Fair Housing Update: January 2005

WA State FAIR HOUSING UPDATE: January 2005

Seattle Amends Law to Strengthen
Fair Housing Protection
By the Seattle Office for Civil Rights

The City of Seattle recently amended the Unfair Housing Practices section of the Seattle Municipal Code. The amendments are designed to:

Bring Seattle's law in line with HUD's "substantial equivalency" requirement.
Streamline the City's anti-discrimination laws and to make them easier to understand and enforce. As part of the change, anti-discrimination laws in public accommodations were separated out from the housing ordinance and placed in their own chapter.
Strengthen civil rights protections in several respects:
- Charging parties now have two years (changed from one year) to file a civil action to enforce fair housing laws;
- The Seattle Office for Civil Rights can try to intervene when there is reasonable cause to believe an unfair practice is about to occur;
- Penalties for fair housing violations have been increased;
- Discrimination in access to multiple listing services is prohibited.

In addition, the amended law requires real estate and mortgage lending offices to post fair housing posters on their premises to educate their customers about fair housing. The Seattle Office for Civil Rights (SOCR) provides posters to property owners free of charge. The posters also are available on SOCR's web site at www.cityofseattle.net/civilrights/documents/1408Eng.pdf .

The intent of SOCR's proposed rule is to promote fair housing, not to seek out and punish anyone. Under the rule, companies who did not display a fair housing poster would have three days to comply. Failure to comply after three days could result in a penalty of $500 imposed for each day of violation.

The public has until February 15 to comment on this proposed rule. Please address your comments in writing to:

Germaine W. Covington, Director
Seattle Office for Civil Rights
700 Third Ave. Suite 250
Seattle, WA 98104-1849

Have a question about fair housing in Seattle? Call the Seattle Office for Civil Rights at 206-684-4500 (TTY 206-684-4503), or find SOCR on the Web at www.seattle.gov/civilrights.

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Updated: Feb. 7, 2005

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