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ACTUAL EVICTION The completed legal process of a landlord removing a tenant from a rental property.

ADVERSE ACTION To evict an individual, fail or refuse to rent or lease real property to an individual, or fail or refuse to continue to rent or lease real property to an individual, or fail or refuse to add a household member to an existing lease, or reduce any tenant subsidy. The adverse action must relate to property located in the City of Kalamazoo.

AGENT A person acting on behalf of a housing facility entity.

APPLICANT An individual applying to rent or lease a housing facility and an individual applying to be added to an existing housing facility lease.

BLANKET POLICY A policy or practice that generally treats an individual as a member of group based on a particular characteristic as opposed to singularly.

DIRECTLY RELATED CONVICTION The conduct for which the person was convicted or that is the subject of an unresolved arrest that has a direct and specific negative bearing on the health, safety, or right to peaceful enjoyment of the premises by persons, and includes one or more of the following offenses: (1) Any conviction where state or federal law prohibits the applicant from being eligible for public housing; or (2) Any conviction that leads to the applicant becoming a lifetime registered sex offender.

EVICTION FILING A legal filing intended to start the process in which a landlord removes a tenant from a rental property.

EVIDENCE OF REHABILITATION Includes, but is not limited to, a person's satisfactory compliance with all terms and conditions of parole or probation (however, an inability to pay fines, fees and restitution due to indigence shall not be considered regarding compliance with terms and conditions of parole or probation or both); employer recommendations, especially concerning a person's post-conviction employment; educational attainment or vocational or professional training since a conviction, including training received while incarcerated; completion or active participation in rehabilitative treatment, such as alcohol or drug treatment; letters of recommendation from community organizations, counselors or case managers, teachers, community leaders, or proba...

HOUSING FACILITY Any dwelling unit or facility used or intended or designed to be used as the home, domicile or residence of one or more persons, including, but not limited to, a house, apartment, rooming house, housing cooperative, homeless shelter, hotel, motel, tourist home, retirement home or nursing home.

LANDLORD Any owner, lessor, sublessor, managing agent, or company, or any other person that rents, leases, or approves the rental or lease of a housing facility, or makes tenancy decisions.

PUBLIC HOUSING Rental housing facilities developed with federal, state, or local government (City or county) funding or which pay an annual service charge in lieu of taxes and are intended for eligible low-income individuals and families, the elderly, and persons with disabilities.

REAL ESTATE TRANSACTION The sale, exchange, rental or lease of real property.

RENTAL APPLICATION FEE Any fee paid by an applicant to a landlord to permit a background check of the applicant before or after a leasehold contract is created.

SOURCE OF INCOME Lawful verifiable income derived from wages, salaries or other compensation for employment, money derived from a gift or bequest, contract (including insurance proceeds), loan, or the settlement or award for a claim for personal injury. It also includes but is not limited to social security benefits, supplemental security income, unemployment benefits, retirement income, alimony, child support, Federal Housing Choice Voucher, Local Housing Assistance Fund Millage, or any other housing subsidy.

SURVIVOR OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE An individual against whom any of the following acts were perpetrated by a person that was not an act of self-defense: (1) Causing or attempting to cause physical or mental harm to a family or household member; (2) Placing a family or household member in fear of physical or mental harm; (3) Causing or attempting to cause a family or household member to engage in involuntary sexual activity by force, threat of force, or duress; or (4) Engaging in activity toward a family or household member that would cause a reasonable person to feel terrorized, frightened, threatened, harassed, or molested. (5) Conduct constituting sexual assault as described in MCLA §§ 750.520a to 750.520I. (6) Conduct constituting stalking as defined at MC...

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 fo...

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. ...

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 ...

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 ...