The Fair Housing Project of Legal Aid of North Carolina is pleased to announce free basic and advanced fair housing trainings, in partnership with the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency. Register for specific trainings using the links below. August 2026 Fair Housing I Trainings for Housing Providers & Service Providers Tenant Selection & Criminal Background (in person only) Date: August 27, 2026 …
Newsletter Articles
HUD September 2024 Charges of Discrimination
HUD announced three charges of discrimination in September 2024. A summary of the charges are below. HUD charged a Florida property owner, management company, and property manager with disability discrimination in violation of the Fair Housing Act by failing to grant a tenant with a disability a reasonable accommodation to allow the tenant to live …
DOES THE FAIR HOUSING ACT ALLOW EARLY TERMINATION OF A LEASE WITHOUT HAVING TO PAY A FEE?
By: Michael Manset, Staff Attorney Consider this: A tenant is renting an apartment or a house for a year. After six months, the tenant develops a disability that prevents them from safely residing in the apartment. The disability may be a worsening mobility impairment that prevents the tenant from safely using the stairs inside or …
FH Hot Topics: Assistance Animals: Unique Animals and Multiple Assistance Animals
By: Hope Williams, Supervising Attorney When Fair Housing Project staff conduct trainings, we often are asked: Can a person have a unique animal as an assistance animal? Can a household have more than one assistance animal? The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued guidance in 2020 entitled “Assessing a Person’s Request to …
Cary, NC Homeowner Association Settles Housing Discrimination Complaint Alleging Disability Discrimination; Agrees to Provide Accessible Parking Space and Adopt Fair Housing Policy
Legal Aid of North Carolina recently announced it settled a housing discrimination complaint filed against the Glenpark Homeowner Association, and the members of its Board, on behalf of an individual with a disability who uses a wheelchair. The complaint, filed with the North Carolina Human Relations Commission, alleged violations of the reasonable accommodation requirements of …
New HUD Guidance: Guidance on the Application of the Fair Housing Act to the Screening of Applicants for Rental Housing
HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity issued new guidance in April on the Fair Housing Act’s application to tenant screening practices. The Guidance discusses how housing providers and companies that offer tenant screening services can screen applicants for rental housing in a nondiscriminatory way and recommends best practices for complying with the Fair …
New Resource: Renting with a Criminal Background – A Fair Housing Guide
Individuals with criminal histories face barriers to obtaining and maintaining housing because of their criminal record. The FHA applies to housing policies and practices to screen, deny housing, deny lease renewal, evict, or otherwise exclude people from housing because of a criminal background. Legal Aid of North Carolina is pleased to announce a new resource: Renting with …
Upcoming Fair Housing Trainings
The Fair Housing Project of Legal Aid of North Carolina is pleased to announce free basic and advanced fair housing trainings, in partnership with the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency. Register for specific trainings using the links below. September 2024 Fair Housing I Trainings for Housing Providers and Service Providers (virtual only): September 18, 2024 …
HUD Update: HUD Negotiates Agreement with Harris County, Texas, to Ensure Equitable Use of Disaster Recovery Funds
HUD recently announced a Voluntary Compliance Agreement/Conciliation Agreement resolving allegations that Harris County, Texas (the County), discriminated on the basis of race and national origin in its design and operation of its Post Disaster Relocation and Buyout Program. The complaint alleged that the County operated a mandatory buyout program in predominantly Hispanic neighborhoods, while offering …
Fair Housing Settlement Reduces Barriers for Heirs’ Property Owners to Access Disaster Recovery Funds
Legal Aid of North Carolina’s Fair Housing Project announced in April a Conciliation and Voluntary Compliance Agreement, resolving a housing discrimination complaint filed against the North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resiliency (NCORR). The complaint was filed on behalf of an individual whose application to the ReBuild NC Homeowner Recovery Program was rejected due to …