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Post by tobygardner on Aug 28, 2014 10:38:43 GMT -6
Can someone give me a few examples of what to look for so I can help my clients more easily identify if they are victims of housing discrimination?
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dawn
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Post by dawn on Sept 2, 2014 14:35:25 GMT -6
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Post by tobygardner on Sept 3, 2014 12:17:54 GMT -6
Dawn- These are great resources. I am building a housing tool kit "back in the shop" that will be out on healthyhoi.com as soon as there is enough on it to be helpful. The contents currently are related to the connection between housing and health, but as I find time I will try to work on subsidized housing and branch out from there. These links will be perfect for the housing toolkit. Thank you for taking time to find them!
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dawn
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Post by dawn on Sept 4, 2014 9:08:55 GMT -6
You are welcome. Unfortunately, from a lot of stories I hear, we have a lot of "slum lords" that get away with things. I talked to a person who claims that "everyone" just tears up the houses and he keeps needing to fix them up. I let him know that maybe he should select his tenants better. With a lot of stories that I have heard, unfortunately it appears that a lot of landlords just are in it for the monthly income and aren't real interested in dropping by to see how things are going or taking care of needs. I also realize due to issues that we have in the Program, there are huge housekeeping issues and so maybe landlords should go through what they expect and help educate their tenants. Not sure of the solution and that would be why I am not a landlord.  I'm glad you could use the information. |
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Post by Admin on Sept 4, 2014 13:25:50 GMT -6
Dawn - I think that you are bring up an excellent idea. Maybe there could be a "Landlord Workshop" developed that would help landlords to learn good practice as far as monitoring their tenants, appropriate boundaries, screening for new tenants and establishing expectations, resources for getting repairs done to their properties as well as resources for their tenants when that might come up, a component where there is a renter panel that they have a meaningful discussion with as a reality check, etc.
Toby - That "Landlord Workshop" might also be done as a tool in the housing tool kit.
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Post by tobygardner on Sept 5, 2014 8:23:43 GMT -6
Thanks, Dawn and Frank. Good input. I think a landlord workshop in the housing toolkit might be very valuable. Will put it on the to-do list as I am building that kit.
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dawn
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Post by dawn on Sept 5, 2014 9:17:34 GMT -6
What a great idea! Things that have been hit on above are things our Intake/Tracking Specialist and I were talking about yesterday. Another thing we discussed was what is legal for a landlord to do. She has to have housing inspections and in her thinking, she don't feel that there should be a notice going out ahead of time about the inspections due to people knowing when the landlord is going to be there so some temporarily clean up their space. I wasn't sure about her comment at first or the legality of that yet as we discussed it further, I agreed due to the fact that our agency receives a diversity of funding and some of the funding entities do not give us notice that they are going to show nor do we know the files they will be viewing. The Employment Service Program use to give notices and I had discussed that with the State Program Manager. We both agreed that the visits, yes - they should announced due to me having to get a few things set up yet the files that would be viewed, not. For the last few years, that is how it now is. I train the ESP staff to know that we need to keep up on things to the best of our ability along with the fact that our audit will identify where we are weak and what needs to be strengthened.
Also, some of the participants have had complaints over the years that are similar and it is unfortunate that it appears that they go unheard at times.
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Post by Jennifer Manley on Sept 5, 2014 10:23:12 GMT -6
Here's a little excerpt from a PSLS article on Fair Housing:
Fair Housing: What does it mean?
“Fair Housing” is the right to live in an integrated community, free from discrimination. Congress passed the federal Fair Housing Act in 1968, one week after the death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Who Is Protected?
Under the current federal Fair Housing Act, it is illegal for a housing provider to discriminate against anyone due to their race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, and familial status (households with children or women who are pregnant).
Illinois fair housing laws provide additional protection against discrimination on the basis of ancestry, age, military or military discharge status, marital status, protective order status, and sexual orientation. Local ordinances may provide additional protections.
What Does the Law Prohibit?
Fair housing laws prohibit discrimination in rental, sales, lending, and insurance transactions. Housing providers (including insurers and lenders) cannot refuse to rent, sell, or finance because of a personal characteristic protected by law. They also cannot change the terms and conditions of a deal because of a personal characteristic. Fair housing laws ensure people with disabilities the right to make a reasonable modification or request a reasonable accommodation from a housing provider.
What is the Fair Housing Project?
The Fair Housing Project at Prairie State Legal Services investigates possible housing discrimination, assists clients to resolve fair housing disputes with housing providers and conducts community legal education on fair housing rights and responsibilities. Our Project serves people living in Winnebago, Boone, Lake, McHenry, Peoria and Tazewell Counties. There are no income limits for potential clients.
What does illegal housing discrimination look like?
The following statements or actions by a housing provider may be discriminatory:
• “I can’t rent to you because you have an O.P. and I don’t want any trouble here.”
• “No, we cannot allow you to build a ramp for your wheelchair.”
• “We don’t offer mortgage loans in that part of town.”
• “We can’t process your re-finance while you are on maternity leave.”
• “We don’t allow support animals, unless it is a certified seeing-eye dog.”
• “The apartment has already been rented,” but you still notice the advertisement is up for many weeks.
• “I can’t rent the upstairs apartment to you because your children will be too noisy for other tenants.”
• “The security deposit is actually 2 months of rent (and further investigation reveals that others are charged less).”
• “We offer those competitive interest rates only to married couples.”
• You are evicted after you complain of sexual harassment by a housing provider’s employee.
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Post by tobygardner on Sept 5, 2014 11:40:07 GMT -6
Yikes! So much to know re. housing and housing rights. I am glad I can refer back to this info because I simply cannot retain it all in my head. Great info, Jen and Dawn!
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Post by Jessica Hodierne on Sept 5, 2014 14:03:57 GMT -6
Great conversation everyone! Jen-I'm so glad you posted that because that is exactly where my mind went as well. Also, I wanted to share that there is an annual landlord training for City of Peoria landlords regarding some of these issues. Landlords are required to pay to register each of their rental properties, and if they attend this training, they receive a reduced cost per unit, so there is incentive for them to attend. The Fair Housing Attorney in our office did part of the training last year, and spoke about the proper eviction process. I attached the PowerPoint so everyone can take a look. Like I said, this is only a City of Peoria thing, but this info is important for all of the areas we are serving. |
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Post by tobygardner on Sept 5, 2014 15:58:44 GMT -6
This power point is awesome! Could you get me permission to include it in the "Landlord Workshop" I hope to build on healthyhoi.com?
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Post by Jessica Hodierne on Sept 8, 2014 9:53:14 GMT -6
I'm checking with the attorney who created it and I will let you know!
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Post by Jessica Hodierne on Sept 8, 2014 13:25:41 GMT -6
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Post by tobygardner on Sept 8, 2014 17:14:42 GMT -6
That is wonderful! Thank you so much, Jess!
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Aug 11, 2014 14:08:14 GMT -6