Except as otherwise provided in this chapter:
A.
No person shall discriminate in leasing, selling or otherwise making
available any housing facilities.
B.
No person shall discriminate in the terms, conditions, maintenance
or repair in providing any housing facility.
C.
No person shall refuse to lend money for the purchase or repair of
any real property or insure any real property solely because of the
location in the City of such real property.
D.
No person shall promote real estate transactions by representing
that changes are occurring or will occur in an area with respect to
any protected classification.
E.
No person shall place a sign or other display on any real property
which indicates that the property is for sale or has been sold when
it is not for sale or has not recently been sold.
F.
Landlords must carefully consider the reason for and length of time
since an actual eviction of, or eviction filing against, a rental
applicant. No landlord shall have or enforce a blanket policy that
prohibits renting to a person based on eviction filings or actual
evictions, or outright bans prospective tenants with prior actual
evictions or eviction filings.
G.
No person is permitted to establish a blanket policy banning any
aspect of housing because of a conviction record except when mandated
by federal or state law.
H.
A landlord may not refuse or base an adverse action, in whole or
in part, on either an applicant or tenant with the status as a victim
of domestic violence or having an early lease termination under MCLA
§ 554.601b.
I.
No person shall fail to account for any tenant or prospective tenant's
entire source of income when using a financial income standard for
entering into or renewing a tenancy or lease for a housing facility.
J.
A landlord may not require an individual who receives housing assistance
of dedicated rent via voucher or any other housing subsidies to earn
any more than what is needed to pay for utilities as a requirement
for tenancy.
A.
No person shall use any criminal history information, other than
convictions contained in a conviction record, to deny an individual
any aspect of housing. An individual's conviction record may
only be used to deny the individual housing if the landlord considers
an applicant's conviction record taking into account such factors
as evidence of rehabilitation, the length of time since conviction,
the severity of a criminal conviction, the relevance of the conviction
to housing, and any circumstances surrounding the conviction relating
to disability or domestic violence. This provision shall not bar a
landlord from considering criminal conduct occurring on the premises
of the landlord's property, regardless of whether that conduct
resulted in conviction.
B.
It is the responsibility of a landlord to ensure that its employees
and agents comply with this section.
C.
Regarding applicants and their household members, a landlord may
base an adverse action in whole or in part on directly related convictions
that have a direct and specific negative bearing on the safety of
persons or real property, given the nature of the housing, and includes
one or more of the following:
D.
The landlord shall promptly notify the applicant of any final adverse
action based upon their conviction history or contents of the criminal
background check.
E.
It shall be unlawful for any landlord to engage in a communication,
including the production or dissemination of advertisements, related
to housing that expresses, directly or indirectly, that any person
with an arrest record or conviction record will not be considered
for the rental or lease of real property or may not apply for the
rental or lease of real property, except as permitted by local, state
or federal law. For purposes of this subsection, "engage in a communication"
includes, but is not limited to, making a verbal statement or producing
or disseminating any solicitation, advertisement or signage.
F.
A landlord shall state in all solicitations or advertisements for
the rental or lease of eligible housing, or made on their behalf,
that a landlord will consider qualified applicants consistent with
this chapter. This language shall include, at a minimum, the following
statement:
"The rental or lease of this property must comply with the City
of Kalamazoo ordinance regulating the use of criminal background checks
as part of the tenant screening process to provide individuals with
criminal backgrounds a fair opportunity. For additional information
please contact the City of Kalamazoo Civil Rights Board."
A.
A rental application fee may not exceed the actual cost of the background
check process, which may include national, state and local criminal
histories, credit reports, rental history records, reference checks,
eviction records and employment verification obtained by a landlord
to screen an applicant. An application fee shall not include administrative
fees, except for actual reasonable costs necessarily incurred to check
the rental history and employment verification of an applicant. Landlords
must provide applicants an itemized explanation of an application
fee. A landlord must provide an applicant with any reports or correspondence
generated as a result of the screening process to the extent permitted
or required by state and federal law.
B.
Before receiving a rental application fee, a landlord must provide
a written notice to the applicant setting forth the criteria on which
the application will be judged and the amount of the application fee
that will be charged. The amount received shall not exceed the amount
disclosed.
C.
Landlords shall only advertise housing facilities, receive applications,
screen applicants and accept rental application fees for properties
that are readily available for rent and occupancy unless an applicant
consents in writing to being added to a waiting list. A housing facility
is no longer considered readily available if a different applicant
has been offered the housing facility and accepted and has placed
a deposit on the housing facility. For purposes of this section, a
housing facility will be considered readily available if a tenant
of the unit has declared they will not be renewing the lease. Landlords
shall document the date and time that deposits are placed on housing
facilities.
D.
A landlord may collect and hold an application fee for an available
housing facility for up to 30 calendar days so long as the landlord
provides a written receipt to the applicant. If a housing facility
becomes no longer available after applications and application fees
are received but before some applications have undergone screening
process, all application fees associated with unscreened applications
must be returned to the respective applicants within 14 calendar days
from the date the housing facility is no longer available for rent.
E.
In all cases where an applicant is not offered the housing facility
applied for, the landlord shall provide the applicant with a written
statement explaining the reason or reasons that the housing facility
was not offered to the applicant. The explanation must provide the
applicant with a clear statement of the reason or reasons that the
housing facility was not offered along with any documentation substantiating
the reason or reasons.
F.
If an applicant believes the application fee exceeds the actual cost
of the screening process or believes that the reasons for denial deviate
from the disclosed criteria for evaluating the application, or believes
that the landlord has violated any other requirement of this section,
the applicant or their representative may, within 30 days of receipt
of the denial, file a written complaint with the City Manager or the
City Manager's designee. For purposes of this section, a denial
means any circumstances which the applicant is not offered the housing
facility.
G.
If it is determined that a landlord has violated this section, in
addition to any fines imposed as a result of a municipal civil infraction,
the rental property owner must refund the entire application fee to
the applicant, including, but not limited to, situations in which
the screening process has not occurred or has not been documented
sufficiently prior to denial.
A.
It shall be unlawful for a landlord or any other person to interfere
with, restrain, or deny the exercise of, or the attempt to exercise,
any right provided under this chapter.
B.
It shall be unlawful for a landlord to interrupt, terminate, or fail
to refuse to initiate or conduct a transaction involving the rental
or lease of eligible housing, including falsely representing that
such property is not available for rental or lease, or otherwise take
adverse action against a person in retaliation for exercising rights
protected under this chapter. Such rights include but are not limited
to:
(1)
The right to file a complaint or inform any person about a landlord's
alleged violation of this chapter;
(2)
The right to inform the administering agency about a landlord's
alleged violation of this chapter;
(3)
The right to cooperate with the administering or enforcing agencies
or other persons in the investigation or prosecution of any alleged
violation of this chapter; or
(4)
The right to inform any person of their rights under this chapter.
C.
Protections of this section shall apply to persons who mistakenly
but in good faith allege violations of this chapter.
D.
Taking adverse action against a person within 90 days of the exercise
of one or more rights described in this section shall create a rebuttable
presumption in the administrating agency's investigation of such
adverse action that such adverse action was taken in retaliation for
the exercise of those rights.
The following practices are not violations of this chapter:
A.
For a religious organization to restrict the occupancy of any of
its housing facilities or accommodations which are operated as a direct
part of its religious activities to persons who are members of the
denomination involved or who agree to conform to the moral tenets
of that religious organization. This exception does not include housing
facilities or homeless shelters that are generally made available
to the public at large as part of the religious organization's
mission, proselytizing, or religious activities.
B.
For the owner of an owner-occupied, one-family or two-family dwelling,
or a housing facility or public accommodation facility, respectively,
devoted entirely to the housing and accommodation of individuals of
one sex, to restrict occupancy and use based on sex.
C.
To limit occupancy in a housing project or to provide public accommodations
or employment privileges or assistance to persons of low income, persons
over 50 years of age or disabled persons.
D.
To discriminate in any arrangement for the shared ownership, lease
or residency of a housing facility.
E.
In the rental of housing facilities in a building which contains
dwelling units for not more than two families living independently
of each other if the owner of the building or a member of the owner's
family resides in one of the dwelling units, or to the rental of a
room or rooms in a single-family dwelling by an individual if the
lessor or a member of the lessor's family resides in the dwelling.
A.
Unless prohibited by federal or state law, a landlord shall maintain
and retain records of tenant application forms, and other pertinent
data and records required in this chapter, for a minimum of one year
from the date of application, and shall allow the administering or
enforcing agencies to access such records, with appropriate notice
and at a mutually agreeable time, to monitor or verify compliance
with the requirements of this Chapter.
B.
At no time shall the administering or enforcing agencies require
a landlord to provide any information or documents the disclosure
of which would violate local, state or federal law.
C.
Anytime a landlord does not maintain or provide adequate records
documenting compliance with this chapter or does not allow reasonable
access to such records, the Office of the Chief Financial Officer
or other City department or agency shall have the authority to provide
all nonfinancial information necessary to fulfill the administering
or enforcing agencies' responsibilities under this chapter, subject
to applicable federal and state confidentiality laws.
