Seniors | Families with Children | Immigrants | People with Disabilities
Housing Rights for Seniors
The Basics
- It is illegal for a landlord to ask an applicant for information about mental and physical health, or to try to dissuade a prospective tenant or buyer because of age of disability.
- It is illegal for a lanflord to discriminate against a senior tenant. For instance, service animals and care providers must be allowed.
- It is illegal for advertising to discourage senior or those with disabilities from applying.
Reasonable Accommodations and Modifications
- Fair Housing laws provide certain renters with the right to reasonable accomodations and modifications. This means that senios who have a disability are entitled to reasonable changes in policies, practices or procedures and modifications to their rental until. An example of a reasonable modification is a wheel chair ramp or grab bars.
- If you feel your landlord or potential landlord is denying you reasonable accommodation or modification, contact us at 1-866-469-0133 and we can help you.
Housing Options
- While seniors have the right to access the same housing as everyone else, there are also a number of housing options designed specifically for seinors. There are housing developments that only senior may access and assisted living facilities.
- US Department of Health Eldercare Locator: www.eldercare.gov, 1866677116
- Area Agency on Aging Senior Information Line 1 800 510 2020
- Califrnia and Department of Fair Enployment and Housing 1 800 233 3212 or www.dfeh.ca.gov
- Or, call us for assistance!
Housing Rights for Families with Children
A Bit of History
- In 1968 the federal government passed a law called the Fair Housing Act. It has undergone a number of amendments sine its inception and today prohibits landlords, real estate agents, home-selers and banks from discriminating against people based on national origin, race, religion, sexual preference, family status etc. Before this law was passed, renter with children became a protected group under fair housing laws, studies had shown that 25% of all rental units excluded familties with chidlren and that 50% of all units has policies that treated families with children different from other tenants. Many tenants with children were unable to live in the housing of their choice. In 1988 both the federal government and California amended their existing fair housing laws to extend protection to residents according to their family status.
What does familial status discrimination look like?
- Refusing to rent or sell to families with children
- Giving families with children different terms or conditions than other residents.
- Charging higher security deposits or rent to families with children..
- Requiring families with children to live on certain floors in certain buildings.
- Advertising that dissuades families with children from applying.
Housing Rights for Immigrants
If you are reading this page, you probably know that immigrants often experience barriers to tenancy in rental housing. Some landlord request proof of lawful immigration status frm prospective tenants. Others require a valid social security number and ID from prospective tenants.
According to Section 1940.3 of the California Civil Code it is illegal for a landlord to inquire about the immigration citizenship status of a tenant or prospective tenant. Oftentimes a policy of exclusion based on immigration status is also a pretext for exclusion based on race, religion or national origin. This kind of discrimination is illegal.
It is legal for a landlord to request that a prospective tenant provide information necessary to determind or verify the financial qualifications or identify of a prospective tenant. But it is illegal to do so with the intent of exclusion based on immigration status, race, color, religion or national origin.
Immigrants – regardless of legal status – are entitled to pursue legal action against landlord who they feel have discriminiated against them based on immigration status, race, color, religion or national origin.
Another abuse that non-citizen immigrants may encounter from landlords is threats and coercion based on imiigration status. Landlords may threaten tenants with reportage to ICE (INS) when they have found out that tenants have complaied to a public agency, fair housing grtoup, or a landlord-tenantn cunseling group about discrimination, sub-standard conditions, or other problems. Threat of reportage to the INS is unlawful coercion or retailation of a tenant who is attempting to exercise their legitimate housing rights. Reportage of immigration status to the ICE (INS) by a landlord is not within a landlord’s rights.
Housing Rights for People with Disabilities
What Are People With Disabilities Protected From?
It is unlawful for a housing provider to refuse to rent or sell to a pseron because of a disability. A housing provier may not impose different application or qualification criteria, rental feed or sale prices, and rental or sales terms or conditions than those required of or provided to eprson who are not disabled.
What are people with disablities entitled to?
Fair housing laws require housing providers to make reasonable accomodations for persons with disabilities. A reasonable accomodation is a change in rules, policies, ractices, or services so that a person with a diability will have an equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling unit or common space.
Fair housing laws require housing providers to make reasonable accomodations for persons with disabilities. A reasonable accomodation is a change in rules, policies, ractices, or services so that a person with a diability will have an equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling unit or common space.
Fair housing laws also require housing providers to allow person with disabilities to make reasonable modifications. A reasonable modification is a structural modification that is made to allow persons with disabilities the full enjoyment of the housing and related facilities, such as installing a ramp or grab-bars. (Note: Reasonable accomodations are usually made at the resident’s expense. However, if you life in Federally asisted housing he housing provider may be required to pay for the modification.
More Information
Your local Center for Assisted Living offers a number of services to people with disabilities, including help making important modification to housing. You can get in touch with the California Foundation for Independent Living Centers at 1.916.325.1690 or at www.cfilc.org California Department of Fair Employment and Housing 1-800-233-3212