2019 Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing: Phase 1 Report

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legally screen clients. Similarly, many (about 1/3rd) respondents felt that veteran status (or military service) denotes a protected class. While many protections exist for veterans, the fact that it does not represent a protected class under fair housing law means that landlords and housing agencies are allowed to use veteran status as an inclusive criteria in screening (such as the VASH program). Beyond this question, we also asked a series of straightforward questions related to fair housing the answers to which are presented in Figure 1.4. [see Table 1.4 at end of Section] Hawai`i County respondents scored very well on questions related to religion (97% correct) and retaliation against a tenant making a fair housing complaint (94% correct). Respondents also scored well (almost 95% correct) and recognized the need for language support for LEP or non- English speaking households (even though it applies to public housing leasing, which is not the sole purview of Hawai`i County's Office of Housing and Community Development). Relatively large shares of respondents indicated "don't know" to questions about mental illness (30%); marital status (33%); and military service (27%) showing a need for more elaboration in these area. Interestingly, though the large majority understood disability as a protected class, 15% were incorrect about the lawfulness of refusing an applicant due to mental illness (in addition to the 30% who indicated they "don't know"). This suggests a need for expanded understanding of disability protections that include mental illness. In addition, given responses to questions about marital status and familial status here and in the previous section, clarification about single vs. married status protections would benefit respondents. Also, some respondents incorrectly identified a range of behaviors as discriminatory that were not, according to state law: these include source of income (voucher status) and military status incentives. 1.4 Response to Fair Housing Scenarios In addition to assessing respondents' basic familiarity with fair housing law, the bulk of the survey assessed the full range of respondents' comprehension of fair housing through questions about fictional fair housing scenarios. These scenarios were intentionally designed to be nuanced, in order to reflect the complexity of fair housing issues, in practice. Respondents were asked whether each scenario was likely "illegal discrimination in Hawai`i" (with optional answers: Yes, No, Don't know). In addition, we asked each respondent to offer their opinion about how often the issues raised in each scenario occur. Answers to these questions provide an indirect way to assess how often the specific fair housing issues come up, in practice. Therefore, while the number of agency employees who identified the correct answer is an important metric, we also encourage agencies to review the prevalence of each scenario as estimated by their staff, which will present important information on what types of issues are more prevalent and therefore what types of training would be most beneficial for staff. For each scenario, we provide the correct answer along with a legal explanation for that answer. 14