(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 race, color, creed, religion,
sex, national origin, physical or mental handicap, marital status,
parenthood, or age.
(b)
It
is further declared that this policy is based upon a recognition of
the rights of every individual to obtain housing without regard to
race, color, creed, religion, sex, national origin, physical or mental
handicap, status as a student, marital status, parenthood, sexual
orientation or age; and further that the denial of such rights through
considerations based on race, color, creed, religion, sex, national
origin, physical or mental handicap, status as a student, marital
status, parenthood, sexual orientation or age 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 proper responsibility of government to prevent.
(Ordinance 128 adopted 1/16/90; 1982 Code, ch. 4, sec. 18(A))
As used in this division, the following words and phrases shall
have the meanings respectively ascribed to them in this section, unless
the context requires otherwise:
means the calendar age of any individual eighteen (18) years
of age or over.
means any set of principles, rules, opinions and precepts
formally expressed and seriously adhered to or maintained by a person.
means the city secretary or authorized assistant.
means an act which is unlawful under this division.
means any building, structure, or portion thereof which is
occupied as, or designed and intended for occupancy as, a residence
by one (1) or more families, or 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 or a group of individuals living
together under one (1) common roof.
means functions such as, but not limited to, caring for one’s
self, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking,
breathing, learning, and working.
means an individual’s status as a single, married,
divorced, widowed or separated person.
means a person’s status as a parent or legal guardian
of a child or children under the age of eighteen (18).
includes one (1) 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 physical or mental impairment which substantially
limits one (1) or more major life activities.
shall include:
Any physiological disorder or condition, cosmetic disfigurement
or anatomical loss affecting one (1) 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.
means a person fifty-five (55) years of age or older.
includes to lease, to sublease, to let, and otherwise to
grant for a consideration the right to occupy premises not owned by
the occupant.
(Ordinance 128 adopted 1/16/90; 1982 Code, ch. 4, sec. 18(B))
This division 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
or the federal Equal Credit Opportunity Act (15 U.S.C. 1691). All
aggrieved parties shall retain the rights granted to them by title
VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 and the federal Equal Credit
Opportunity Act. In construing this division, 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 and
the federal Equal Credit Opportunity Act, where appropriate.
(Ordinance 128 adopted 1/16/90; 1982 Code, ch. 4, sec. 18(C))
Except as exempted by this division, 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,
creed, religion, sex, national origin, physical or mental handicap,
marital status, parenthood, or age.
(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, creed,
religion, sex, national origin, physical or mental handicap, marital
status, parenthood, or age.
(3)
To
make, print, 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, creed, religion, sex, national origin, physical
or mental handicap, marital status, parenthood, or age, or an intention
to make any such preference, limitation, or discrimination.
(4)
To
represent to any person, because of race, color, creed, religion,
sex, national origin, physical or mental handicap, marital status,
parenthood, or age, 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 any person or persons of a particular race, color,
creed, religion, sex, national origin, physical or mental handicap,
marital status, parenthood, or age.
(Ordinance 128 adopted 1/16/90; 1982 Code, ch. 4, sec. 18(D))
It shall be unlawful for any bank, building and loan association,
insurance company or other person whose business consists in whole
or in part of 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,
creed, religion, sex, national origin, physical or mental handicap,
marital status, parenthood, or age of such person or of such persons
associated therewith or because of race, color, creed, religion, sex,
national origin, physical or mental handicap, status as a student,
marital status, parenthood, sexual orientation or age of the prospective
owners, lessees, tenants or occupants of the dwelling or dwellings
for which such loan or other financial assistance is made or given.
(Ordinance 128 adopted 1/16/90; 1982 Code, ch. 4, sec. 18(E))
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 or renting dwellings,
or to discriminate against another person in the terms or conditions
of such access, membership, or participation, on account of race,
color, creed, religion, sex, national origin, physical or mental handicap,
marital status, parenthood, or age.
(Ordinance 128 adopted 1/16/90; 1982 Code, ch. 4, sec. 18(F))
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 division, or has exercised in good faith his rights under
this division, or has enjoyed the benefits of this division, 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 director.
(Ordinance 128 adopted 1/16/90; 1982 Code, ch. 4, sec. 18(G))
(a)
Nothing
in this division shall apply to:
(1)
Any single-family house sold or rented by any 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 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 (24) 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 division;
but nothing in this provision shall prohibit the use of attorneys,
escrow agents, abstractors, title companies, or other such professional
assistance as necessary to perfect or transfer of 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)(1) of this section, 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 or more transactions involving the sale or rental
or 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 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, creed, sex, national origin, physical or
mental handicap, status as a student, marital status, parenthood,
sexual orientation or age.
(d)
Nothing
in this division shall prohibit a private club, not in fact open to
the public, which as an incident to its primary purpose 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 division shall bar any person from owning and operating a
housing accommodation in which a room is 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 division 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, creed, religion, sex,
national origin, physical or metal handicap, marital status and sexual
orientation.
(g)
Nothing
in this division shall bar a person who owns, operates or controls
rental dwellings, whether located on the same property or one (1)
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 a parent or any other of the protected classifications set
forth in this division.
(Ordinance 128 adopted 1/16/90; 1982 Code, ch. 4, sec. 18(H))
No person shall violate any provision of this division, or knowingly
obstruct or prevent compliance with this division.
(Ordinance 128 adopted 1/16/90; 1982 Code, ch. 4, sec. 18(I))
(a)
Generally.
The city secretary shall serve as director
and shall have the responsibility of administering and implementing
this division. The director may delegate his authority to investigate
and conciliate complaints to other city employees under his direction.
(b)
Filing of complaints.
(1)
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 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
director shall prepare complaint forms and furnish them without charge
to any person upon request.
(2)
The 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 VIII, 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 (b)(1) above.
(3)
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 director shall provide
notice of the complaint by furnishing a copy of such complaint to
the persons 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.
(4)
All complaints and answers shall be subscribed and sworn to before
an officer authorized to administer oaths.
(5)
If at any time the 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 director may prepare and
file a complaint upon his own motion and in his own name and such
complaint shall thereinafter be treated in the same manner as a complaint
filed by a person aggrieved.
(c)
Investigation and conciliation.
(1)
Upon the filing or referral of a complaint as herein provided, the
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 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 division. In
the event such review results in the determination that a particular
charge does not come within the provisions of this division, the charging
party shall be given a clear and concise explanation of the reasons
why it does not.
(2)
If the director determines that there is not probable cause to believe
that a particular alleged discriminatory housing practice has been
committed, the director shall take no further action with respect
to that alleged offense.
(3)
During or after the investigation, but subsequent to the mailing
of the notice of the complaint, the 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 the
provisions of this division. Nothing said or done in the course of
such informal endeavors may be made public by the 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.
(4)
Upon the completion of the investigation, where the director has
made a determination that a discriminatory housing practice has in
fact occurred, if the director is unable to secure from the respondent
an acceptable conciliation agreement, then the city council must,
upon a majority vote, refer the case to the city attorney for prosecution
in the municipal court or other agencies as appropriate. With such
recommendation, the 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 128 adopted 1/16/90; 1982 Code, ch. 4, sec. 18(J))
