FAIR HOUSING—IT’S YOUR RIGHT!
A BRIEF HISTORY
On April 11, 1968, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1968, which was meant as a follow-up to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The 1968 Act expanded on previous acts and prohibited discrimination concerning the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, (and as amended) handicap and family status. Title VIII of the Act is also known as the Fair Housing Act (of 1968).
The Fair Housing Act was signed into law one week after the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in recognition of his advocacy for laws to protect people from housing discrimination. Under the companion state law, the Florida Fair Housing Act, citizens may obtain assistance with filing complaints of housing discrimination that they have experienced.
OUR COMITTMENT
The City of Bonita Springs is committed to ensuring residents are not discriminated against in the sale, rental, and financing of dwellings and in other housing related transactions, based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, or disability.
The City is also committed to ensuring that no qualified individual with a disability should, only by reason of his or her disability, be excluded from participating in, be denied benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is the federal agency with primary responsibility for enforcing the Fair Housing Act.
WHAT HOUSING DISCRIMINATION LOOKS LIKE (EXAMPLES)…
• A realtor not showing a family of color housing within a predominantly White neighborhood, saying that they would not feel “at home”.
• Refusing to rent to a person in a wheelchair because he or she may require modifications to the unit.
• Charging a single parent with children a higher security deposit than a married couple with no children.
• Refusing to rent a one-bedroom apartment to a same sex couple.
• A landlord telling a potential renter who is transgender that an apartment is not available, and then renting it to someone else.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUe6ZKks1kk
HOW TO FILE A FAIR HOUSING COMPLAINT
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD):
• Housing Discrimination Hotline: 800-440-8091, Ext. 2493
• HUD Electronically filing www.hud.gov
Housing Discrimination Complaint App: Download free iTunes app for iPhone or iPad to read information about housing discrimination and to submit a housing discrimination claim for review by HUD.
Florida Commission on Human Relations
2009 Apalachee Parkway, Suite 100
Tallahassee, FL 32301
Phone: 850-488-7082
Toll-Free: 800-342-8170
Fax: 850-488-5291
https://fchr.myflorida.com/fair-housing#:~:text=Floridians%20are%20entitled%20by%20law,%2C%20familial%20status%2C%20or%20religion.
Non-Discriminatory Landlord-Tenant Disputes:
Florida Rural Legal Services, Inc.
Physical Address: 3210 Cleveland Ave., Fort Myers, FL 33901
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 219, Fort Myers, FL 33902-219
Phone: 239-334-4554
Fax: 239-334-3042
Lee County
https://www.leegov.com/dhs/fairhousing
The County’s Fair Housing Coordinator is Clare Molloy [email protected]. She is available to assist with fair housing questions or registering complaints.