Fair housing issues discussed at workshop in Butler library
Representatives from housing agencies and independent living organizations from Butler County and the surrounding area attended a workshop Thursday in Butler that provided a refresher course about state and federal laws against housing discrimination.
Brittany Mellinger, director of fair housing and commercial property for the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, and Blanch Helbling, the managing attorney for Summit Legal Aid in Washington which also represents the Fair Housing Law Center, made their presentation in the Butler Area Public Library.
Helbling said the federal Fair Housing Act became law in 1968 with the goals of preventing discrimination and reversing segregation that existed then. The law made it unlawful to discriminate against people based on their race, skin color, religion and national origin.
Gender was added in 1974 and disabilities, familial status, or having children 18 and under, were added to the list of protected classes in 1988, she said.
Protections for domestic violence survivors also have been added
“Terminating someone’s housing because they’re a survivor of domestic violence is something that’s considered sex discrimination,” Helbling said.
The Pennsylvania Human Relations Act prohibits discrimination against people 40 and over and people with guide and support animals, and against people based on their ancestry, she said.
Mellinger said the law was expanded through regulations in 2023 to protect against discrimination based on sex, religion and race.
Owners or operators of apartments, mobile home parks, condominiums, rental homes, nursing homes, college dorms and group homes for disabled people, as well as real estate sales entities, lending institutions and insurance providers are required to comply with the state and federal anti-housing discrimination laws, Helbling said.
Subject to liability for violating the laws are rental property owners, property managers, maintenance and office workers, real estate agents, banks, mortgage brokers, appraisers, homeless shelters, universities, nursing homes, insurance agencies and local governments, she said.
Prohibited under the laws are making housing unavailable, falsely representing availability, steering someone to a less desirable location, coercion, intimidation, threats, providing different terms and conditions to rent or buy housing, denying loans and insurance, retaliation, harassment, charging a disabled person with an additional security deposit and not making reasonable accommodations or modifications for disabled people, Helbling said.
An example of a reasonable accommodation is a landlord allowing a tenant to pay rent when they receive their public benefit check instead of a certain day of the month, she said.
Private property landlords don’t have to pay to install reasonable modifications such as ramps and grab bars in showers and bathrooms and tenants are required to return the property to its original condition before they move out, Helbling said. In public housing, the landlord is required to pay for the modifications, she added.
Mellinger said people with disabilities might have to provide medical proof of their disability to landlords.
Another prohibited act is using less favorable rental criteria, such as a credit score and criminal history, as a reason to not rent housing to a member of the protected classes, Helbling said.
