TEL-LAW tape number 7300:
Illegal Housing Discrimination

brought to you by the Oregon State Bar and your local bar association.
This is Tel-Law tape number 7300, Illegal Housing Discrimination, brought to you by the Oregon State Bar and your local bar association. The material presented is intended to alert you to possible legal problems and solutions.

Federal, state, and sometimes local laws protect certain categories of people from being discriminated against in renting, buying, and financing housing. Federal law prohibits discrimination based on race, national origin, religion, sex, family status, and physical and mental disability. Oregon law forbids these kinds of discrimination, too; it also forbids discrimination based on marital status. Some cities in Oregon protect people from discrimination on such grounds as age, source of income, and sexual orientation. Those cities include Portland, Salem, Corvallis, and Ashland.

The law defines "disability" as having--or being perceived as having--an impairment that substantially limits a major life activity. Current use of illegal drugs does not qualify as a disability. "Family status" laws protect families with children; women who are pregnant; guardians of children; and those who are in the process of getting custody of children, such as by adoption. Federal and state law cover most kinds of residential housing. There is one exception to protection of people with children; that exception is "senior housing." In senior housing, the housing provides significant facilities and services to meet the needs of older persons, and all the residents must be 62 or older; or the housing must be part of a federal or state program that provides housing for seniors; or 80 percent of the units must have at least one resident over age 55.

In most cases, neither federal nor state housing law protects people from discrimination based on age if the person being discriminated against is aged 18 or older. In addition, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act prohibits discrimination based on age in credit transactions that include the purchase of a home.

Providers of housing are allowed to set rental criteria and make reasonable rules for their tenants. They are not allowed to apply criteria or rules that would have an unfair effect on a person who is a member of one of the categories described earlier. These things are illegal:

Fair housing laws cover landlords, their managers, property management companies, mortgage companies, financial institutions, homeowners' insurance companies, cities, counties, housing authorities, and any other entity that provides housing.

People with disabilities have the right to make physical changes--such as ramps, grab bars, or widened doorways--to their housing unit if they need those changes, but most landlords have no duty to pay for those changes. Landlords do have that obligation in certain subsidized housing. Landlords must make other reasonable exceptions to rules that interfere with a disabled person's ability to live comfortably in his or her home.

A housing provider may establish reasonable occupancy limits. Landlords may impose reasonable rules about the behavior of tenants; those rules cannot single out children for restrictions not imposed on adults.

More information about fair housing laws is available from the Fair Housing Council of Oregon at 223-8295 in the Portland Metropolitan Area or 1-800-424-3247 in the rest of the state; (landlords can call Multifamily Housing Council; Lawyer Referral Service).

This is a complex and changing area of the law. It is important that you realize that some of the information on this tape may be out of date by the time you hear it. This tape is not intended to be legal advice regarding your particular problem, and is not intended to replace the work of an attorney. If you do not have an attorney, the Oregon State Bar Lawyer Referral Service can assist you. The number to call is 684-3763 or toll-free in Oregon, 1-800-452-7636. They will help you contact a lawyer who can advise you.

The foregoing text is a transcription of a Tel-Law transcript that you can hear by calling 503-620-3000 or toll free (in oregon only) at 1-800-452-4776. OLA brings this transcription to you with the cooperation of the Oregon State Bar. this script is based on Oregon law, produced by volunteer lawyers as a public service. The law of other states may be different. Also, the information may be out of date. OLA encourages you to seek an attorney before relying upon this information.

(10/18/95)