(a)
It
is hereby declared to be the policy of the city to bring about through
fair, orderly and lawful procedures, the opportunity of each person
to obtain housing without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national
origin, physical or mental handicap, or familial status.
(b)
It
is further declared that such policy is established upon a recognition
of the inalienable rights of each individual to obtain housing without
regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, physical or
mental handicap, or familial status and further that the denial of
such rights through considerations based on these protected classes
is detrimental to the health, safety and welfare of the inhabitants
of the city and constitutes an unjust denial or deprivation of such
inalienable rights which is within the power and the proper responsibility
of government to prevent.
(Ordinance O-15-12 adopted 12/18/12)
As used in this article the following words and phrases shall
have the meanings respectively ascribed to them in this section unless
the context requires otherwise.
An act which is unlawful under this article.
Any building, structure or portion thereof which is occupied
as, or designed and intended for occupancy as, a residence by one
or more persons and any vacant land which is offered for sale or lease
for the construction or location thereof of any such building, structure
or portion thereof.
The executive director of the human relations department
or authorized assistant.
A single individual or a group of individuals living together
under one common roof.
Functions such as, but not limited to, caring for one’s
self, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking,
breathing, learning and working.
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.
Any physical or mental impairment which substantially limits
one or more major life activities. Physical or mental impairment shall
include:
Any physiological disorder or condition, cosmetic disfigurement
or anatomical loss affecting one or more of the following body systems:
neurological; musculoskeletal; special sense organs; respiratory including
speech organs; cardiovascular; reproductive; digestive; genitourinary;
hemic and lymphatic; skin; and endocrine; or
Any mental or psychological disorder, such as mental retardation,
organic brain syndrome, emotional or mental illness, and specific
learning disabilities.
A person fifty-five (55) years of age or older.
To lease, to sublease, to let and otherwise to grant for
a consideration the right to occupy premises not owned by the occupant.
(Ordinance O-15-12 adopted 12/18/12)
This article shall in no way be interpreted as creating a judicial
right or remedy which is the same or substantially equivalent to the
remedies provided under title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968,
as amended or the Federal Equal Credit Opportunity Act (15 U.S.C.
1691). All aggrieved parties shall retain the rights granted to them
pursuant to title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, as amended
and the Federal Equal Credit Opportunity Act. In construing this article,
it is the intent of the city council that the courts shall be guided
by federal court interpretations of title VIII of the Civil Rights
Act of 1968, as amended, and the Federal Equal Credit Opportunity
Act, where appropriate.
(Ordinance O-15-12 adopted 12/18/12)
Except as exempted by section 4.12.008, it shall be unlawful:
(1)
To
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, national origin, physical or mental handicap, or familial status.
(2)
To
discriminate against any person in the terms, conditions, or privileges
of a sale or rental of a dwelling or in the provision of services
or facilities in connection therewith because of race, color, religion,
sex, national origin, physical or mental handicap, or familial status.
(3)
To
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, national origin,
physical or mental handicap, or familial status, or an intention to
make any such preference, limitation or discrimination.
(4)
To
represent to any person because of race, color, religion, sex, national
origin, physical or mental handicap, or familial status, that any
dwelling is not available for inspection, sale or rental when such
dwelling is in fact so available.
(5)
To
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, national origin, physical or mental handicap, or familial status.
(Ordinance O-15-12 adopted 12/18/12)
It shall be unlawful for any bank, building and loan association,
insurance company, or other person 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, national origin, physical or mental handicap, or familial status
of such person or such persons associated therewith or because of
the race, color, religion, sex, national origin, physical or mental
handicap, or familial status, of the present or prospective owners,
lessees, tenants or occupants of the dwelling or dwellings for which
such loan or other financial assistance is to be made or given.
(Ordinance O-15-12 adopted 12/18/12)
It shall be unlawful for any person to deny another person access
to membership in, or participation in any multiple listing service,
real estate brokers’ organization, or other service, organization
or facility relating to the business of selling and renting dwellings
or to discriminate against another person in the terms or conditions
of such access, membership or participation, on account of race, color,
religion, sex, national origin, physical or mental handicap, or familial
status.
(Ordinance O-15-12 adopted 12/18/12)
It shall be unlawful for any person to harass, threaten, harm,
damage or otherwise penalize any individual, group or business because
such individual, group, or business has complied with the provisions
of this article or has exercised in good faith rights under this article,
or has enjoyed the benefits of this article, or because such individual,
group, or business has made a charge in good faith, testified in good
faith or assisted in good faith in any manner in any investigation,
or in any proceeding hereunder or has made any report to the executive
director.
(Ordinance O-15-12 adopted 12/18/12)
(a)
Nothing
in this article shall apply to:
(1)
Any single-family house sold or rented by an owner, provided that:
(A)
Such private individual owner does not own more than three (3) single-family
houses at any one time;
(B)
If the owner does not reside in the house at the time of the sale
or was not the most recent resident of such house prior to the sale,
the exemption granted by this subsection shall apply only with respect
to one such sale within any twenty-four-month period;
(C)
Such bona fide private individual owner does not own any interest
in, nor is there owned or reserved on such person’s behalf,
under any express or voluntary agreement, title to or any right to
all or any portion of the proceeds from the sale or rental of more
than three (3) such single-family houses at any one time;
(D)
The sale or rental is made without the use in any manner of the sales
or rental facilities or the sales 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
(E)
The sale or rental is made without the publication, posting or mailing
of any advertisement or written notice in violation of this article;
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.
(2)
Rooms or units in dwellings containing living quarters occupied or
intended to be occupied by no more than four (4) families living independently
of each other, if the owner actually maintains and occupies one of
such living quarters as his residence.
(b)
For the purposes of subsection (a), a person shall be deemed to be in the business of selling or renting dwellings if:
(1)
He has, within the preceding twelve (12) months, participated as
principal in three (3) or more transactions involving the sale or
rental of any dwelling or any interest therein;
(2)
He has, within the preceding twelve (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 (2)
or more transactions involving the sale or rental of any dwelling
or any interest therein; or
(3)
He is the owner of any dwelling designed or intended for occupancy
by, or occupied by five (5) or more families.
(c)
Nothing
in this article shall prohibit a religious organization, association
or society or a 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 person of the same religion or from giving preference to
such persons, unless membership in such religion is restricted on
account of race, color, sex, national origin, physical or mental handicap,
or familial status.
(d)
Nothing
in this article shall prohibit a private club not in fact open 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.
(e)
Nothing
in this article shall bar any person from owning and operating a housing
accommodation in which rooms are leased, subleased or rented only
to persons of the same sex, when such housing accommodation contains
common lavatory, kitchen or similar facilities available for the use
of all persons occupying such housing accommodation.
(f)
Nothing
in this article shall prohibit the sale, rental, lease or occupancy
of any dwelling designed and operated exclusively for senior adults
and their spouses, unless the sale, rental, lease or occupancy is
further restricted on account of race, color, religion, sex, national
origin, physical or mental handicap or familial status.
(g)
Nothing
in this article shall bar a person who owns, operates or controls
rental dwellings whether located on the same property or on one or
more contiguous parcels of property, from reserving any grouping of
dwellings for the rental or lease to tenants with a minor child or
children; provided however, in the event that said reserved area is
completely leased or rented, the person owning, operating or controlling
said rental dwelling may not refuse to rent or lease any other available
dwelling to the prospective tenant on the basis of the tenant’s
status as parent or any other of the protected classifications set
forth in this article.
(Ordinance O-15-12 adopted 12/18/12)
No person shall violate any provision of this article, or knowingly
obstruct or prevent compliance with this article.
(Ordinance O-15-12 adopted 12/18/12)
The executive director of the human relations department shall
have the responsibility of administering and implementing this article.
The executive director may delegate the authority to investigate and
conciliate complaints to other designated city employees.
(Ordinance O-15-12 adopted 12/18/12)
(a)
Any
person who claims to have been injured by a discriminatory housing
practice or who believes that he will be irrevocably injured by a
discriminatory housing practice that is about to occur (hereinafter
referred to as the “charging party”) may file a complaint
with the executive director. Such complaints shall be in writing and
shall identify the person alleged to have committed or alleged to
be committing a discriminatory housing practice and shall state the
facts upon which the allegations of a discriminatory housing practice
are based. The executive director shall prepare complaint forms and
furnish them without charge to any person, upon request.
(b)
The executive director shall receive and accept notification and referral complaints from the U.S. Attorney General and the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development pursuant to the provisions of title VII, Fair Housing Act of 1968, Public Law 90-284, and shall treat such complaints hereunder in the same manner as complaints filed pursuant to subsection (a) of this section.
(c)
All
complaints shall be filed within one hundred eighty (180) days following
the occurrence of an alleged discriminatory housing practice. Upon
the filing or referral of any complaint, the executive director shall
provide notice of the complaint by furnishing a copy of such complaint
to the person named therein (hereinafter referred to as the “respondent”)
who allegedly committed or were threatening to commit an alleged discriminatory
housing practice. The respondent may file an answer to the complaint
within fifteen (15) days of receipt of the written complaint.
(d)
All
complaints and answers shall be subscribed and sworn to before an
officer authorized to administer oaths.
(e)
If
at any time the executive director shall receive or discover credible
evidence and shall have probable cause to believe that any person
or persons have committed a discriminatory housing practice as to
which no complaint has been filed or is about to be filed, the executive
director may prepare and file a complaint upon his own motion and
in his own name and such complaint shall thereafter be treated in
the same manner as a complaint filed by a person aggrieved.
(Ordinance O-15-12 adopted 12/18/12)
(a)
Upon
the filing or referral of a complaint as herein provided, the executive
director shall cause to be made a prompt and full investigation of
the matter stated in the complaint; provided, however, that before
any charge becomes accepted for investigative purposes, the executive
director or an investigator shall have personally reviewed with the
charging party the allegations contained therein and shall have determined
that said charge comes within the provisions of this article. In the
event such review results in the determination that a particular charge
does not come within the provisions of this article, the charging
party shall be given a clear and concise explanation of the reasons
why it does not.
(b)
If
the executive director determines that there is not probable cause
to believe that a particular alleged discriminatory housing practice
has been committed, the executive director shall take no further action
with respect to that alleged offense.
(c)
During
or after the investigation, but subsequent to the mailing of the notice
of complaint, the executive director shall, if it appears that a discriminatory
housing practice has occurred or is threatening to occur, attempt
by informal endeavors to effect conciliation, including voluntary
discontinuance of the discriminatory housing practice and to obtain
adequate assurance of future voluntary compliance with provisions
of this article. Nothing said or done in the course of such informal
endeavors may be made public by the executive director, the commission,
the investigator, the conciliator, the charging party, or the respondent,
or be used as evidence in a subsequent proceeding without the written
consent of all persons concerned.
(d)
Upon
completion of an investigation where the executive director has made
a determination that a discriminatory housing practice has in fact
occurred, if the executive director is unable to secure from the respondent
an acceptable conciliation agreement, then the human relations commission
of the city must, upon a majority vote, refer the case to the city
attorney for prosecution in municipal court or to other agencies as
appropriate. With such recommendation of the executive director and
the referral of the human relations commission, the executive director
shall refer his entire file to the city attorney. The city attorney
shall, after such referral, make a determination as to whether to
proceed with prosecution of such complaint in municipal court.
(Ordinance O-15-12 adopted 12/18/12)
If a discriminatory housing practice is found to have in fact
occurred and the case has been referred to municipal court, the respondent
shall be assessed a penalty of $300.00 per violation.
(Ordinance O-15-12 adopted 12/18/12)
