descriptions of properties (rental complex with chapel), or services (kosher meals available) do not on their face state a preference for applicants, and are not violations of fair housing laws. Mr. Alexander, who has difficulty walking, uses a motorized scooter for mobility. His complex has a policy prohibiting the use of motorized vehicles anywhere on the premises. Is it reasonable to permit Mr. Alexander to use his scooter? It would be a reasonable accommodation for the complex management to make an exception to its policy to permit Mr. Alexander to use his motorized scooter on the premises for mobility purposes. Management may not condition his use of the scooter on payment of a fee or deposit or on a requirement that he obtain liability insurance relating to the use of the scooter. Of course, Mr. Alexander must operate his scooter in a responsible manner that does not pose a safety risk for other people and does not cause property damage. If his scooter causes damage to his unit or to the common areas, management may charge him for the cost of repairing the damage or can deduct it from his security deposit. Resident Bobbie Lane recently told management that he intends to "transition" from male to female. Now he's shaving his legs, wearing dresses and makeup, and talking in a high voice. When a few other residents expressed concern about Lane, what actions should management take? This resident is a transsexual, who is protected against discrimination. State and local fair housing laws cover sexual orientation, defined as including heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality, and gender identity. "Gender identity" means having or being perceived as having a gender identity different from that traditionally associated with the sex assigned to that person at birth. Protection associated with gender identity includes self-image, appearance, behavior, or expression. Management would not take action towards Lane merely because of membership in a protected class. Other residents will likely become accustomed to Lane's appearance after a while. Unless Lane violates a tenancy rule, the apartment management should take no action. When African American applicant James Johnson saw a promising rental, he left several phone messages, but never got a call back. When James asked his white friend Joseph to call, the manager immediately called Joseph back and invited him to view the available unit. Was this discriminatory? James suspected that he was the victim of discrimination because his voice "sounded black" and he was never called back, while his friend Joseph, who sounded white, got a return call. This may be a situation in which the housing provider made a rental decision based on the perceived race of the applicants' voices. "Linguistic profiling" is the term for using speech characteristics or dialect to identify a speaker's race or religion or social class. An African American linguistics professor at Stanford named John Baugh experienced this. When he called using his "educated professional" voice, he was told that the rental was available, but landlords who met him in person said the unit was already rented. Baugh's research has shown that people can usually determine race just by hearing a caller's voice. Under fair housing laws, it is illegal to take an applicant's race into account when making rental decisions. In a situation like Mr. Johnson's, a fair housing agency might conduct a phone "test" in which black- and white-sounding testers would call the housing provider to see if they were treated the same way as James and Joseph. If so, this would be strong evidence of discrimination. Remember, fair housing laws prohibit housing providers from representing that any dwelling is not available for viewing, sale or rental when it is in fact available. KCOCR Fair Housing Home Page Your comments about this Web site Updated: Oct. 16, 2006 King County | DES | OCR | News | Services | Comments | Search Links to external sites do not constitute
endorsements by King County. |