Town of New Milford, CT Housing, Fair

[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.

Discrimination or discriminatory housing practice

means those actions prohibited by the federal and state fair housing laws.

Dwelling

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.

Family

includes a single individual.

Mobile home park

means a plot of ground upon which two or more mobile homes occupied for residential purposes are located.

Person

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.

Place of public accommodation, resort or amusement

means any establishment which caters or offers its services or facilities or goods to the general public, including but not limited to:

(a)

Public housing projects and all other forms of publicly assisted housing.

(b)

Any housing accommodation, commercial property or building lot on which it is intended that a housing accommodation or commercial building will be constructed or offered for sale or rent.

(c)

Mobile home parks.

Selling or renting dwellings

a person shall be deemed to be in the business of selling or renting dwellings if:

(a)

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;

(b)

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

(c)

He is the owner of any dwelling designed or intended for occupancy by, or occupied by, five or more families.

To rent

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

Exemption.

(1)

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)

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)

Discriminatory public accommodation practices prohibited.

(1)

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)

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.