Over the past few months, the Fair Housing Project has been hosting fair housing listening sessions around the state in partnership with local fair housing agencies, stakeholders, and community partners. The sessions are targeted towards engaging with the community and hearing from the public directly about the fair housing issues they have experienced or are …
Occupancy Policies and the Fair Housing Act: How Many is Too Many?
Scenario. A family of five applies to rent a two-bedroom home. The family is turned away by the housing provider after being told that its occupancy policy only allows a maximum of three people in a two-bedroom unit. The family has been told this before by other housing providers and is upset they have been …
HUD’s “Smoke-Free” Policy for Public Housing
As of July 30, 2018, all Public Housing Authorities (PHAs) across the country were required to have “smoke-free” policies under a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) rule. HUD’s smoke-free rule was adopted to “improve indoor air quality in public housing; benefit the health of public housing resident, visitors, and PHA staff; reduce …
An Animal By Any Other Name (But Not “Pet”)
Service animal, assistance animal, emotional support animal, comfort animal, and companion animal. So many names, but what do they mean? Regardless of the name, one thing is clear: these animals are not considered “pets” under the laws that govern them. So then, what are the differences between these animals? Who gets to have these animals? …
Fair Housing Project Hosts Listening Session for LGBTQ Seniors
On Wednesday, July 11, the Fair Housing Project of Legal Aid of North Carolina hosted a listening session at St. John’s Metropolitan Community Church in Raleigh. The listening session was focused on the housing discrimination issues facing LGBTQ seniors. The event was attended by volunteers associated with the LGBT Center of Raleigh, and in particular with …
Case Spotlight: Reasonable Accommodation: An Extra Bedroom for Medical Devices Keeps a Home Affordable
For persons living at or below the poverty level, access to affordable housing can sometimes mean the difference between homelessness and having a safe, affordable place to live. Some government-subsidized housing programs attempt to address this problem by calculating a tenant’s rent based on his or her income. In theory, tenants who have some portion …
Issue Spotlight: Leveling the Playing Field for People with Disabilities
Many apartment complexes have “first-come, first-served” parking policies. And, to most, such policies seem reasonable. These policies do not on their face treat anyone differently: whoever gets to the space first gets to park there. And if there are no parking spaces available, or if the only available space is far from a person’s residence, …
Raleigh Celebrates Fair Housing Month
On April 27, fair housing advocates, community members, government officials, and industry stakeholders gathered for Raleigh’s 15th Annual Fair Housing Conference, sponsored by the Fair Housing Project and the City’s Fair Housing Hearing Board. This year’s conference, The 50th Anniversary of the Fair Housing Act: Celebrating Our Past, Shaping Our Future, reflected on the past …
HUD Awards Legal Aid of NC $425,000 to Continue Its Fair Housing Work
Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Developed (“HUD”) announced that Legal Aid of North Carolina had been awarded two fair housing grants, totaling $425,000, to allow its Fair Housing Project to continue its enforcement and education work throughout the State in the coming year. Through its Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI) grant, …
Fifty Years of the Fair Housing Act
April 11, 2018, marked the fiftieth anniversary of the enactment of the federal Fair Housing Act (FHA). The FHA is one of the key pieces of civil rights legislation from the 1960s, following the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (which prohibited discrimination in public accommodations, employment, government services, and voting based on race, color, national …