2019 Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing: Phase 1 Report

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Familial status includes children under the age of 18 living with parents or legal custodians, pregnant women, and people securing custody of children under the age of 18. The PHA will not discriminate on the basis of marital status, gender identity, or sexual orientation [FR Notice 02/03/12]. PHA Policy The PHA does not identify any additional protected classes. The PHA Administrative Plan errs in saying that no state laws apply. Further, the list of protected classes in the "Nondiscrimination" chapter—presented in a confusing, piecemeal way—also wrongly omits ancestry and human immunodeficiency virus infection. This policy language, with these errors and omissions, is also found in the submitted Kulaimano Elderly Housing Project Tenant Selection Plan (proposed) document. Finally, the 2018 HOME Proposal Packet also included an incomplete definition for the protected classes under the federal fair housing statute in Exhibit 12 to the project proposal, "Compliance with Federal Overlay Statutes." 2018 HOME Proposal Packet at P-96. Under "Equal Employment Opportunity & Fair Housing," the document states, "Discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion or sex is prohibited." This definition is incomplete, because the federal statute, in addition to those listed classes, also prohibits discrimination on the basis of familial status and disability. 42 U.S.C. § 3604. These errors in the PHA Administrative Plan and other policy and project documents may create confusion among the public, agencies, and the OHCD's own employees regarding minimum compliance to federal and state fair housing nondiscrimination laws. 2.2.2 Reasonable Accommodations The PHA Administrative Plan shows compliance with fair housing reasonable accommodations law. The Policy requires: The PHA will ask all applicants and participants if they require any type of accommodations, in writing, on the intake application, reexamination documents, and notices of adverse action by the PHA, by including the following language: "Ifyou or anyone in your family is a person with disabilities, and you require a specific accommodation in order to fully utilize our programs and services, please contact the housing authority." PHA Administrative Document at 2-7. The document also details the agency's policy for receiving and responding to requests for reasonable accommodation. The document states that OHCD will respond to the request for accommodation—which can be presented informally, 29