The Honolulu Star-Advertiser Akamai Money column

April 26--QUESTION -- This is Fair Housing Awareness Month in Hawaii. What does your program do and why is fair housing important?

ANSWER: The mission of Legal Aid Society of Hawai'i's Fair Housing Enforcement Program is to advance fair housing and end housing discrimination through education, advocacy, outreach and litigation. We believe all people in Hawaii should have the right to safe, affordable, quality housing free from discrimination. And with affordable housing being one of the biggest challenges facing Hawaii, discrimination can become more prevalent and disproportionately impact our most marginalized communities, exacerbating an already dire problem.

Q: What classes of people are protected under fair housing laws?

A: The Fair Housing Act protects everyone in the U.S. from housing discrimination, regardless of their citizenship. Federal law covers race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability and familial status. Our state law adds additional protected classes: age, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, marital status and HIV status.

Q: Who is subject to fair housing laws, and what actions constitute housing discrimination?

A: All types of housing providers must comply with fair housing laws including owners, landlords, homeowner associations and their boards; property management companies; property managers; office, maintenance and security staff; housing referral agencies; Realtors; and finance mortgage lenders.

Housing discrimination can take many forms, including obvious and intentional discrimination and more subtle kinds of discrimination. A wide range of activities are prohibited including the refusal to rent, sell or negotiate; eviction or refusal to renew a lease; failure to respond to housing inquiries; failure to provide a rental application; applying different terms or conditions for the rental or sale of housing; advertising or making a statement that shows a preference; steering an applicant toward a specific floor, building or neighborhood; retaliation for exercising one's fair housing rights; interference or intimidation; and harassment.

Q: Are there housing discrimination exemptions for a landlord or homeowner who is renting a room in his or her house rather than renting a separate unit? What types of questions can they ask prospective tenants that would be prohibited by other housing providers?

A: Yes, fair housing laws exempt dwellings with no more than four units where the landlord or owner resides on the property. While these smaller landlords or owners are exempt from the majority of fair housing laws, they should be very careful because they are still prohibited from discriminatory advertising, including asking prospective tenants questions that are discriminatory. While they are exempt from the other parts of the Fair Housing Act -- meaning they can technically discriminate and select a tenant based on a preference -- their ads cannot be discriminatory. It seems contradictory, but while Congress wanted to exempt certain landlords, they still didn't want to allow those same landlords to discriminate in their ads because it would give the public the impression that discrimination is legal and acceptable.

Q: How does housing discrimination apply to advertising, applications or interviews?

A: Fair housing laws make it unlawful to make, print or publish any notice, statement or advertisement that indicates a preference, limitation or discrimination. This applies to all spoken or written statements, including words, pictures or symbols that suggest that housing is not available to a particular group. In addition to all spoken or written statements, advertising includes applications, forms, ads in newspapers, craigslist ads, eviction or violation notices, house rules, newsletters and bulletin board notices.

Q: What are the most common types of discrimination you see?

A: The two areas of discrimination we receive the most complaints about are disability and familial status discrimination.

Because we have an aging population in Hawaii, many of whom are struggling with physical or mental disabilities, there are often not enough housing and community supports in place for our kupuna to be able to age in place, or for residents with disabilities to remain in their communities. Common examples of violations include refusal to permit reasonable accommodations or exceptions to rules or policies; refusal to permit reasonable modifications to units or common elements to make them more accessible; asking for access to a person's health care pro\0xADviders or medical records; inquiring about the diagnosis, nature or severity of a person's disability; refusing to allow a person with a disability to have an assistance animal or emotional support animal because of a "no pets" rule; and refusing to assign an accessible parking space to a mobility-impaired tenant.

Also, many housing providers and tenants are unaware that it is illegal to discriminate against people based on their familial status, that is, parents or guardians living with minor children, pregnant women and anyone in the process of securing custody or adoption. In Hawaii this includes more informal hanai relationships as well. Common violations include refusing to rent to families with children; asking about children, pregnancy or familial status; requiring a larger security deposit or rent increase because of children; unreasonable occupancy restrictions; and house rules forbidding children from loitering or playing in common areas of a residence.

Q: What would the legal action and subsequent penalty be for someone who has engaged in housing discrimination?

A: Victims of discrimination can file housing discrimination complaints with the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission or the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. They can also file a civil rights lawsuit against a housing provider in state or federal court. Housing providers who have violated the law may be forced to pay damages, civil penalties, costs and attorney's fees to victims of discrimination.

Q: What action should a resident or tenant take if he or she feels discrimination has taken place?

A: If you think you have been a victim of discrimination, please feel free to call our fair housing hotline (Oahu, 527-8024; all other islands, 866-527-3247). Victims of discrimination can also file a complaint with our state or federal agencies charged with enforcing our fair housing and other civil rights laws. The contact information for the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission is 586-8636 and labor.hawaii.gov/hcrc; for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 457-4662 and 1.usa.gov/1FcML4M.

Note: The Legal Aid Society of Hawaii recently hosted an art contest for high school students to educate youth and the community about their rights and the

importance of fair housing. The

winning art can be viewed in the News and Updates section at

fairhousinghawaii.org.

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