Know Your Top
Fair Housing Rights
Resources
HOUSING IS A HUMAN RIGHT!
Here are some additional resources that might help you, your family,
and your neighbors nd and keep housing.
California Civil Rights Department:
800-884-1684 (voice) 800-700-2320 (TTY)
California’s Relay Service at 711 www.calcivilrights.ca.gov
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD):
(800) 347-3739 www.hud.gov
State of California Department of Consumer Aairs:
(800) 952-5210 www.dca.ca.gov
CA Mobile Home Ombudsperson:
(800) 952-5275 www.hcd.ca.gov
Project Sentinel: housing.org
National Housing Justice: nhlp.org
Housing Rights Center, Los Angeles: hrc-la.org
Legal Aid Foundations, Los Angeles: lawhelpca.org
Bay Area Legal Aid: baylegal.org
Fair Housing Orange County: fairhousingoc.org
Fair Housing Council of Central California: fhc-cc.org
Eden Council for Hope and Opportunity: echofairhousing.org
Fair Housing Council of Riverside County, Inc: fairhousing.net
Fair Housing Council of San Diego: fhcsd.com
Fair Housing Napa Valley: napafairhousing.org
Fair Housing Advocates of Northern California: fairhousingnorcal.org
Inland Fair Housing and Mediation Board: ifhmb.com
You Have Rights
3
Housing discrimination is a serious and common problem. You have rights and
protections! California law protects renters and homeowners from discrimination
and harassment based upon “protected characteristics,” which may include your:
•
Age
• Race
• Color
• Ancestry, national origin
• Religion
• Disability, mental or physical
• Sex, gender
• Sexual orientation
• Gender identity, gender expression
• Genetic information (such as likelihood of a gene mutation or chronic
disorder)
•
Marital status
• Familial status (families with kids under age 18)
• Source of income
• Immigration status
• Primary language
• Citizenship
• Military/Veteran status
1. Equality
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You Have the Right to Be Treated Equally
Fair housing laws prohibit unequal treatment in rent, repairs, deposits, and
fees based upon your protected characteristics. Signs of discrimination include
housing providers that:
•
Only question or prevent access to guests of certain races or
nationalities, not others
•
Allow Christmas decorations or crucixes in common areas, but prohibit
decorations, altars, or objects common to other religions
•
Only rent to people of certain religions
• Ask you or your guests to refrain from engaging in public displays of
aection because you are LGBTQ, or are part of an interracial couple, or
for reasons related to other protected characteristics
•
Refuse to make repairs for you because they dislike your national origin,
or sexuality, or disability, or because you don’t speak the same language
Certain comments or questions can discourage you from applying or indicate
discrimination. Signs of discrimination can include:
•
Questions designed to reveal your personal characteristics, such as,
“What country are you from?” “Are you planning on having children?” or
“Do you go to church?”
•
Telling you that you won’t like a neighborhood, or that you would like a
dierent building better than the one you are applying for
•
Comments related to ethnic stereotypes, such as blaming you for pest
problems because of where your family comes from
•
A unit that was available when you called is suddenly unavailable when
you visit
•
An apartment building where people of dierent races are segregated
• Comments that suggest denial based on a protected characteristic,
such as: “A
single woman might not feel safe here,” or “This is a family
building; I’m not sure that you will t in with your lifestyle.”
2. Income
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You Have The Right To Equal Treatment Regardless Of The Source Of
Your Income
California law forbids housing providers from discriminating against you based
on your source of income. “Income” isn’t just wages. Income includes Social
Security, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), veteran’s benets, CalWorks,
General Assistance, child support, alimony, unemployment insurance, and
pension.
Housing providers can’t:
•
Demand proof of employment, multiple years of steady employment, or
rent only to those who have a job
•
Refuse to rent, or demand a higher deposit, because of non-wage
income
•
State a preference for professionals, or certain types of professionals like
tech or medical workers
If you have a Section 8 voucher, you may also have rights enforced by HUD or
other agencies.
3. Kids
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You Have The Right To Housing With Your Kids
A housing provider can’t forbid kids. (Licensed “senior housing” is the only
exception.) They can’t make overly restrictive rules or statements that
discourage families from enjoying all parts of the premises.
Examples of Illegal Rules include:
•
“Children in common areas must be supervised at all times”
• “No bikes or skateboarding in common areas”
• “Adults only in laundry room”
• “No playing in the parking lot”
Examples of Illegal
Actions include:
•
Scolding your kids for playing outside
• Issuing you warnings when your kids make noise during the day
• Conscating things like toys, bikes, skateboards, and scooters
• Statements that discourage families from moving in, like, “This building
isn’t very kid-friendly
,” or “There’s no place to play”
•
Evicting you because your baby cries at night
• Evicting or requiring you to move to a larger unit because of y
our
pregnancy or decision to adopt or secure legal custody of a kid
4. Roommates
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If You Have Room, You Have The Right To Roommates
Occupancy standards — limiting the number of people who can live together —
can be discriminatory if they are unreasonable based on the size and layout of
the apartment or prevent families from renting.
What constitutes a reasonable limitation depends on a variety of
considerations, including local building codes, square footage, sewage system
limitations, and ages of the occupants, for example.
5. Language
You Have The Right To Use Your Preferred Language
Private housing providers don’t have to provide you with a translator, but they
must speak with a translator if you provide one, and allow sta who speak your
language to converse with you in that language.
Leases that you negotiate in a language other than English must be translated
into that language.
Advertising for housing only in a language other than English indicates a
preference for certain national origins or ethnicities over others, and is not
permitted.
6. Assistance Animals
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You Have The Right To Your Assistance Animal
Housing providers must allow you to keep or acquire an assistance animal if
necessary as a reasonable accommodation for physical or mental disabilities
without charging a pet deposit or extra rent. Housing providers can’t have
assistance animal breed or size restrictions, but do not have to approve
a request if the animal poses a direct health or safety threat or will cause
substantial property damage. Remember, assistance animals are not pets.
Housing providers can request information conrming your need for an
assistance animal, but they don’t have a right to any additional information,
such as your medical diagnosis. Beware of online certicates for “emotional
support animals” — these will not be enough to show that you need an animal
to help with your disability.
7. Disability
You Have The Right To Access Housing Regardless Of Disability
You have the right to an interactive process with your housing provider to
identify reasonable accommodations that change the building policy, rule,
or practice to allow you to use and enjoy your home. Common reasonable
accommodations include:
•
Parking as close to your unit as possible
• Assistance animals
• Caregivers, including live-in caregivers
• Financial accommodations, such as co-signers or special consideration
if your disability is the sole cause of your low income or poor credit
7. Disability
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It’s illegal to refuse to allow you to modify your home, at your own expense, to
reasonably accommodate your disability. Look out for other common violations like:
•
Refusing to rent because of your disability, whether real or simply perceived,
presumed, or assumed by a housing provider
•
Discouraging you from renting or refusing to rent you an available unit
because of your mobility impairment
•
Requiring higher deposits in case your wheelchair scus the walls and oors
• Refusing to read your housing paperwork to you despite your vision
impairment
8. Immigration Status
You Have The Right To Withhold Your Immigration Status
California housing providers may not require U.S.-issued identication, such
as a driver’s license, visa, or Social Security number. (Credit and background
checks may be conducted with a name and previous address.) Prov
iders must
accept foreign-issued identication, such as Consular ID cards and passports.
They cannot ask prospective tenants whether they are in the country legally.
9. Harassment
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You Have The Right To Housing Without Harassment
Harassment singles you out or makes you feel uncomfortable because of
your protected status. Common examples include suggestive statements,
slurs, and oers for reduced rent in exchange for sexual services or dates.
Housing providers can also be responsible for the conduct of other tenants.
Recent examples of harassment include:
•
Calling you or your immigrant family “illegal”
• Calling you or your Muslim family “terrorists”
• Asking oensive questions about your sex life
• Harassing or pressuring you about your religious beliefs
• Complaining about the smell of your family’s food or the type of music
you listen to
Discrimination
California law protects renters and homebuyers from discrimination and
harassment because of race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, disability, sex,
gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, source of income,
marital status, familial status, genetic information, age, immigration status, primary
language, or citizenship. These characteristics are protected under the law from
discrimination in accessing and living in almost all types of housing.
A person or entity who controls your housing or any housing-related services can’t
discriminate against you. This includes:
•
Property owners
• Managers
• Maintenance sta
• Real estate brokers and agents
• Homeowners associations
• Mobile home parks
• Local housing authorities and governments
• Hotel, motel, and vacation rental owners and management companies
Neighbors
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The law even prohibits harassment from your neighbors based on a protected
characteristic, and may hold accountable a housing provider for your neighbors’
harassment if it fails to address this type of harassment once notied.
CRD
The mission of the Civil Rights Department is to protect the people of
California from unlawful discrimination in employment, housing and public
accommodations, and from the perpetration of acts of hate violence and human
tracking. If you believe you have experienced discrimination, call, visit, or
submit a complaint form to CRD online.
If you have a disability that prevents you from submitting a written pre-
complaint form online, by mail, or email, CRD can assist you by scribing your
pre-complaint by phone or, for individuals who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing
or have speech disabilities, through the California Relay Service (711), or call
us through your VRS at (800) 884-1684 (voice). To schedule an appointment,
contact the Communication Center at (800) 884-1684 (voice) or (800) 700-2320
(TTY) or by email at [email protected]. CRD is committed
to providing access to our materials in an alternative format as a reasonable
accommodation for people with disabilities when requested.
