Fair Housing: It's Your Right
En Español
Fair Housing
Your Rights Under the
Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988
The Federal Government adopted the Fair
Housing Amendments Act of 1988 to protect all United States
citizens against discriminatory practices. The State of
Arizona and the City also passed a
law and
ordinance respectively in keeping with the
federal law.
It is illegal to discriminate in the
provision, sale, or rental of housing on the basis of: Race or color,
National origin,
Religion,
Sex,
Familial Status
Disability
 The
Equal Housing Opportunity logo is displayed by housing
professionals who are committed to fair housing. Look for
companies that display this logo:
Every person has the right to live wherever
they desire. "Senior Housing" or a "55 and Older Community"
is the exception to this law; whereby at least 80 percent of
the occupied units must be occupied by the one person 55
years of age or older.
The following are examples of prohibited
acts when based on race, color, sex, religion, handicap,
family status or national origin; when selling or renting a
house, residential lot or apartment:
-
Tell you that the property is no longer
available for sale or rent when it is still available.
-
Charging you more to buy, rent or asking
for a larger security deposit.
-
Refusing to reasonable allow handicap
accommodations for parking, an assistive aide, assistive
animal, or physical modifications.
-
Denial of Credit.
-
Refuse to give you the same services
they appear to give others.
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Steering you toward certain
neighborhoods.
-
Insisting that you live in the family
area.
-
Refusal to sell or rent a dwelling after
you have made an offer.
The City of Mesa can provide assistance,
information and material regarding Fair Housing questions
and complaints. Complaints received by the City of Mesa are
forwarded to the State of Arizona, Attorney General's
Office, Civil Rights Division. The Attorney General's Office
will conduct an investigation to determine if there is a
grievance.
If you believe that you have been
discriminated against while seeking housing, you may
contact:
City of Mesa
Community Revitalization Division
20 East Main Street, Suite 650
P.O. Box 1466
Mesa, Arizona 85211-1466
(480) 644-2645 phone
(480) 644-2778 TDD
comrev.info@cityofmesa.org
e-mail
When you contact the City be prepared to
give the following information:
-
Your name
-
Street address, city and zip code
-
Telephone number
-
Name(s) and addresses, telephone number
of person(s) or company who you believe discriminated
against you.
-
Date and account of what occurred.
Links
to other Fair Housing Resources on the Web:
The following is a partial list of fair
housing resources on the Web. Please let us know about new
sites or updates to any of the addresses listed here by
sending us
e-mail.
Government
Resources:
-
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development (www.hud.gov)
provides information about HUD programs and services for
citizens and community and business partners.
-
The HUD Fair Housing Page
(www.hud.gov/offices/fheo/index.cfm)
provides information about the Office of Fair Housing
and Equal Opportunity's programs.
-
HUD USER's site (www.huduser.org)
provides information about HUD publications and services
offered through HUD USER, the clearinghouse operated for
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research.
-
The U.S. Department of Justice Civil
Rights Division (www.usdoj.gov/crt/crt-home.html),
which litigates some fair housing cases and handles
other civil rights matters highlights important cases
and related matters.
Other
Resources:
-
Community Information and Referral
Service (www.cir.org),
has a Landlord/Tenant Information Referral Helpline at
phone: (602)263-8856 or (800)352-3792
-
fairhousinglaw.org, a partnership HUD and the
Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund of
Washington, D.C., offers information on Fair Housing.
-
The National Fair Housing Advocate (www.fairhousing.com),
a private fair housing organization, offers information
and networking opportunities through its site.
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