(a)
It
is hereby declared to be the policy of the city to bring about, through
fair, orderly and lawful procedures, the opportunity for each person
to obtain housing without regard to his race, color, religion, familial
status, sex, age and handicap or national origin.
(b)
It
is further declared that this policy is grounded upon a recognition
of the inalienable right of each individual to provide for himself
and his family a dwelling according to his own choosing; and, further,
that the denial of such rights through considerations based upon race,
color, familial status, religion or national origin, sex, age or handicap
is detrimental to the health, safety and welfare of the inhabitants
of the city and constitutes an unjust denial or deprivation of such
inalienable right which is within the power and the proper responsibility
of government to prevent.
(1988 Code, ch. 4, sec. 4.01; Ordinance
adopting Code)
As used in this division:
The city human relations board.
Any building, structure or portion thereof which is occupied
as, or designed and 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 any group of persons desiring to reside together
or one individual person.
The individual designated as human relations and equal opportunity
officer by the mayor.
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, fiduciaries, and any other organization
or entity of whatever character.
To lease, to sublease, to let and otherwise to grant for
a consideration the right to occupy premises not owned by the occupant.
(1988 Code, ch. 4, sec. 4.02)
Except as exempted by section 1.14.036, 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, familial
status, religion or national origin, sex, age or handicap.
(2)
To
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, familial
status, religion, sex, age, handicap or national origin.
(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.
(4)
To
represent to any person because of race, color, religion, familial
status, sex, age, handicap 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, or with the hope or expectation of profit, 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, familial status,
religion, sex, age, handicap or national origin.
(1988 Code, ch. 4, sec. 4.03; Ordinance
adopting Code)
It shall be unlawful 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, familial status, sex, age, handicap
or national origin of such person or of any person associated with
him in connection with such loan or other financial assistance or
the purpose 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.
(1988 Code, ch. 4, sec. 4.04; Ordinance
adopting Code)
It shall be unlawful 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, familial status, religion, sex, age, handicap
or national origin.
(1988 Code, ch. 4, sec. 4.05; Ordinance
adopting Code)
(a)
There shall be exempted from the application of section 1.14.033:
(1)
Any single-family house sold or rented by an owner, provided that such private individual owner does not own more than three (3) such single-family houses, wherever located, 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 with any twenty-four (24) 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 (3) such single-family houses at any one time; provided, further, the sale or rental of any such single-family house shall be excepted from the application of this division only if such house is sold or rented (i) 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 (ii) without the publication, posting or mailing of any advertisement or written notice in violation of section 1.14.033(3); 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)
The rental of 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)
Nothing
in this division 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, familial status, religion, sex, age, handicap,
or national origin.
(c)
Nothing
in this division 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.
(1988 Code, ch. 4, sec. 4.06; Ordinance
adopting Code)
(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 (hereafter
referred to as “person aggrieved”) may file a complaint
with the officer. Such complaints shall be in writing and shall identify
the person alleged to have committed or alleged to be about to commit
the discriminatory housing practice and shall set forth the particulars
thereof. The officer is directed to prepare and adopt from time to
time standard complaint forms and to furnish them without charge to
any person aggrieved. The officer and employees of his office may
assist in the clerical preparation of such complaints.
(b)
The
officer shall receive and accept notification and referral of complaints
from the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development pursuant to the
provisions of title VIII, Fair Housing Act of 1968, Public Law 90-284,
and shall treat such complaints in the same manner as complaints filed
directly by the person aggrieved.
(c)
If, in the course of any investigation as provided in section 1.14.038 hereof on a complaint filed with or referred to the officer, he shall receive credible evidence and shall have probable cause to believe that the person or persons named in such complaint have committed a discriminatory housing practice on grounds not stated in such complaint, the officer may prepare and file a supplementary complaint upon his own motion and in his own name and such supplementary complaint shall thereafter be treated in the same manner as an original complaint filed by a person aggrieved.
(d)
If
at any time the officer 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 officer 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.
(e)
Upon
the filing or referral of any complaint, the officer shall furnish
a copy of the same to the person or persons named in the complaint.
(f)
A complaint under subsections (a), (c), (d) and (e) shall be filed within one hundred and eighty (180) days after the alleged discriminatory housing practice occurred. Complaints shall state the facts upon which the allegations of a discriminatory housing practice are based. Complaints may be reasonably and fairly amended at any time. A respondent may file an answer to the complaint against him and, with the leave of the officer, which shall be granted whenever it would be reasonable and fair to do so, may amend his answer at any time. Both complaints and answers shall be signed.
(1988 Code, ch. 4, sec. 4.07)
(a)
Upon
the filing of a complaint as herein provided, the officer shall cause
to be made a prompt investigation of the matter stated in the complaint.
(b)
In
connection with such investigation, the officer may question and take
and record testimony and statements of such persons who appear and
may examine, record and copy documents which are produced.
(c)
During
or after the investigation, the officer shall, if it appears that
a discriminatory housing practice act has occurred, or is about to
occur, attempt by informal endeavors to effect conciliation, including
voluntary discontinuance or rectification of the discriminatory housing
practice and voluntary compliance and adequate assurance of future
voluntary compliance with the provisions of this division.
(d)
In
the event conciliation is effected, the officer shall disclose nothing
said or done in the course of such conciliation in such a way as to
make public identification of the person or persons named in the complaint
without the written consent of the persons concerned.
(1988 Code, ch. 4, sec. 4.08)
(a)
Upon
completion of the investigation and informal endeavors at conciliation
by the officer, but within thirty (30) days of the filing of the complaint
with the officer, and if conciliation has not been effected, the officer
shall refer the complaint to the committee, together with the answer
of the respondent, if any, and a full report of his investigation
and activities in the matter.
(b)
The
committee shall promptly set a date for the hearing. This date shall
be within thirty (30) days of the date on which the officer referred
the complaint. At least five (5) days’ prior written notice
of the hearing shall be given to the person or persons alleged to
have committed or to be about to commit the discriminatory housing
practice. The hearing shall be conducted in a fair and impartial manner
and shall be public. Proof of the matters alleged within the complaint
may be presented by the officer. The complainant and the person or
persons alleged to have committed or to be about to commit the discriminatory
housing practice may appear personally or by representative and with
or without legal counsel and shall have the right to present proof
and cross-examine witnesses in all matters relating to the complaint
and subsequent related matters. In the event that a person or persons
alleged to have committed or to be about to commit a discriminatory
housing practice shall fail to appear at the committee hearing either
personally or by representative, after notice as provided above, then
such hearing shall be deemed waived by such person or persons.
(c)
If,
after such hearing, a majority of the committee shall determine on
the basis of the evidence at the hearing that the complaint is well
founded, the committee shall forthwith by persuasion, education and
entreaty diligently attempt to secure within a reasonable time, not
to exceed thirty (30) days, voluntary discontinuance of any discriminatory
housing practice.
(1988 Code, ch. 4, sec. 4.09)
If the committee shall determine that a discriminatory housing
practice has occurred and if a hearing before the committee on the
complaint alleging such violation has been waived or if the committee
has held a hearing and the efforts of the committee to secure voluntary
compliance have been unsuccessful, the committee shall cause the officer
to certify in writing to the city attorney that such discriminatory
housing practice has occurred and request the city attorney to forthwith
prosecute such violation in the municipal court of the city.
(1988 Code, ch. 4, sec. 4.10)
(a)
Upon
certification by the officer pursuant to the direction of the committee,
the city attorney shall institute a charge in municipal court and
prosecute the same to final conclusion.
(b)
The
certification to the city attorney and the actions to be taken by
the city attorney shall be cumulative of all other remedies and procedures
for the effectuation and enforcement of this division and the prosecution
of alleged violators of this division.
(1988 Code, ch. 4, sec. 4.11)
The committee and the officer are authorized and encouraged
to cooperate with the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development pursuant
to the provisions of title VIII, Fair Housing Act of 1968, Public
Law 90-284, and may render such service to the Secretary as they shall
deem appropriate to further the policies of this division and may
accept reimbursement from the Secretary for services rendered to assist
him in carrying out the provisions of the above-cited federal law.
(1988 Code, ch. 4, sec. 4.12)
It shall be unlawful for any person, whether or not acting under
color of law, by force or threat of force, to willfully injure, intimidate,
or interfere with, or attempt to injure, intimidate or interfere with:
(1)
Any
person because of his race, color, religion, familial status, sex,
age, handicap, or national origin and because he is or has been selling,
purchasing, renting, financing, occupying, or contracting or negotiating
for the sale, purchase, rental, financing or occupation of any dwelling,
or applying for or participating in any service, organization or facility
relating to the business of selling or renting dwellings; or
(2)
Any
person because he is or has been, or in order to intimidate such person
or any other person or class of persons from:
(A)
Participating, without discrimination of account of race, color,
familial status, religion, sex, age, handicap or national origin,
in any of the activities, services, organizations or facilities described
in subsection (1) of this section; or
(B)
Affording another person or class of persons opportunity or protection
so to participate; or
(3)
Any person because he is or has been or in order to discourage such person or any other person from lawfully aiding or encouraging other persons to participate, without discrimination on account of race, color, familial status, religion, sex, age, handicap or national origin, in any of the activities, services, organizations or facilities described in subsection (1) of this section, or participating lawfully in speech or peaceable assembly opposing any denial of the opportunity so to participate.
(1988 Code, ch. 4, sec. 4.13; Ordinance
adopting Code)
