STATE LAW REFERENCES
Power to provide for fair housing, General Statutes Section
7-148(c)(9)
Discriminatory practices, General Statutes Section 46a-58 et
seq.
[Ord. of 3-23-1987, § 1]
It is hereby declared to be the policy of the Town of New Milford
to provide, consistent with federal and state laws, for fair housing
throughout the town.
[Ord. of 3-23-1987, § 2]
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
means a person who cannot readily understand spoken language
through hearing alone and who may also have a speech defect which
renders his speech unintelligible to most people with normal hearing.
means those actions prohibited by the federal and state fair
housing laws.
means any building, structure or portion thereof which is
occupied as or designed or intended for occupancy as a residence by
one or more families and any vacant land which is offered for sale
or lease for the construction or location thereon of any such building,
structure or portion thereof.
includes a single individual.
means a plot of ground upon which two or more mobile homes
occupied for residential purposes are located.
includes one or more individuals, corporations, partnerships,
associations, labor organizations, legal representatives, mutual companies,
joint-stock companies, trusts, unincorporated organizations, trustees,
trustees in bankruptcy, receivers and fiduciaries.
means any establishment which caters or offers its services
or facilities or goods to the general public, including but not limited
to:
a person shall be deemed to be in the business of selling
or renting dwellings if:
He has, within the preceding 12 months, participated as principal
in three or more transactions involving the sale or rental of any
dwelling or any interest therein;
He has, within the preceding 12 months, participated as agent,
other than in the sale of his own personal residence in providing
sales or rental facilities or sales or rental services in two or more
transactions involving the sale or rental of any dwelling or any interest
therein; or
He is the owner of any dwelling designed or intended for occupancy
by, or occupied by, five or more families.
includes to lease, to sublease, to let and otherwise to grant
for a consideration the right to occupy premises not owned by the
occupant.
[Ord. of 3-23-1987, § 3]
(a)Â
Discrimination in sale or rental of housing. In
compliance with Section 804 of Title VIII, Civil Rights Act of 1968,
42 U.S.C. § 3604, it shall be unlawful in the Town of New
Milford to:
(1)Â
Refuse to sell or rent after the making of a bona fide offer, or
to refuse to negotiate for the sale or rental of, or otherwise make
unavailable or deny a dwelling to any person because of race, color,
religion, sex or national origin.
(2)Â
Discriminate against any person in the terms, conditions or privileges
of sale or rental of a dwelling, or in the provision of services or
facilities in connection therewith, because of race, color, religion,
sex or national origin.
(3)Â
Make, print or publish or cause to be made, printed or published
any notice, statement or advertisement with respect to the sale or
rental of a dwelling that indicates any preference, limitation or
discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin,
or an intention to make any such preference, limitation or discrimination.
(4)Â
Represent to any person because of race, color, religion, sex or
national origin that any dwelling is not available for inspection,
sale or rental when such dwelling is in fact so available.
(5)Â
For profit, induce or attempt to induce any person to sell or rent
any dwelling by representations regarding the entry or prospective
entry into the neighborhood of a person or persons of a particular
race, color, religion, sex or national origin.
(b)Â
Discrimination in financing of housing. In compliance
with Section 805 of Title VIII, Civil Rights Act of 1968, 42 U.S.C.
§ 3605, it shall be unlawful in the Town of New Milford
for any bank, building and loan association, insurance company or
other corporation, association, firm or enterprise, whose business
consists in whole or in part in the making of commercial real estate
loans, to deny a loan or other financial assistance to a person applying
therefor for the purpose of purchasing, constructing, improving, repairing
or maintaining a dwelling or to discriminate against him in the fixing
of the amount, interest rate, duration or other terms or conditions
of such loan or other financial assistance, because of the race, color,
religion, sex or national origin of such person or of any person associated
with him in connection with such loan or other financial assistance
or the purposes of such loan or other financial assistance, or of
the present or prospective owners, lessees, tenants or occupants of
the dwelling or dwellings in relation to which such loan or other
financial assistance is to be made or given.
(c)Â
Discrimination in the provision of brokerage services. In compliance with Section 806 of Title VIII, Civil Rights Act of
1968, 42 U.S.C. § 3606, it shall be unlawful in the Town
of New Milford to deny any person access to or membership or participation
in any multiple-listing service, real estate brokers' organization
or other service, organization or facility relating to the business
of selling or renting dwellings, or to discriminate against him in
the terms or conditions of such access, membership or participation,
on account of race, color, religion, sex or national origin.
(d)Â
Exemption.
(1)Â
In compliance
with Section 807 of Title VIII, Civil Rights Act of 1968, 42 U.S.C.
§ 3607, nothing in Subsections (a) through (c) of this section
shall prohibit a religious organization, association or society or
any nonprofit institution or organization operated, supervised or
controlled by or in conjunction with a religious organization, association
or society, from limiting the sale, rental or occupancy of dwellings
which it owns or operates for other than a commercial purpose to persons
of the same religion, or from giving preference to such persons, unless
membership in such religion is restricted on account of race, color
or national origin. Nor shall anything in this section prohibit a
private club not in fact opened to the public, which, as an incident
to its primary purpose or purposes, provides lodgings which it owns
or operates for other than a commercial purpose, from limiting the
rental or occupancy of such lodgings to its members or from giving
preference to its members.
(2)Â
In compliance with Section 803 of Title VIII, Civil Rights Act of
1968, 42 U.S.C. § 3603(b), nothing in Subsection (a)(1),
(2), (4) and (5) of this section shall apply to any single-family
house sold or rented by an owner, provided that such private individual
owner does not own more than three such single-family houses at any
one time, provided further that, in the case of the sale of any such
single-family house by a private individual owner not residing in
such house at the time of such sale or who was not the most recent
resident of such house prior to such sale, the exemption granted by
this subsection shall apply only with respect to one such sale within
any twenty-four-month period, provided further that such bona fide
private individual owner does not own any interest in, nor is there
owned or reserved on his behalf, under any express or voluntary agreement,
title to or any right to all or a portion of the proceeds from the
sale or rental of, more than three such single-family houses at any
one time, provided further that the sale or rental of any such single-family
house shall be excepted from the application of this subsection only
if such house is sold or rented without the use in any manner of the
sales or rental facilities or the sale or rental services of any real
estate broker, agent or salesman, or of such facilities or services
of any person in the business of selling or renting dwellings, or
of any employee or agent of any such broker, agent, salesman or person
and without the publication, posting or mailing, after notice of any
advertisement or written notice in violation of Subsection (a)(3)
of this section, but nothing in this provision shall prohibit the
use of attorneys, escrow agents, abstractors, title companies and
other such professional assistance as necessary to perfect or transfer
the title, or rooms or units in dwellings containing living quarters
occupied or intended to be occupied by no more than four families
living independently of each other, if the owner actually maintains
and occupies one of such living quarters as his residence.
(e)Â
Discriminatory public accommodation practices prohibited.
(1)Â
In compliance with Connecticut General Statutes Section 46a-64, it
shall be unlawful in the Town of New Milford to deny any person full
and equal accommodations in any place of public accommodation, resort
or amusement because of race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry,
sex, marital status, age, mental retardation or physical disability,
including but not limited to blindness or deafness of the applicant,
subject only to the conditions and limitations established by law
and applicable alike to all persons; to discriminate, segregate or
separate on account of race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry,
sex, marital status, age, mental retardation or physical disability,
including but not limited to blindness or deafness; for a place of
public accommodation, resort or amusement to fail or refuse to post
a notice, in a conspicuous place, that any blind, deaf or mobility-impaired
person, accompanied by his guide dog wearing a harness, may enter
such premises or facilities; or to deny any blind, deaf or mobility-impaired
person, accompanied by his guide dog, full and equal access to any
place of public accommodation, resort or amusement. Any blind, deaf
or mobility-impaired person may keep his guide dog with him at all
times in such place of public accommodation, resort or amusement at
no extra charge, provided that the dog wears a harness and is in the
direct custody of the blind, deaf or mobility-impaired person. The
blind, deaf or mobility-impaired person shall be liable for any damage
done to the premises or facilities by his dog.
(2)Â
In compliance with Connecticut General Statutes Section 46a-64(b),
nothing in this Subsection (e) shall apply to the rental of a housing
accommodation in a building which contains housing accommodations
for not more than two families living independently of each other,
if the owner or members of his family reside in one of such housing
accommodations, or to the rental of a room or rooms in a housing accommodation,
if such rental is by the occupant of the housing accommodation, or
by the owner of the housing accommodation and he or members of his
family reside in such housing accommodation. The provisions of this
section with respect to the prohibition of sex discrimination shall
not apply to the rental of sleeping accommodations provided by associations
and organizations which rent all such sleeping accommodations on a
temporary or permanent basis for the exclusive use of persons of the
same sex. The provisions of this section with respect to the prohibition
of discrimination on the basis of marital status shall not be construed
to prohibit the denial of housing accommodations to a man and a woman
who are both unrelated by blood and not married to each other. The
provisions of this section with respect to the prohibition of discrimination
on the basis of age shall not apply to minors, to federal or state-aided
or municipal housing for elderly persons, to special discount or other
public or private programs to assist persons 60 years of age and older
or to privately owned housing, including mobile manufactured home
parks, developed and maintained exclusively for persons within specified
age groups. The provisions of this section, with respect to the prohibition
of discrimination on the basis of physical disability, shall not require
any person to modify his property in any way to provide a higher degree
of care for a physically disabled person, including but not limited
to blind or deaf persons, than for a person not physically disabled.
[Ord. of 3-23-1987, § 4]
(a)Â
Any person aggrieved by an unlawful practice prohibited by this chapter
may file a complaint with the First Selectman or, subsequent to November
1, 1987, the Mayor within 30 days after the aggrieved person becomes
aware of the alleged unlawful practice, and in no event more than
60 days after the alleged unlawful practice occurred.
(b)Â
The First Selectman/Mayor or his duly authorized representative
shall investigate each complaint and attempt to resolve each complaint.
Failure to achieve a resolution acceptable to both parties and compliance
with this chapter shall cause the First Selectman/Mayor to forward
the complaint and his findings to the appropriate state and federal
officials.
