In recent months, Michigan has seen significant updates to its fair housing laws, including amendments to the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act (ELCRA) and progress on source of income antidiscrimination bills.
ELCRA Amendments: Expanded Protections Now in Effect
This year, amendments to the ELCRA have broadened the scope of Michigan’s protected classes to include gender identity/expression and sexual orientation. While these categories have been covered under sex discrimination by the Federal Fair Housing Act since 2021, the additional protection at the state level enhances access to justice for victims of housing discrimination. The new amendments expand the choices for complainants who can now pursue legal recourse at the state level.
Source of Income Antidiscrimination Bills (Senate Bills 205 & 206, House Bill 4062): Legislative Advancements
Antidiscrimination bills currently advancing through the Michigan legislature aim to prohibit housing discrimination based on the source of income. If signed into law, income derived from legal sources such as housing vouchers, rental assistance, or social security could not be used as grounds for denying housing. Source of income protections have already been afforded to residents of some local municipalities, including the cities of Ann Arbor, Lansing, and Jackson. The Fair Housing Center has leveraged these local laws to investigate and aid in the litigation of source of income complaints. In May 2023, FHC staff testified at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in support of SB 205 & 206.
At the Fair Housing Center, we are committed to providing education on fair housing law. Stay tuned to our e-newsletter and social media for more updates on your fair housing rights.
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A woman with a mobility impairment filed a case against a property management company for refusing to grant her a reasonable accommodation. The woman initially contacted the FHC after repeatedly requesting an accessible parking space without success. Each suggestion made by the property manager required her to navigate gravel and dirt, which was particularly challenging with her walker.
Despite months of advocacy by FHC staff, the property manager still refused to grant the reasonable accommodation, citing that doing so would be “unfair” to the other occupants. Facing this continued denial, the client opted for litigation. She is being represented by FHC Cooperating Attorney Francyne Stacey, who filed the case in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan in June 2024. The case has been assigned to the Honorable Judith E. Levy.
A woman was facing eviction for a lease violation that stemmed from her disability. She fixed the problem immediately, before the landlord’s deadline. Despite that, the owner and her son pressed on with the eviction. FHC staff spent weeks and went to great lengths attempting to resolve the issue. When negotiations failed, the client opted for litigation. FHC Cooperating Attorney Daniel Gwinn filed the case in Federal Court on December 19, 2023. The case is currently in front of the Honorable Matthew F. Leitman in the Eastern District of Michigan.
The FHC is recruiting individuals to pose as home seekers (like secret shoppers in the retail industry) to help uncover illegal housing discrimination practices in southeast & mid-Michigan. We immediately need black male testers but welcome people of any sex, gender, age (18+), and race to apply. Testers can choose to volunteer or be part-time, as-needed employees ($31/hour plus mileage reimbursement). Testing hours vary and typically take place during regular business hours.
Visit our website for more information or to apply: fhcmichigan.org/tester
Stay informed about fair housing laws with our newly updated fact sheets! Whether you need a refresher or want to review recent advancements, we’ve created various resources to help you navigate fair housing issues. Visit the Related Resources page on our website to explore topics like Assistance Animals, Criminal Background, Writing Reasonable Accommodation Support Letters, and more.
The FHC resolves many reasonable accommodation and modification requests each year. If you would like a full report of resolved disability cases, please email info@fhcmichigan.org
A woman contacted our office on behalf of herself and her two adult children. Because of their disabilities, the doctor recommended that the daughters no longer share a bedroom. The family had resided at the apartment complex for nearly 20 years. For over a year, they had attempted to transfer to a specific larger unit closer to the onsite security office. The PPO the mother had against her former abuser had expired, and she was nervous about remaining in her current unit because he knew the family’s address. The landlord told the woman that she could not “pick and choose” the unit that she wanted to transfer to, and it could easily take over five years to transfer units. The landlord further threatened that if she rejected the first unit they offered her, she would go to the bottom of the transfer list, forcing her to wait another five years or longer for a new unit.
FHC staff wrote a reasonable accommodation request to the corporate management office but did not receive a response for four months. In the interim, FHC staff filed two HUD complaints against the landlord, the second alleging retaliation. After several letters and emails with the corporate office and their attorney, the family was finally granted the reasonable accommodation and moved into the designated unit they had been waiting for.
A man with a mental disability who lived in subsidized housing was discriminated against by his landlord. His legal guardian contacted the FHC for a second time [as we previously assisted the young man in 2021]. The landlord continued to overcharge the man for rent spuriously, did not follow HUD rules governing recertification paperwork, and threatened to evict him on more than one occasion if he didn’t pay what they claimed he owed. For example, the landlord attempted to have the man sign and backdate the recertification paperwork, which was two years old, completely contradictory to HUD policy. Moreover, the landlord was well informed that all legal paperwork related to the man’s housing, including recertification and lease documents, needed to be reviewed and signed by his guardian because he has significant intellectual disabilities. The landlord continued to violate the court order by not informing the guardian of important recertification paperwork and deadlines. This resulted in the man losing his subsidy and alleging that he owed over $6,000 in back rent.
FHC staff wrote letters to the corporate regional manager and had Zoom meetings with the same individual. After corporate refused to follow the HUD guidelines or adhere to the court-ordered guardianship, FHC staff contacted HUD’s Asset Resolution Department and asked for the tenant’s entire file to be audited. After two months of investigation, HUD’s report concluded that the landlord was at fault for not only completely mismanaging the tenant’s file and overcharging him rent, but they also owed money back to HUD for failing to submit recertification paperwork in a timely manner. The man’s subsidy was reinstated, and he owed only $300 in back rent instead of the $6,000 the landlord initially claimed.
A senior with a disability living in subsidized housing contacted the FHC after experiencing harassment and intimidation by his landlord. The maintenance staff had entered the tenant’s unit several times without notice, moved his belongings around, and caused the man repeated stress. Additionally, the landlord refused to permit the tenant’s son to serve as his home health aide, even though the son provided paperwork from the Department of Human Services certifying that the state approved him. Lastly, the landlord claimed that the tenant failed to provide recertification paperwork, citing him with a third lease violation and filing an eviction action.
FHC staff wrote a reasonable accommodation letter requesting that (1) management give the tenant written notice before entering his home, (2) allow his son to live with him as his home healthcare aide without harassment, and (3) drop the eviction action after FHC staff demonstrated to the landlord that the tenant had submitted the requisite paperwork several times. The landlord responded favorably to the FHC’s letter and granted all requests.
A mother of three contacted the FHC after receiving a retaliatory eviction notice due to the fence the family had previously built around their mobile home to keep their two autistic children safe. The former management company followed fair housing law by allowing the family to build the fence, but the new management company refused to allow them to keep it. When the family fought back, stating that the fence was their right by law as a reasonable modification of the children’s disabilities, the management company issued an eviction notice with trivial citations, such as having weeds that were too long in early spring after the winter thaw, and the gutter being loose from a wind storm. The family had fixed both minor citations, yet the landlord continued to pursue the eviction.
The FHC wrote a letter to the opposing attorney alleging the frivolous eviction notice and discussing the mobile home park’s underlying retaliatory motive in forcing the family to remove the fence. The opposing attorney discussed the case with his client, and they agreed to drop the eviction. The fence was allowed to remain in place.
A man with physical disabilities who uses a Section 8 voucher contacted the FHC for assistance with a reasonable accommodation request. The tenant had requested to move to a first-floor unit for over a year and provided documentation from his medical provider stating he needed an immediate transfer. Still, the landlord continued to ignore his request. The tenant had fallen several times using the stairs to access his unit. Instead of accommodating the man, the landlord threatened to evict him.
After contacting the FHC, staff wrote a letter to the landlord’s attorney demanding that the reasonable accommodation request be granted to transfer to a first-floor unit. FHC staff was also successful in having the eviction case dismissed.
A disabled veteran of the United States Army contacted the FHC for assistance with a request for reasonable modification. The veteran has mobility impairment due to an injury while serving in the Army. He chose to rent his mobile home because it had an accessible ramp for his motorized scooter. After a year of living in the home, he informed management that the ramp was starting to deteriorate and needed repairs. Management first claimed they would make repairs, but the following summer, the landlord tore down the ramp without warning and installed a dangerous set of rickety stairs with no railing. The veteran advocated for himself to compel the landlord to install a new ramp but to no avail. The landlord retaliated further by informing the tenant that the mobile home would be condemned and served him a 30-day eviction notice. The FHC contacted the township, and officials there stated that the landlord did not have the authority to condemn the property, nor was the property in a condition that required condemnation; the landlord simply refused to make the necessary repairs.
FHC staff wrote several letters to the opposing attorney and negotiated a settlement allowing the veteran to remain in this home and avoid eviction. The mobile home park was also mandated by law to replace the ramp as a reasonable modification of the tenant’s disability.
A man contacted the Fair Housing Center after a leasing agent rejected his emotional support animal (ESA) because it did not have an “ESA licensing number.” This caused a stall in his tenancy, preventing him from moving in. After FHC staff sent a letter to the property manager clarifying that support animals do not require licensing numbers, the landlord allowed the man to proceed in the application process, and he moved into the unit the following week.
A woman contacted the Fair Housing Center after a landlord informed her that their pet policy would consider the weight of her emotional support animal, requiring her to adopt an animal that weighed 35 pounds or less. Following a letter of advocacy explaining that emotional support animals are not pets, the landlord agreed to amend their policy, excluding her ESA from the weight limit for pets in the complex.
Thank you to our members for your dedication to the FHC and our mission to end housing discrimination. Your ongoing support ensures that we can continue to fight for equal housing opportunities and create a community where everyone has a place to call home.
We want to give a very special thank you to Reinhart Realtors, the Mark David Mitshkun Memorial Fund, and all those who participated in this year’s Membership Drive and Fair Housing Month Mixer at the Ypsilanti Cocktail Club. Your participation and generosity made these events resounding successes. Together, we raised an impressive $20,000 to help fund our work.
The success stories featured in this newsletter would not have been possible without your contributions. Your support is the backbone of our efforts, enabling us to provide services such as investigating discrimination claims and enforcing fair housing laws by holding those who discriminate responsible for their actions. THANK YOU!
Each year, the FHC hosts a benefit breakfast with a featured guest speaker to raise the necessary funds for our efforts to end housing discrimination and expand equal housing opportunities, making our communities more open, accessible, and inclusive for all.
The 11th Annual Fair Housing Breakfast was held on October 10th at Weber’s Inn of Ann Arbor, with Cashauna Hill as our guest speaker. Thank you to those who were able to join us in person and virtually, to those who made financial contributions, and to our event sponsors. Because of you, the Breakfast raised over $46,000 to aid in our fight for fair housing!
Visit fhcmichigan.org/fhbreakfast to watch the event video.
Silver Sponsors:
Fifth Third Bank, Old National Bank, Washtenaw County Office of Community & Economic Development
Bronze Sponsors:
Bank of Ann Arbor, Delta Dental, Greater Metropolitan Board of REALTORS: Ann Arbor Chapter, Key Bank, Lake Michigan Credit Union, Michigan Realtors, University Bank, Zillow, Zingerman’s Community of Businesses
Individual Sponsors:
FHL Bank Indianapolis, First Merchants, MSHDA
Our keynote speaker was John Reiman, the founder and managing partner of civil rights law firm Reiman Colfax. For more than 30 years, he has represented individual plaintiffs, cities, and civil rights organizations in many of the country’s most important civil rights cases and pioneered groundbreaking fair housing and fair lending cases that have expanded the scope and reach of the Fair Housing Act. John’s talk, titled Fair Housing at a Crossroads, set out to answer the question, “Is race discrimination really still happening?” Not surprisingly John had plenty of recent examples of the insidious ways that racism persists in the housing market. The Mark Mitshkun Board of Directors Award was presented to Courtney Atsalakis for her work in opening and operating the Amber Reineck House (more on page 2).
Visit our website at www.fhcmichigan.org/fhbreakfast for photos and a recording of the event. We raised an incredible $52,000 at our 10th Annual Fair Housing Breakfast fundraising event on October 26th. Thank you to our sponsors, donors, members, and breakfast attendees for your support and donations. This achievement is a significant step forward in making fair housing a reality in our communities.
When the City of Howell blocked Amber Reineck House – a home for women recovering from substance use issues – from opening, we contacted founder Courtney Atsalakis offering our help. People in recovery are considered disabled under fair housing law. We provided the City with many examples of similar fair housing cases decided in favor of people with disabilities, but the City would not relent.
Ms. Atsalakis decided to file a lawsuit, and the FHC Board voted to join the litigation. The lawsuit alleged that the City of Howell and two of its officials violated the Fair Housing Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Michigan’s Persons with Disabilities Civil Rights Act by engaging in a concerted, ongoing effort to prevent Amber Reineck House from opening a sober living home in a residential neighborhood.
After three years of litigation, Amber Reineck House, Courtney Atsalakis, and the Fair Housing Center accepted $750,000 to settle the disability rights lawsuit. Ms. Atsalakis is now operating a long-term recovery home in Howell.
This settlement is the largest in FHC history and one of the largest settlements of its kind in the Midwest. We hope it sends a signal to local governments who have sought to prevent these types of homes from operating in residential neighborhoods.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan by Reiman Colfax PLLC, Dane Law LLC, and Pitt, McGehee, Palmer, Bonanni & Rivers PC, on January 27, 2020. It was assigned to the Honorable Judge Paul D. Borman.
Court: Federal
Settlement: $750,000
Daniel Black, a man with dwarfism, has settled his lawsuit after a five-year struggle against Capitol Commons
Apartments and First Housing Corporation in Lansing. Mr. Black spent years asking his federally subsidized housing provider, Capitol Commons, to outfit his bathroom with a rollin shower to accommodate his disability. He also requested that the building install an accessible electric entrance door so that he, other seniors, and people with disabilities could freely come and go from their accessible apartments without assistance.
With no progress on his requests, Mr. Black contacted the Fair Housing Center. During the summer of 2022, FHC staff advocated extensively on his behalf. Still unable to gain reasonable accommodation, FHC Cooperating Attorney Robin Wagner of Pitt, McGehee, Palmer, Bonanni & Rivers ultimately filed a lawsuit on Mr. Black’s behalf on December 2, 2022, in U.S. Federal District Court in the Western District of Michigan. The case was assigned to the Honorable Robert J. Jonker; it settled for an undisclosed amount in October 2023, and both the accessible shower and electronic door were installed.
Court: Federal
Settlement: non-disclosed
Megan Morse filed a lawsuit against landlord Wilson White for refusing to rent to people who use government housing vouchers to pay rent. The Civil Rights Litigation Initiative at the University of Michigan Law School (CRLI) is representing Morse in what is considered to be the first lawsuit to enforce an Ann Arbor ordinance barring source of income discrimination. Ms. Morse lives with epilepsy and other disabilities making it impossible for her to earn enough money to afford rent in Ann Arbor without a housing voucher. She was denied an apartment at Arbor Hills Apartments and Wyndham Hill Apartments, both owned and managed by the Wilson White Company.
FHC testing supported Ms. Morse’s claim of discrimination based on source of income. Ms. Morse is represented by Professor Michael J. Steinberg, director of CRLI, and CRLI student attorneys Rebecca Lowy, Lauren Yu, and Elyse O’Neill. Filed on April 19, 2023, in Washtenaw County Circuit Court the case is assigned to the Honorable Timothy P. Connors.
14 cities in Michigan provide protection against source of income discrimination, including Ann Arbor, East Lansing, Jackson, Lansing, and Ypsilanti.
Michigan Senate Bills 205, 206, and 207 propose to add source of income protection in housing for all Michiganders (with some restrictions). The bills have passed out of the Senate and are now waiting for a vote in the House of Representatives.
Stay tuned for updates on our email newsletter and social media.
While apartments sit open, black and brown people are told that nothing is available to rent—often with a smile and a handshake. People who use wheelchairs are routinely denied simple accommodations, like a parking space near the entrance of their apartment, or a curb cut. Families are denied housing solely because they have children. Women continue to suffer from sexual harassment by unscrupulous landlords.
Only with your financial support can we fully investigate these fair housing violations and open the door to available housing. We need your help to enforce this deeply important civil rights law.
Your Donation Of:
The FHC resolves at least a dozen of reasonable accommodation and modification requests each year. If you would like a full report of resolved disability cases, please email info@fhcmichigan.org
A young couple and their five children received a first-time housing choice voucher. Due to the extreme shortage of affordable housing in their area and factors related to COVID-19, they were unable to place their voucher within the initial 90-day period or during the 30-day extension period. The couple has a toddler who was born prematurely and has a permanently collapsed lung. The child requires oxygen around the clock. When the couple contacted the FHC, they had been told by their Section 8 worker that their voucher had been terminated for failure to place it in time. FHC staff wrote a letter to the Section 8 worker at the local housing commission and, as a result, she resumed working with the family to try to secure the home they originally wanted before their voucher expired. Ultimately, the landlord of that property wanted more money than the housing voucher covered, so the family lost the home, and their Section 8 worker stopped working with them again.
FHC staff wrote a second letter to the housing commission asking again for a reasonable accommodation to extend the family’s period to place the voucher due to their son’s disability. The housing commission director called the FHC staff and stated that they had decided not only to continue to allow the family adequate time to place their housing voucher but that the housing commission would no longer terminate vouchers for failing to place them within a designated period.
A blind man with a Section 8 voucher contacted the FHC regarding ongoing issues he was having with his upstairs neighbors. One of the major issues was the neighbors’ persistent smoking which violated the lease agreement and was not being enforced by the landlord. The smoke wafting into his apartment exacerbated the symptoms of his disability, but management was unwilling to take any action.He had been trying to use his voucher at a different unit for almost a year when he was finally notified that he was at the top of the waitlist. He then found out that the rent was too high for his voucher to pay for it. FHC staff intervened and wrote a letter to the Section 8 provider asking for a reasonable accommodation based on the complainant’s disability to increase the payment standard for his voucher. The Section 8 provider granted the reasonable accommodation and increased the complainant’s voucher amount so he could move to the new, safer unit.
A man contacted the FHC after management at his apartment complex refused to allow him to pay rent on the 5th of the month due to his Social Security disability check not arriving until after the first of the month. In addition, the man is legally blind and management had recently imposed a requirement that all residents pay rent via the online portal, which he could not do. FHC staff wrote a letter to the landlord requesting that he be permitted to pay his rent by paper check through the mail and also to allow him to pay rent by the 5th of the month to keep late fees from continuing to accrue. The landlord’s attorney would only grant a partial reasonable accommodation, allowing him to pay by paper check, but refused to allow him to pay his rent by the 5th of the month, alleging that it was an “economic accommodation” and therefore not covered by the FHA.
The FHC consulted with a cooperating attorney who wrote an additional letter to the landlord, citing updated case law that clearly refuted the opposing attorney’s argument that the reasonable accommodation was economic and not based on the man’s disability. The opposing attorney finally conceded and adjusted his rent due date accordingly.
A woman with a physical disability received her Social Security disability income on the second Wednesday of every month. She contacted the FHC after new management began issuing her eviction notices due to her payment schedule. FHC staff sent a reasonable accommodation letter to the company’s lawyer requesting that her payment schedule be modified and that the eviction proceedings be dismissed. After two days, the lawyer agreed to change the rent payment schedule, alter the terms of her new lease to accommodate the change, and dismiss the eviction proceedings.
The Fair Housing Center of Southeast & Mid Michigan’s staff is growing thanks to new grants from the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA), the United Way of Washtenaw County, and the Washtenaw County Office of Community & Economic Development’s New Human Services Partnership. With complaints to our office at an all time high, we are grateful to our funders and members for supporting the work to stop illegal housing discrimination.
Marnay Avant joined the FHC in May 2022 as our Intake & Administrative Specialist. She’s the first person you’ll likely speak to if you call the FHC’s main line (877-979-FAIR). Marnay is also a doctoral student and graduate student instructor at the University of Michigan, where she focuses broadly on how housing policies reproduce social
inequalities.
Langley Allen began at the FHC in October 2022 as Assistant Coordinator of Investigations. She’s part of the investigations team, working alongside Niki Green and Jessica Ortiz Farley to advocate for complainants and assign tests. Langley is a recent graduate of the University of Notre Dame, where she worked with the Law School’s
Exoneration Justice Clinic.
Anna Blanchet is the newest addition to the FHC team. She joined us in March 2023 as our Fundraising & Communications Coordinator. Anna will be working closely with our Associate Director on a variety of fundraising initiatives, special events, and education and outreach programs. Anna is a graduate of Wayne State University with a background in communications and development.
The Fair Housing Center filed a race discrimination lawsuit against Capital Investments, owner of The Flats Apartments in Ypsilanti. Filed on April 23, 2020 by Cooperating Attorney William Piper, the suit alleged a violation of HUD’s guidance regarding criminal background and tenancy selection.
The lawsuit said, in part, “The [HUD] Guidance is not ambiguous; it clearly explains how broad-based criminal background policies that rely on criminal histories cause a disparate impact on people of color, how automatic blanket bans that categorically exclude applicants as a result of their criminal histories are not necessary to satisfy a legitimate business interest, and that giving individualized consideration to applicants based on factors such as the nature of conviction and evidence of rehabilitation is a less discriminatory alternative that satisfies legitimate interests in protecting safety and property.”
Filed in Federal Court, the case was assigned to the Honorable Sean F. Cox and settled for $20,000 and a change in the tenant screening policy.
Court: Federal
Settlement: $20,000; change in tenant screening policy
Marsha Ladiski contacted the FHC to report a problem with getting a reserved accessible parking space and proper signage to mark it for her use only. While the case began as a simple request for reasonable accommodation, it went on to include months of stalling on the part of the management company, Woda Cooper, and threats of retaliation from the manager.
According to the lawsuit, filed in Federal Court by FHC Cooperating Attorney Daniel Gwinn on September 14, 2020, after finally receiving her designated parking space, the manager told Ms. Ladiski that they might not renew her lease or that they might have to move her, knowing that no units were available in the 18-unit complex located in Corunna.
This was the first FHC-aided lawsuit in Shiawassee County. It was assigned to the Honorable Stephanie Dawkins Davis. Ms. Ladiski accepted a monetary settlement and the property manager was fired.
Court: Federal
Settlement: non-disclosed
Franklin v. Ikens was filed on January 15, 2021 by FHC Cooperating Attorney Robin Wagner on behalf of Verdell and Julie Franklin, an interracial couple seeking to buy a lake house in Livingston County. The suit claims the couple was denied the right to put an offer on the house because Mr. Franklin is Black.
After viewing the house in Pinckney with a Realtor, the Franklins immediately asked to make an offer. Before the offer was written the Realtor left the meeting. When she returned she told them that unless they made a full-price cash offer it was not worth writing up the offer. Soon after, the property was sold to a white man, who obtained a mortgage to purchase the home for $300,000, or $50,000 below the asking price.
The suit, filed in U.S. Federal District Court in the Eastern District of Michigan, was assigned to the Honorable George C. Steeh. Named defendants were realtors Richard M. “Rick” Beaudin and Mary Kay Ikens, and the firms they worked under: The Michigan Group, Inc – Livingston d/b/a RE/MAX Platinum, and Dominick Comer & Associates, Incorporated d/b/a KW Realty Livingston. The terms of the settlement are not disclosed.
Court: Federal
Settlement: non-disclosed
Pamela Groth contacted the Fair Housing Center in November 2020. Ms. Groth, who lives with a physical disability that has worsened, asked to be let out of her lease without penalty so she could move to an accessible apartment. Garden Court Apartments in Monroe denied her request and insisted that she pay the equivalent of two months’ rent to end her lease early. Ms. Groth contacted the FHC and FHC staff wrote a request for reasonable accommodation that was also denied. FHC Cooperating Attorney Daniel Gwinn filed the lawsuit on February 1, 2021 on behalf of Ms. Groth. She accepted a settlement for an undisclosed amount one month later,
without having to pay the additional money.
Court: Federal
Settlement: non-disclosed
Andrea Grieb contacted the FHC to report that she was denied an apartment in Milan because she had a child. When she responded to an online advertisement, the owner asked Ms. Grieb to describe her family situation. After disclosing that she has a child, the owner responded in part by writing, “I have always been leery of renting either of the upstairs apartments to anyone with children.” The owner cited concerns including the stairs and the noise that children make.
Testing supported Ms. Grieb’s claim of discrimination based on familial status. The case was filed on May 26, 2021 by Cooperating Attorney Francyne Stacey and assigned to the Honorable Sean F. Cox in the Eastern District Court of Michigan.
Court: Federal
Settlement: non-disclosed
Lisa Helmreich was looking for housing for herself, her husband, and their teenage son. Her son has a disability and requires an emotional support animal (ESA), a small dog. She found out through her husband’s co-worker that a unit was coming available at Ottawa Apartments in Iosco County. Rental housing in the area is difficult to find, so Ms. Helmreich immediately went to speak to the manager. After some back and forth, the manager said she could rent the apartment. When it became clear that an ESA would be living with the family, the manager told Helmreich that she should have told her up front that they had a dog and that no dogs were allowed. FHC staff wrote a letter to the manager, at Helmreich’s request, explaining fair housing law with regard to ESAs. The manager then gave an alternate reason for denying the family. The case was filed in U.S. Federal District Court on August 20, 2022 by FHC Cooperating Attorney Francyne Stacey and was assigned to the Honorable Terrance Berg.
Court: Federal
Settlement: non-disclosed
Damarkus Jefferies contacted the FHC to report being denied an apartment at Huron Heights/Huron Ridge Apartments in Ypsilanti Township. Testing supported the allegation that Mr. Jefferies, a Black man, was denied because he had a felony on his record. HUD guidelines from 2016 prohibit housing providers from having blanket “no felony” policies. The lawsuit was filed December 28, 2022 in the U.S. Federal District Court in the Eastern District of Michigan by FHC Cooperating Attorney Francyne Stacey. The case was assigned to the Honorable Judith E. Levy.
Court: Federal
Settlement: non-disclosed
Deborah Patterson is a woman who uses a wheelchair. Ms. Patterson lived in the same accessible apartment in Pittsfield Township for well over 20 years. As the result of an FHC-aided lawsuit in 1999, a power door and ramp at the end of her hallway were installed, giving her wheelchair access to the outdoors. Fast forward to 2022 and a new management company “temporarily” moved her across the hall to a unit without wheelchair access while they supposedly renovated her unit. A year later she was still living in the inaccessible unit when a seemingly non-disabled person was moved into her original unit. On top of all this the management company stopped taking her Section 8 voucher and dramatically raised her rent. At that point she contacted the FHC and eventually opted for litigation. Cooperating Attorney Robin Wagner filed in U.S. Federal District Court in the Eastern District of Michigan on January 17, 2023. The case was assigned to the Honorable Denise Page Hood.
Court: Federal
Settlement: non-disclosed
Aaron Taylor was denied an apartment at Willows on Twin Ponds in Jackson because his family planned to have a boy and girl share a bedroom. After our testing confirmed his claim, FHC staff met with Mr. Taylor to discuss the next steps. At the complainant’s request, FHC staff contacted the agent to explain the Fair Housing Act violation. The agent asked the FHC to send Mr. Taylor back the next morning, promising to “work with him.” The next day at 9 am, the same agent again told Mr. Taylor she would not rent to him and his family. He then opted for litigation. FHC Cooperating Attorney Francyne Stacey filed suit on behalf of the family in the U.S. Federal District Court in the Eastern District of Michigan. The case is assigned to the Honorable Linda V. Parker. The lawsuit was filed on April 29, 2022.
Daniel Black contacted the FHC about his apartment in Lansing. He needed a low threshold shower instead of a bathtub to accommodate his disability. After years of requesting the accommodation himself, and months of advocacy by FHC staff, a Cooperating Attorney offered to step in and help with the final negotiations. Still unable to gain the reasonable accommodation, Mr. Black opted for litigation. FHC Cooperating Attorney Robin Wagner filed Black v. Capitol Commons in U.S. Federal District Court on December 2, 2022. The case was assigned to the Honorable Robert J. Jonker in the Western District of Michigan.
Recent reasonable accommodation and modification requests resolved by our office.
A woman with a mental/emotional disability was issued a Housing Choice (Section 8) Voucher and wanted to use it to stay in the apartment where she had lived for over seven years. The landlord told her she would have to move because they no longer take new voucher holders, though they did allow voucher holders who already lived there to stay with their vouchers. We asked the property to take her new voucher as a reasonable accommodation of her disability and included a letter from her doctor. They quickly granted the accommodation and she was able to stay in her home.
Another woman with a Housing Choice Voucher who uses a wheelchair needed to move from her two-story townhouse, as her disability was worsening and she needed a barrier-free unit. Just two apartment complexes in her area had open units that met her needs, but rental rates exceeded the payment standard allowed by HUD and the local housing authority. Research done by FHC staff and a local disability rights organization showed a severe lack of affordable barrier-free housing in the area. A letter from FHC staff outlining the shortage along with documentation from the complainant’s doctor was enough to have HUD agree to pay above 120% of Fair Market Rent as a reasonable accommodation of our complainant’s disability. As a result our complainant was able to move into a new accessible unit.
A third complainant with a disability contacted the FHC after she and her children had been homeless for a month during the summer of 2021, which resulted in her being removed from the kidney transplant list. She became homeless because, after moving from her former landlord’s property, the agency that administered her Housing Choice Voucher failed to perform inspections at multiple properties and did not send the required paperwork to potential landlords – basic requirements to facilitate her move. Our complainant and her family lost several potential homes due to the housing agency’s poor service and had to live in a hotel for a month. Once she moved into her new home, the agency routinely charged her incorrectly; some months they were charging her $450 more than she should have been paying for rent, but she paid the higher portion for fear of losing her voucher.
FHC staff had several meetings with Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) employees, including the head of the local Section 8 program. During this time, our complainant and FHC staff went through a detailed analysis of her Section 8 accounting documents and paperwork over the course of several years, illuminating many errors that had been made. FHC staff requested an internal audit of the agency by MSHDA and asked that our complainant be removed from their services as her Section 8 housing provider. Upon completion of the internal audit of the case, the head of the Section 8 program at MSHDA granted the reasonable accommodation request to transfer our complainant to a different housing agency.
A teenager who lives with physical and cognitive disabilities and requires a motorized wheelchair lives with her family in the home they own. Her family needed to install a ramp at the front door of the house extending to their driveway, so her mother wrote a letter to the local planning/zoning department to request accommodation. The planning department manager denied her request, informing her that she would have to go through the zoning board of appeals to obtain a variance, that the “city council has no authority,” and that there would be no guarantee of approval. Our complainant explained she was not asking for a variance, but for a reasonable accommodation under the Fair Housing Act. The manager still did not offer any resolution, so our complainant stated she would be pursuing other avenues to get the ramp which, according to our complainant, the department manager laughed at. The next step was to go before the zoning board of appeals, so our complainant set up the required meeting. At this time she was told she had to contact all residents within 300 feet of their property and issue a notice in the local newspaper to notify residents of their request to install the ramp, in order to give neighbors an opportunity to express their opinion. The complainant then contacted the FHC. We arranged for one of our Cooperating Attorneys to look at the case and attend the meeting with her. Our complainant ultimately won unanimous approval for the ramp, without the need for neighbor approval.
Our complainant was a man who is completely deaf and uses American Sign Language (ASL) as his primary method of communication. He has lived at his subsidized apartment complex for over 18 years. Every year at the time of his Section 8 recertification, he asks the manager for an ASL interpreter, and every year the manager tells him that since he can read the paperwork, he does not need an interpreter. Beyond frustrated, he decided he would not take this treatment any longer and contacted the Fair Housing Center. FHC staff advised the complainant of his right under the Fair Housing Act to have an ASL interpreter as reasonable accommodation of his disability. FHC staff then called the corporate office of the apartment complex and left a message for the regional manager. Minutes later, FHC staff received a phone call from the local manager who was very apologetic. The complex agreed to immediately arrange an ASL interpreter for our complainant’s recertification paperwork and pay for an interpreter going forward.
Danielle (Dani) Laurion has a disability that requires care from aides during the day while her husband is at work. Her aides didn’t have reliable parking nearby; paid street parking may be available but it is costly and time-limited. Dani and the aides all asked the manager for permission to use her husband’s parking space (which is vacant during the day and occupied by her husband’s car only after work hours). The manager said no, stating that if she allowed the aides to park in his space, she’d have to allow everyone to have visitors park in their assigned spaces. The lack of adequate parking led to difficulty for our complainant in scheduling the home care she required. The aides then contacted the Fair Housing Center. FHC staff wrote a letter to the manager explaining how the Fair Housing Act states that you must bend the rules for people with disabilities. The apartment complex management suggested that FHC should have asked the local municipality to provide free street parking instead, but ultimately granted the requested accommodation.
Diane Rosenblum joined the FHC Board of Directors in February 2023.
She is a retired Teacher Consultant who worked in education for forty years. Diane graduated from the University of Michigan with an M.A. in Education. While living in Seattle, Diane was an Educational Consultant who helped write policies and procedures ensuring that students with disabilities would receive free and appropriate public education and provided teacher training so that the school districts would be in compliance with the Individuals with Disabilities Act. In Boston, Diane taught high school special education. When Diane and her late husband, Mark Mitshkun (who served as a Board Member of the Fair Housing Center for over 20 years), moved to Ann Arbor in 1989, Diane became a Teacher Consultant at Huron High School where she worked for 20 years. In addition to her direct teaching and counseling duties in special education, Diane was also involved in staff development. She assisted teachers, staff, and students in confronting issues around race, equity, and the achievement gap. Welcome, Diane!
MAIZ Mexican Cantina in Ypsilanti chose the FHC as their “Round Up & Give” beneficiary in January 2022. We thank them for choosing us as the recipient, the 396 patrons who generously rounded up for us, and the matching gift from MAIZ to bring the total donation to $400. We invite other businesses to think of us in their monthly giving and, as always, individual donations are what keep us going. Please consider giving at www.fhcmichigan.org/donate
The Fair Housing Center has been working on issues related to criminal background and housing for several years now. In our 2014 newsletter we wrote about the nexus between race (particularly Black and Latino) and incarceration rates, and how that translated into housing inequities. Policies that ban people with criminal records disproportionately impact Black and brown people because they are overrepresented in the criminal justice system.
In our 2016 newsletter, we highlighted the new guidance issued by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which banned landlords from using blanket denials based on criminal background. The guidance states that landlords must – if needed – modify their tenant selection policies to evaluate every potential tenant with a criminal background on a case by case basis.
Since then, our office received grants from the United Way of Washtenaw County and the United Way of Monroe/Lenawee to provide education and outreach on this matter to landlords, tenants, and the general community. We offer clear, concise ideas on best practicies in tenant selection to housing providers, as well assist those who feel their rights have been violated. Thanks to additional HUD funding, we also created criminal background fact sheets and other materials for distribution. These materials are available on our website: https://www.fhcmichigan.org/background
Earlier this year we filed four new lawsuits in federal court on the basis of race and in violation of the HUD
guidance; one of these cases is highlighted on page 5.
If you think you have experienced housing discrimination or have a question about fair housing, call us at 877-979-3247.
Scott Lorms settled his lawsuit based on disability discrimination under the Fair Housing Act. The lawsuit alleged that T & R Properties and Zahler Management denied him the right to rent an apartment with his emotional support animals (ESAs). Mr. Lorms has a disability as defined under the Fair Housing Act.
According to the complaint taken by the Fair Housing Center of Southeast & Mid Michigan (FHC), Mr. Lorms called T & R Properties on November 27, 2018, to inquire about a rental unit in Pinckney. Based on the size, location, and price of the duplex, Mr. Lorms thought the property was perfect for him and his family. The home was close enough to Ann Arbor to visit with friends and family and was a short commute to Mr. Lorms’ job in South Lyon.
Mr. Lorms alleged that after he explained to the agent that he had emotional support dogs – which are not considered pets under the Fair Housing Act – the rental agent ended the call because the company had a “no dogs allowed policy.”
Mr. Lorms then called the Fair Housing Center and filed a complaint. Testing by the FHC supported his claim. Mr. Lorms first elected to have the Fair Housing Center attempt to resolve the complaint without legal action; it was not successful.
Because they were denied housing, Mr. Lorms and his family had to rent more expensive housing that was much further away from his work, friends, and family.
Under the Fair Housing Act, it is unlawful to discriminate in the sale or rental of, or to otherwise make unavailable or deny, a dwelling to any buyer or renter because of a disability of that buyer or renter. Discrimination is defined in the Act to include refusing “to make reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices, or services” when necessary to afford a person with a disability an “equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling.”
FHC Cooperating Attorney Francyne B. Stacey filed the fair housing complaint in U.S. Federal District Court on July 31, 2019. The case was assigned to the Honorable Nancy G. Edmunds. The case was resolved on February 11, 2020, for an undisclosed amount.
Then-MSU student (now graduate) Malahni Ngalle contacted the FHC when she was ultimately denied the ability to rent from Grad Apartments in East Lansing. Based on comments made to her by the owner, she believed she was denied because of her race.
The FHC sent a Black tester to inquire about renting from the same property and the treatment this tester experienced mirrored that of the complainant. Based on offensive racial stereotypes expressed by the landlord, the FHC tester joined the lawsuit along with the complainant.
FHC Cooperating Attorney Sarah Riley Howard of Pinsky Smith, Fayette & Kennedy LLP filed the fair housing
complaint in U.S. Federal District Court on September 2019. The case was assigned to the Honorable Janet T.
Neff.
The Civil Rights Litigation Initiative, a new legal clinic at the University of Michigan Law School, won a victory for Monroe resident Sheila Ashley in a disability discrimination case. Ms. Ashley accepted $5,000 from a Monroe area Real Estate broker, Edward Pipis, to resolve her fair housing complaint. “I am very, very pleased with the way this turned out,” said Ms. Ashley.
Ms. Ashley contacted the Fair Housing Center of Southeast & Mid Michigan in 2018 after she was denied the right to rent an apartment in Monroe because she requested to install a ramp at the entrance. Ms. Ashley has a disability and uses a wheelchair. Testing by the Fair Housing Center supported Ms. Ashley’s claim.
The case was resolved by law students Will McCartney, Claire Shimberg, and Natalie Treacy, working under the supervision of Professor Michael J. Steinberg, Director of the Civil Rights Litigation Initiative of the University of Michigan Law School. Ms. Ashley called Professor Steinberg and the law students “heaven sent,” and said they “helped me through so much.”
Yoder v. Haven Homesteads LLC was resolved for an undisclosed amount.
Sarah Yoder contacted the Fair Housing Center in August 2018 to file a sexual harassment complaint against Ryan McDonell. Ms. Yoder says she was asked to do a striptease in exchange for negotiating a lower rent.
Ms. Yoder, a 39-year-old Native American woman, stated that she had gone to view a one-bedroom house listed for $700/month in Lansing and that Mr. McDonell gave her a tour. Later that day, she asked Mr. McDonell via text if the rent was negotiable. McDonell responded, “I bet your (sic) more fun to negotiate with in person.” Follow up text messages included asking Ms. Yoder to do a striptease for him. Ms. Yoder declined to respond to his subsequent text messages.
Two days later, Ms. Yoder sent a message to another person named “Jason” listing a similar property on Craigslist. Ms. Yoder and a friend went to see the unit, soon realizing it was the same house. When they saw Mr. McDonell waiting there, they began to leave. Then, according to the lawsuit, he screamed discriminatory statements to Ms. Yoder. He texted her again that night asking, “u mad that I asked u to wear something cute so I could check u out?”
After the Fair Housing Center advised her of her rights, Ms. Yoder chose to take her case to litigation. The FHC Board of Directors elected to join the law suit. FHC Cooperating Attorney Robert M. Howard from the lawfirm of Bos & Glazier, PLC, filed the fair housing complaint based on sex and national origin.
The lawsuit alleges violations of the Federal Fair Housing Act and the Michigan Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act. The case, filed in Federal Court on September 9, 2019, was assigned to the Honorable Robert J. Jonker.
The Fair Housing Centers of West Michigan, Southeast & Mid Michigan, Metropolitan Detroit, and Southwest Michigan resolved a complaint based on familial status discrimination, in violation of the Fair Housing Act, filed against Monarch Investment & Management Group LLC.
Monarch is a property investment and management company with properties in 20 states. In Michigan, Monarch owns and/or manages 36 properties with over 9,000 units.
The complaint filed with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) alleged that Monarch engaged in systemic discrimination against families with children by enforcing an overly-restrictive occupancy policy of no more than two people per bedroom regardless of a unit’s square footage.
In 2017, the Michigan FHCs conducted an investigation of 14 Monarch properties throughout the state. Through the use of testing, we determined about 30 different floor plans were large enough under state and local law to accommodate more occupants than the “two person per bedroom” rule enforced by Monarch agents. In fact, at one of the properties, the master bedroom was 320 square feet, which would itself be legally large enough to house six people, yet Monarch enforced the same restrictions.
In February 2018, a HUD complaint was filed on behalf of the FHCs by FHC Counsel Jia Cobb of Relman, Dane &
Colfax (now Relman Colfax).
In September 2019, the parties entered into a conciliation agreement in which Monarch agreed to pay $130,000 for the Michigan Fair Housing Centers’ costs and damages, change their occupancy policy so that it is no more restrictive than applicable local occupancy codes, and train their employees and agents on fair housing laws and responsibilities, along with other terms to ensure compliance with fair housing laws.
HUD did not make a determination on the merits of the allegations.
On January 27, 2020, Amber Reineck House, its Founder and President, Courtney Atsalakis, and the Fair Housing Center of Southeast & Mid Michigan filed a disability rights lawsuit against the City of Howell and two of its officials for engaging in a concerted, ongoing effort to prevent Amber Reineck House from opening a sober living home in Howell. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, alleges violations of the Fair Housing Act, Americans with Disabilities Act, and Michigan’s Persons with Disabilities Civil Rights Act.
Ms. Atsalakis founded Amber Reineck House in 2017, in memory of her sister, Amber Reineck, who died of a fentanyl overdose in 2015. The nonprofit organization is dedicated to acquiring affordable properties in Michigan to provide housing and support services for individuals recovering from substance use disorders, and to give women in recovery a chance to overcome their addiction in an affordable, supportive community setting.
The lawsuit claims that the defendants have taken a series of unlawful actions to block Amber Reineck House from opening the sober living home because of the disabilities of the home’s future residents. The suit alleges that the defendants took these actions in direct response to significant community opposition to the proposed home, which was based on discriminatory bias against persons recovering from substance use disorders, all of whom are considered individuals with disabilities under the law.
The case was assigned to the Honorable Paul D. Borman. Both the FHC and Amber Reineck House are being represented by Relman Colfax and Dane Law.
The FHC has filed a race discrimination lawsuit against Erie Investments, owner of Red Lion Apartments in Ypsilanti. The suit alleges that by having a “no felony” policy, the owner knew or should have known that it would have a disparate impact on Black tenants and potential tenants. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, alleges violations of the Fair Housing Act.
The suit alleges that the defendants’ “elevation of criminal history as an absolute bar to residency without consideration of other eligibility criteria for tenancy is also counter to other normal business practices in the apartment industry. In the normal course of business, consideration of income, prior rental history, credit, and other factors occurs simultaneously during the application process, and after an application has been submitted and reviewed.”
According to an MLive article from April 3, 2019: “Erie Investments has purchased and renovated multiple troubled apartment complexes in Ypsilanti Township. Now, the company is making its effort to rehab a mismanaged, section 8 complex in the city of Ypsilanti and market it to Eastern Michigan University Business School students.”
The student body of EMU is 17% Black, compared to the City of Ypsilanti which is over 30% Black.
Mike Radzik, Director of Community Standards for Ypsilanti Township, told MLive that Erie Investments “typically… will implement strict rental standards.”
“A landlord’s wish to be ‘strict’ towards prospective tenants does not give them the right to violate federal law,” said Pamela A. Kisch, Executive Director of the Fair Housing Center. “2016 HUD Guidelines make it clear that rental agents must look at each person on an individual basis. How long ago did the felony occur? How old was the person at the time? What has this person accomplished with their life since that time?”
The Fair Housing Center has taken numerous complaints of discrimination based on criminal background. Some include bans on individuals who only have arrest records. The suit was filed in U.S. Federal District Court on February 26, 2020. The Fair Housing Center is represented by Cooperating Attorney William F. Piper of Piper Law.
Recent reasonable accommodation and modification requests resolved by our office.
Our first case involves a student athlete from a local university living in an apartment complex. She mentioned her emotional support dog at the application stage; management said that was fine and detailed what paperwork she would have to turn in, which she did. The paperwork was reportedly given to the wrong department and was lost. She resubmitted the paperwork and had the dog move in with her, but was then fined $250 and threatened with eviction if she did not remove the animal from the premises. FHC staff wrote a letter asking for the ESA to be accepted immediately with the accompanying doctor’s letter, and asked that the fine be removed as well. The management swiftly granted the request.
A woman contacted the FHC for assistance regarding her emotional support animal. When new management took over her apartment complex 1.5 years ago, she was required to “register” her cat online. While no such registration is required of a person with an ESA, our complainant complied to avoid losing her housing. When it came time to renew her lease this year, she was told she had to agree to pay a monthly pet fee in order to sign a new lease. That’s when she contacted our office. FHC staff advised her to get an updated doctor’s letter and provided her with links to the appropriate fact sheets and guidance on our website. She used this information to get the letter and presented it to the agent who then allowed her to sign her lease with no mention of pet fees.
A child with a disability needed an emotional support animal. The law firm handling the case for the landlord sent a questionnaire to the child’s doctor with 18 questions that were in violation of the patient’s privacy. The child’s doctor sent a response letter to the firm stating that he thought those questions were intended to frustrate the purpose of granting the underlying reasonable accommodation and that he would not answer them. Along with a doctor’s letter providing only the necessary information regarding the child’s disability, the FHC sent a letter requesting the reasonable accommodation. The landlord eventually granted the accommodation.
A family with two children, each needing an emotional support animal, was initially denied their right to have more than one ESA. A letter from the FHC along with letters from the treating therapists resulted in granting the accommodation.
A woman with multiple sclerosis needed an automatic door opener after the new doors to her building became too heavy for her to open on her own. The housing provider has a federal subsidy through the USDA. Two years of advocacy by FHC staff finally paid off with the installation of an automatic door opener at the front of her building and the building where the laundry is located. Our complainant let us know how much this meant to her, as her condition is steadily worsening and the modification allowed her additional autonomy.
A man with a physical disability was fined for not completing the preparation for the extermination of bed bugs in his unit. He was physically unable to comply with the request from his landlord and no help was provided. A letter from FHC resulted in a refund of the fine. The fine was equal to 19% of his monthly income.
A woman who uses a wheelchair was having trouble using her accessible van because the speed bumps in her complex were too high, hitting the bottom of her vehicle. A letter from the FHC led to the problem being addressed, and our complainant can now use her much-needed van.
A man and his mother, both with physical disabilities, each needed reserved parking spaces at their apartment complex. Our complainant drives a truck and has it parked in the space reserved for his unit. For his mother, they have a wheelchair-accessible van. Until recently the van was parked in an open van-accessible parking space. As others began to use the same parking space, our complainant was unable to get his mother to her van, now parked much further away from their unit. The FHC asked to reserve the accessible parking space for our complainant’s use only so they would have a reliable place to park the van. A letter from the FHC eventually resulted in signage signifying that the van-accessible space was for their use only.
Mark Mitshkun served on the Fair Housing Center’s Board of Directors for over 20 years. He was suggested to us by Theodore M. Shaw, who was leaving Ann Arbor and our Board. Of course I didn’t realize at the time what a gift this was.
Mark was the best board member. He worked to write and rewrite our personnel policies. He helped us make a million decisions about fair housing litigation, settlements, budget deficits, name changes, and fundraising events. He gave generously to the organization, using every family occasion (birthdays, memorials, etc.) as a new reason to donate to the Fair Housing Center. After his passing, his friends and family from around the country raised nearly $6000 for the FHC in his name.
Mark cared deeply about ending illegal housing discrimination and he showed it through the time, energy, and resources he shared with us. We send our condolences to his family and friends, and especially to his wife, Diane Rosenblum.
~ Pam Kisch, Executive Director
The 7th Annual Fair Housing Breakfast was like no other before. Planned for March 19, 2020, we had to make the hard decision to cancel the in-person event due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
We were so pleased that our guest speaker, Lisa Rice, agreed to join us virtually on May 28th. Ms. Rice is the President and CEO of the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA), the nation’s only national civil rights agency solely dedicated to eliminating all forms of housing discrimination. NFHA is also the trade association for over 200 member organizations (including ours) across the country that work to eliminate barriers in the housing markets and expand equal housing and lending opportunities.
Ms. Rice is a member of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights Board of Directors, Center for Responsible Lending Board of Directors, JPMorgan Chase Consumer Advisory Council, Mortgage Bankers Association’s Consumer Advisory Council, Freddie Mac Affordable Housing Advisory Council, Urban Institute’s Mortgage Servicing Collaborative, Quicken Loans Advisory Committee, and America’s Homeowner Alliance Advisory Board.
The title of her talk was, “Fair Housing: What’s Ahead for 2020.” This was the first time we were able to offer continuing education credits for Real Estate professionals through CE Marketplace.
Thank you to our generous sponsors; please see the sponsor list on page 9 of this newsletter.
Thanks to an Education and Outreach grant from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, we were able to increase our advertising efforts in print and on the radio, Instagram, Facebook, and Google Ads. These are a few examples; please visit our social media to see more ads and help us spread the word on fair housing rights.
The People’s Food Co-op in Ann Arbor chose the FHC as the Change For Our Community beneficiary in the month of August. We thank them for choosing us as the recipient, and for every patron who rounded up for us. They generously gave nearly $1,600!
We invite other businesses to think of us in their monthly giving, and as always, individual donations are what keep us going.
Please consider giving at www.fhcmichigan.org/donate. Memberships start at $35.00.
As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to impact us all, the Fair Housing Center staff continues to work from home. We’ve made adjustments so we can safely continue serving the residents of southeast & mid Michigan, conducting investigations, hosting trainings, and even expanding our services.
This summer, we hosted our first-ever Housing Advocates Training PLUS (HAT+). Without geographic limitations, this new virtual training was available to social service professionals (who had previously participated in our original Housing Advocates Training) across the state. Our next HAT and HAT+ will be hosted online in the spring of 2021; look for announcements on both trainings in our e-newsletters and on social media early next year.
We’re also expanding in more ways than one! Not only have we officially added Hillsdale and Shiawassee Counties to our service area, but we also are hiring a new full-time staff member! We look forward to introducing our new Intake & Administrative Specialist to you soon.
FHC Director of Investigations Jessica Ortiz Farley married Ryan Farley on February 2, 2020 at Valley of Fire State Park in Overton, NV (just outside Las Vegas). We wish them a long, happy life together.
Sarah Yoder contacted the Fair Housing Center in August 2018 to file a sexual harassment complaint against Ryan McDonell. Ms. Yoder says she was asked to do a striptease in exchange for negotiating a lower rent.
Ms. Yoder, a 39-year-old Native American woman, stated that she had gone to view a one-bedroom house listed for $700/month in Lansing and that Mr. McDonell gave her a tour. Later that day, she asked Mr. McDonell via text if the rent was negotiable. McDonell responded, “I bet your (sic) more fun to negotiate with in person.” Follow up text messages included asking Ms. Yoder to do a striptease for him. Ms. Yoder declined to respond to his subsequent text messages.
Two days later Ms. Yoder sent a message to another person named “Jason” listing a similar property on Craigslist. Ms. Yoder and a friend went to see the unit, soon realizing it was the same house. When they saw Mr. McDonell waiting there, they began to leave. Then, according to the lawsuit, he screamed discriminatory statements to Ms. Yoder. He texted her again that night asking, “u mad that I asked u to wear something cute so I could check u out?”
After the Fair Housing Center advised her of her rights, Ms. Yoder chose to take her case to litigation. The FHC Board of Directors elected to join the lawsuit. FHC Cooperating Attorney Robert M. Howard filed the fair housing complaint based on sex and national origin.
The lawsuit alleges violations of the Federal Fair Housing Act and the Michigan Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act. The case, filed in Federal Court on September 9, 2019, has been assigned to the honorable Robert J. Jonker.
Scott Lorms has filed a lawsuit based on disability discrimination under the Fair Housing Act. The lawsuit states that T & R Properties and Zahler Management denied him the right to rent an apartment with his emotional support animals. Mr. Lorms has a disability as defined under the Fair Housing Act.
According to the complaint taken by the FHC, Mr. Lorms called T & R Properties on November 27, 2018, to inquire about a rental unit in Pinckney. Based on the size, location, and price of the duplex, Mr. Lorms thought the property was perfect for him and his family. The home was close enough to Ann Arbor to visit with friends and family and was a short commute to Mr. Lorms’ job in South Lyon.
Mr. Lorms alleges that after he explained to the agent that he had emotional support dogs – which are not considered pets under the Fair Housing Act – the rental agent stated he would not show him the unit or discuss any accommodation for his emotional support animals. Mr. Lorms told the agent he had the required paperwork from a doctor regarding his disability, as well as training certificates for the animals if behavior was any concern. He asked for an application but the agent refused stating, “no dogs allowed.”
Mr. Lorms then called the Fair Housing Center and filed a complaint. Testing by the FHC supported the claim that T & R Properties refuses to rent to people with emotional support animals.
Because they were denied housing, Mr. Lorms and his family were forced to rent more expensive housing – 50% more than the desired home in Pinckney – further away from his work, friends, and family.
Fair Housing Center Cooperating Attorney Francyne B. Stacey filed the fair housing complaint in U.S. Federal District Court on July 31, 2019. The case has been assigned to the Honorable Nancy G. Edmunds.
According to the complaint taken by the FHC, a Michigan State University student contacted the Fair Housing Center to report that she was denied housing at Grad Apartments. Testing by the FHC supported the claim that the agent of Grad Apartments discriminates on the basis of race, sex, and age.
Based on the testing results, the Fair Housing Center’s Board of Directors voted to bring a lawsuit against the owner. The Black tester was also invited to join the case. “Fair housing groups often bring legal action against those who violate state and federal civil rights law,” said Ann Routt, FHC Board President.
Under the Fair Housing Act, it is illegal to discriminate in the sale or rental, or to otherwise make unavailable or deny, a dwelling to any buyer or renter because of the race of that buyer or renter.
Fair Housing Center Cooperating Attorney Sarah Riley Howard of Pinsky, Smith, Fayette & Kennedy LLP filed the fair housing complaint in U.S. Federal District Court on September 20, 2019. The case has been assigned to the Honorable Janet T. Neff.
According to the complaint taken by the FHC in the fall of 2017, Kayla Hicks’ need for an emotional support animal was well documented, but East Lansing sorority Alpha Omicron Pi still refused to allow her live with her emotional support animal, a two-pound Netherland Dwarf Rabbit named Sebastian.
The FHC-aided lawsuit Hicks v. AOII was settled in September 2019 for an undisclosed amount. The Michigan Department of Civil Rights was also a part of the case and opposed the respondent’s claim that because they are a private club, they are exempt from all aspects of the Michigan Persons with Disabilities Act.
Management Resources Development (MRD) is a property management and construction company with its headquarters in East Lansing. MRD owns and/or manages over 9,000 properties, including apartments, in 10 states.
Between August 2016 and December 2017, the FHC conducted an investigation of MRD properties in five separate locations throughout Michigan. Through the use of testing, the FHC determined that all five units tested were large enough under state and local law to accommodate more occupants than the “two person per bedroom” rule enforced by MRD agents. In fact, at one of the properties, the master bedroom was 250 square feet, which would itself be legally large enough to house five people, yet MRD enforced the same restrictions. The Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana (FHCCI) also investigated properties and testing evidence supported the claim: MRD was enforcing overly-restrictive occupancy standards.
In February 2018, a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) complaint was filed on behalf of the FHC and FHCCI by FHC counsel Jia Cobb of Relman, Dane & Colfax.
The complaint alleged that MRD engaged in systemic discrimination against families with children across properties in Michigan and Indiana by enforcing an overlyrestrictive occupancy policy of no more than two people per bedroom regardless of a unit’s square footage.
In June 2019, the parties entered into a conciliation agreement in which MRD agreed to pay $45,000 for both Fair Housing Centers’ costs and damages, change their occupancy policy so that it is no more restrictive than the applicable local occupancy codes, and train their employees and agents on fair housing laws and responsibilities, along with other terms to ensure compliance with fair housing laws. HUD did not make a determination on the merits of the allegations.
The Fair Housing Center of Southeast & Mid Michigan held its 6th Annual Fair Housing Breakfast on March 21, 2019, in Ann Arbor. We welcomed, Fred Freiberg, Executive Director of the Fair Housing Justice Center in New York, as the guest speaker. Mr. Freiberg is one the nation’s leading experts on the use of undercover testing as an investigative tool to enforce civil rights laws.
The event included the FHC Board of Directors Award. This year’s award was presented to David Esau with Michigan Accessible Homes, a division of Cornerstone Design – an architectural firm based in Ann Arbor. Mr. Esau has collaborated with the Fair Housing Center since 2006 on fair housing issues relating to accessibility under state and federal law. His expertise has aided in the resolution of nearly a dozen fair housing complaints including Lowrey v. Uptown and Tankson v. Randolph Court.
You can view a video of the event and additional pictures on our website’s 2019 Breakfast page.
Thank you to our sponsors and everyone who joined us in support of fair and equal housing opportunity.
Recent reasonable accommodation and modification requests resolved by our office. Subsidized housing providers generally are required to pay for the changes.
A college student was charged a pet fee for his emotional support animal (ESA) in his off-campus rental house. His mother tried to work out the situation with the property owner but was unsuccessful. A letter from FHC staff resulted in the student keeping the ESA and the owner returning the $100 pet fee.
In another case, a woman with an emotional disability sent her landlord a letter from her doctor outlining her need for an ESA. Her landlord insisted that he had the right to refuse all animals, including ESAs and service animals. FHC staff wrote a letter disabusing him of this notion. The landlord agreed to allow the animal.
A man with a mental/emotional disability needed to end his lease because the landlord treated him in a way that exacerbated the symptoms of his disability. FHC staff spoke to the manager and persuaded her to allow our complainant to terminate his lease without penalty.
In this case, a tenant with a disability needed to terminate her lease in order to find housing that did not require her to use stairs. The property owner insisted that she pay over $1,500 to end her lease. A letter from FHC staff along with a letter from her physician allowed her to move out without a financial penalty.
Our complainant has a disability and is unable to work. Her social security disability check arrives on the 2nd Wednesday of each month. She was charged a $50 late fee each month, even though the company knew her situation. We wrote a letter to the management company saying that the late fee was unfair and excessive and asked, as a reasonable accommodation of her disability, that her rent be due on the 15th of month. The first letter from FHC was ignored. A follow up letter resulted in the granting of the accommodation and the return of $200 to cover the late fees from January through April of 2019.
In a similar case, another complainant has a disability and is unable to work. Her social security disability check arrives on the 6th of each month. She was also being charged a late fee of $50 per month. For her new lease, FHC asked, as a reasonable accommodation of her disability, that her rent be due on the 10th of month to avoid late fees; the landlord agreed not to charge a fee if the rent was received by the 15th.
Our third case also involved a complainant with a disability whose social security disability check arrives on the 3rd Wednesday of each month. When the complainant asked for a change in due date, the manager refused saying, “due to fair housing laws I will not be able to accommodate you with this request.” Her late fees of $40/month were adding up and at the time of her call she owed over $280. A letter from FHC staff resulted in a change in the rent due date.
A couple with mobility impairments needed railings for the stairs to their unit. The existing stairs were exceptionally steep and even local building code required rails. The couple was unable to convince the landlord to fix the problem. FHC staff wrote a reasonable accommodation letter with a deadline complete the work. Four days after the receiving the letter, the landlord installed the railing.
A man who uses a wheelchair lived in an apartment with thick wall-to-wall carpeting making it painful for him to operate his manual chair in the unit. He and the FHC asked the owner to replace the carpet with vinyl flooring. The owner complied with the request.
A man with a disability was unable to open the door to his own unit after a new door-closer was installed. He had asked for months for it to be changed but was told no. FHC staff wrote to the property manager asking them to find a solution to our complainant being essentially trapped in his own apartment. The property installed an automatic door opener as the FHC suggested. This was done at no cost to the tenant.
A man with physical disabilities was in need of central air conditioning to accommodate his breathing issues. His unit had only one window air conditioning unit located in his bedroom. With the heat and humidity of summer our complainant was unable to spend time in the common areas of his home. He asked the cooperative, where his family had lived in for decades, to install central air. They refused for nearly a year. At one point the co-op offered to lend him the money to put it in at his own expense, but the loan payments were not affordable on his fixed income. FHC staff wrote a letter asking for the A/C as an accommodation of this disability. With no reply, FHC staff wrote a follow up letter. As FHC was in the process of referring the case to a Cooperating Attorney for litigation, the co-op installed the central air conditioning.
A man with a physical disability was fined for not completing the preparation for the extermination of bed bugs in his unit. He was physically unable to comply with the request from his landlord and no help was provided. A letter from FHC resulted in a refund of the fine. The fine was equal to nearly 20% of his monthly income.
A man with multiple physical disabilities wanted to move in with his daughter so she could take care of him. His daughter had recently moved to a first floor apartment so it would be accessible. The management company refused his application to be an occupant because of a felony record, though it was from 20 years ago. FHC asked, as a reasonable accommodation of the man’s disability, that the company both review their occupancy guidelines and make an exception to the current guidelines. The management company allowed the complainant to move in and said they would change their rules regarding people with felony records.
The Fair Housing Center joined a diverse coalition of civil rights groups in a campaign to “Defend Civil Rights,” aimed at mobilizing thousands of people across the country to oppose a rule proposed by HUD that would roll back a key fair housing enforcement tool.
We believe that if the rule is finalized, it would be virtually impossible to challenge covert discriminatory practices by financial institutions, insurance companies, and housing providers, and would open the floodgates for widespread discrimination against millions of people, particularly communities of color, women, immigrants, families with children, people of faith, LGBTQ people, and people with disabilities.
The FHC submitted a letter to HUD, which you can read at fhcmichigan.org, and aided community members in speaking out in opposition to the rule. The comment period is now closed; 45,000 comments were submitted by fair housing supporters across the country. We will keep you up to date on the situation via our email newsletter and social media.
Thanks to funding by the United Way of Washtenaw County, the Fair Housing Center held a fair housing law and litigation training for 27 attorneys and advocates on April 10th. Our trainers were fair housing experts John Relman and Sara Pratt from the law firm Relman, Dane, & Colfax in Washington, D.C.
Investigations & Legal Research Coordinator Niki Green and husband Ed welcomed their third child this summer. Zoe Cecilia Green was born on July 5th, 2019 at 2:46 am, weighing 7 lbs 1 oz and measuring 20 inches. Big brothers Julian and Elliott are very excited to have a sister.
Thanks to a new HUD Education and Outreach grant, we now have Fair Housing Rights for Renters brochures available in Chinese, Spanish, and English. Please contact our office for hard copies, or visit www.fhcmichigan.org/resources to download them today.
Kayla Hicks is suing Alpha Omicron Pi (AOII) for denying her the right to live in her sorority with an emotional support animal (ESA) while she was a student at Michigan State University.
According to the complaint taken by the Fair Housing Center in the fall of 2017, though her need for the animal was well documented, AOII refused to allow her to bring her emotional support animal, a twopound Netherland Dwarf Rabbit named Sebastian (pictured right), to the sorority.
Ms. Hicks was in close communication with the national offices of the sorority during the summer of 2017. She provided the organization with proof that she had a disability and needed the ESA.
On September 1, 2017, after MSU classes began and Ms. Hicks had already moved into the sorority house for her senior year, her request for the animal was denied. Mandy Doyle, Director of Properties at the national headquarters in Tennessee sent an email stating:
Hi Kayla, The decision is based upon our global policy created by AOII Properties to not allow emotional support animals. It is in AOII Properties good faith belief that the chapter house falls under the private club exemption … Thank you, Mandy
Discrimination is defined in the Fair Housing Amendments Act to include refusing “to make reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices, or services when necessary to afford such person with a disability an “equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling.”
In March of 2018, the national office of the sorority demanded that Ms. Hicks drop the complaint that she had filed with the Michigan Department of Civil Rights (in conjunction with her complaint to the FHC) before they enter into any agreement to allow the ESA. Two days later, before she could even consider the offer, local AOII staff said she would be evicted from the house. After the eviction threat, Ms. Hicks moved out of the sorority. The Fair Housing Center referred her to an attorney for litigation.
Fair Housing Center Cooperating Attorney Kerry L. Morgan of Pentiuk, Couvreur & Kobiljak filed the fair housing complaint in U.S. Federal Court on November 14, 2018. The case has been assigned to the Honorable Robert J. Jonker.
The significance of the Fair Housing Act cannot be overstated; the community in which a family resides significantly determines the quality of access they will have to education, employment, health care, credit, food, and recreation services. Housing location also determines the overall safety and stability of the environment in which they live.
James H. Carr, Coleman A. Young Endowed Chair and Professor in Urban Affairs at Wayne State University; Visiting Fellow with the Roosevelt Institute
Jennifer L. Daugherty contacted the Fair Housing Center in August 2016 to file a sexual harassment complaint against her Ypsilanti Township landlord. Ms. Daugherty stated that she had been receiving unwelcome messages at all times of the day and night, unannounced visits, and other unwanted attention from her landlord for over a year. According to the lawsuit, the defendant, Michael Carpenter, harassed and intimidated her by repeatedly asking her to go out with him, spend time with him, and even going as far as to leave a “present” under her pillow while she was away.
Ms. Daugherty’s responses varied from “no” to “stop this” to several months of ignoring his constant requests and sexual innuendos. According to the lawsuit, “Defendant twice initiated eviction proceedings against Daugherty in retaliation for Daugherty’s refusals to enter into a relationship with Defendant, and thus grant him sexual favors.” Ms. Daugherty wanted to continue to live in the apartment only because she needed to help care for her grandmother, who lived next door and was afflicted with Alzheimer’s.
The lawsuit states that Mr. Carpenter most recently gave Ms. Daugherty a notice to vacate on September 5, 2016, after watching her leave her apartment with another man and texting her that he would no longer rent to her. Worried about her safety, Ms. Daugherty filed a police report at that time. After the FHC advised her of her rights, Ms. Daugherty chose to take her case to litigation. Former FHC Cooperating Attorney Steve Tomkowiak (see page 11) filed the fair housing complaint based on the protected class of sex in Federal Court on July 14, 2017. The case was assigned to the Honorable Linda Parker.
The Fair Housing Center of Southeast & Mid Michigan held its 5th Annual Fair Housing Breakfast on March 29, 2018, in Ann Arbor. We welcomed Richard Rothstein, author of The Color of Law: The Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America, as our speaker. The event also featured a Board of Directors Award to Pastor Anthony Darrington, and a special recognition of high school freshman Alex Hosey, for their efforts in the realm of fair housing. You can view a video of the event and additional pictures on our website’s 2018 Breakfast page. Thank you to our sponsors and everyone who joined us in support of fair housing and equal opportunity.
Some reasonable accommodation and modification requests resolved by our office.
A woman with both physical and mental/emotional disabilities who lived with animals that served as emotional support and service animals. Despite asking for a reasonable accommodation on a number of occasions and providing medical documentation, the property manager refused to make the accommodation. A letter from the Fair Housing Center (FHC) again requested the accommodations. With no response from the owner/ manager, the FHC followed up with a deadline to deny the request or we would assume the accommodation was granted. The complainant has not been harassed again.
In a similar case, a woman had two dogs, one to assist her with a physical disability and the other to serve as an emotional support animal. The manager at the apartment complex she planned to move into insisted that she pay “pet rent” because both dogs were not registered with the State of Michigan. A letter from FHC staff along with a letter from the complainant’s physician cleared up the misunderstanding about service dogs and ESAs, and allowed for the signing of the lease without the demand for “pet rent.”
In the third case, Haley (see picture), a young woman with an emotional disability, was approved for an apartment but the landlord would not permit her ESA, a dog named Luke, until she and her doctor completed forms that our complainant thought, and FHC agreed, required too much personal information. The FHC sent a letter to the owner asking for the reasonable accommodation along with an appropriate letter from the treating physician supporting the need for the animal. The move-in date passed and the landlord had still not granted the accommodation. An additional note from the FHC promising further legal action led to permission to move in with the ESA.
Our fourth case involved a young woman with an emotional disability who was denied permission to have her ESA live with her in her college dormitory. A letter from FHC staff changed the university’s decision.
Our fifth case also involved a college student. A young woman with an emotional disability was fined for bringing her ESAs, two cats, to her off-campus apartment ahead of the school year. A letter from the FHC resulted in the dropping of the $200/week fine and permitting the animals as a reasonable accommodation.
The sixth case concerned a young man with an emotional disability who had been prescribed an emotional support animal. The complainant filled out the paperwork required by his landlord, requesting the dog as a reasonable accommodation, but months went by and he had not received permission to keep the ESA. Our complainant resorted to living with his mother to be with his dog. A letter from the FHC finally resulted in the landlord granting permission to for him to live in the apartment with his ESA.
A man with physical disabilities needed a higher level of care. His physician recommended that he move to a group home or nursing home as soon as possible. His advocate called the FHC to report that the landlord would not let the man out of his lease without paying for the remaining months’ rent on his lease, even though he had been a tenant in good standing for many years. A letter from the FHC staff resulted in the landlord allowing the move without penalty.
Before moving in, a woman was told by the landlord he would put a shower in her apartment, as she was unable to use the bathtub due to mobility issues. Seven months later, she still did not have a shower and had to drive to friends’ homes to bathe. The FHC asked that she be let out of her lease early and the landlord obliged. The woman told FHC staff that she is so happy in her new home and that we helped change her life around.
In this case, our complainant was assaulted in her shared apartment by the guest of another tenant. The assault exacerbated the symptoms of her emotional disability and she moved out of the apartment. A letter from her physician supported her need to live elsewhere and the FHC staff asked the landlord that she be let out of her lease without penalty as a reasonable accommodation. The request was granted.
Nancy Doerner (see below) had a parking space directly in front of her unit that met the needs of her disability. Without warning, the apartment complex (which exclusively houses seniors and people with disabilities) redesigned the parking lot, moving our complainant’s parking space. The new space was twice as far to walk to and required walking down a step and through the parking lot, making it difficult and sometimes dangerous for her to get to her car. After FHC letters requesting the return of her original parking space were ignored, the complainant chose to file with the Michigan Department of Civil Rights (MDCR). The complaint was charged by MDCR and in November 2017, over a year after the original FHC complaint was made, the complainant’s spot was returned to its original location and striped out with a sign indicating the parking space is exclusively for her use.
According to the Federal Fair Housing Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, an assistance animal is one which works, provides assistance, performs tasks for the benefit of a person with a disability, or provides emotional support that alleviates one or more identified symptoms or effects of a person’s disability. They are sometimes referred to as emotional support animals or ESA’s.
Does an assistance animal require certification?
It is not necessary for an assistance animal to be individually trained or certified.
How should a tenant request a reasonable accommodation for an assistance animal?
A tenant should go through the same process as a non-animal reasonable accommodation request [see the Fair Housing Center’s fact sheets online or call our office]. The housing provider is expected to provide a timely response to the request.
May a housing provider ask for proof of disability or the need for an assistance animal?
In cases where the disability is readily apparent or known and the need for the assistance animal is also apparent, this isn’t necessary. However, in cases where the disability is not obvious or the need for the assistance animal is not apparent, the housing provider may request additional information
What can I provide to the housing provider if requested?
Some materials that may be provided include but are not limited to:
Materials should demonstrate how the assistance animal performs tasks which benefit the person with a disability or how the assistance animal alleviates one or more symptoms of a disability.
How is a request for an assistance animal evaluated?
A housing provider will evaluate the following:
If the answer to both of these questions is yes, the housing provider must modify or provide an exception to a “no pets” rule or policy to permit the tenant with the disability to live with and use their assistance animal in all areas of the premises where people are usually allowed to go.
Can a housing provider charge for an assistance animal?
A housing provider cannot require a tenant with a disability to pay a deposit, fee, or surcharge in exchange for having the assistance animal. Pet fees do not apply because an assistance animal is not a “pet,” but exists in order to serve an individual’s disability.
Does an assistance animal have to be a dog?
Unlike the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) which defines a service animal as only a dog, the Fair Housing Act allows assistance animals to be animals other than dogs. Therefore, it is admissible to have a cat, a ferret, or other animal as an assistance animal.
Can an assistance animal be held to breed, size, or weight restrictions?
An assistance animal for a tenant with a disability cannot be held to a housing provider’s usual restrictions on pets. An accommodation must be made for the tenant.
The Fair Housing Center has been awarded two United Way grants.
The first is from the United Way of Monroe/Lenawee Counties. The grant is to conduct community-based education sessions on the topic of criminal background and housing rights. The sessions will be held in Lenawee County.
The second, from the United Way of Washtenaw County, is a grant which will allow us to organize and hold a Cooperating Attorney training session. When our office uncovers evidence of illegal housing discrimination through investigations, testing, and research, we may offer complainants the opportunity to work with a cooperating attorney to file a case in state or federal court. Historically, relief gained from successful litigation has the biggest impact on ending future illegal practices.
We need attorneys willing to litigate these cases and this grant will help us do the necessary outreach and education. If you are an attorney interested in attending our training, please contact Pam at 877-979-3247.
Sadly, we lost former Board Member Larry Richardson in 2018. As President of the Lenawee County NAACP, Larry quickly heeded our call to act as plaintiff in the FHC case NAACP v Adrian Manor. The race case stemmed from a white couple who called us after their landlord casually asked if they knew anyone “as long as they are white” who might take over their lease when they moved out of state.
Larry Richardson was a trailblazer. He was the first African-American police officer in Adrian and the first African-American Sheriff of Lenawee County. We will miss his advice, historical perspective, and contributions to the community.
The Fair Housing Center was awarded a grant by the Ann Arbor Area Board of Realtors for our Fair Housing Five Book Project. The grant money enabled us to donate one hardcover book to every elementary school in Washtenaw County. In honor of the 50th Anniversary of the passage of the Fair Housing Act, we designed and included a poster about the Act with each book.
The Fair Housing Five & the Haunted House is an illustrated children’s book about kids who take action in their neighborhood in response to a landlord who is discriminating. The book is designed to initiate conversations between parents, caregivers, teachers, and children about housing discrimination, systemic inequality, and the important role that we all have in ending both.
The Fair Housing Center was pleased to welcome authors Brenda Travis and John Obee to Ann Arbor to discuss their new book, Mississippi’s Exiled Daughter: How My Civil Rights Baptism Under Fire Shaped My Life.
The event, held at the Ann Arbor Downtown District Library, included a reading and question-and-answer time with Brenda Travis. Books were available for purchase and both Ms. Travis and Mr. Obee signed books afterward.
According to the book jacket: “In 1961, 16-year-old Brenda Travis was a youth leader of the NAACP branch in her hometown of McComb, Mississippi. She joined in the early stages of voter registration, and when the Freedom Rides and direct action reached McComb, she and two Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee workers sat-in at the local bus station. That led to her first arrest and jailing, which resulted in her being expelled and leading a protest walkout from her high school. Thrown in jail for a second time, she was eventually released on the condition that she leave the state. Her poignant memoir describes what gave her the courage at such a young age to fight segregation, how the movement unfolded in Mississippi, and what happened after she was forced to leave her family, friends, and fellow activists.
According to the 2018 Fair Housing Trends Report, in 2017 there were 28,843 reported complaints of housing discrimination across the USA. 71% of those complaints were handled by private FHCs.
The United States Office of Housing and Urban Development estimates that for a variety of reasons housing discrimination occurrences are grossly under reported and that the numbers are more likely around four million per year.
The FHC is the only organization in our eight-county area providing fair housing testing. Testing evidence has been a factor in the majority of our FHC-assisted legal victories.
Joining the Fair Housing Center is a good investment in justice. Since 1992, the FHC has helped complainants file 86 lawsuits and recover over $2,169,000 in damages, while keeping all of our services free. These settlements keep the message clear — housing discrimination is illegal and expensive.
Mike Olshan, former Legal Services Coordinator of the Fair Housing Center of Metropolitan Detroit, died on August 2, 2018. His devoted wife, Faye Olshan, survives him.
Mike played an integral role in helping to document the impact of fair housing cases for people across the country. He believed in networking with other advocates and he worked tirelessly on behalf of the victims of discrimination. Our office worked with him for many years and sends condolences to all of his family, friends, and colleagues.
In August 2018, Steve Tomkowiak became the new Executive Director of the Fair Housing Center of Metropolitan Detroit (FHCMD). Steve replaces Margaret Brown, who will continue her service to the center in the capacity of advisor, speaker, and trainer.
The FHC-Detroit is the oldest fair housing center in Michigan, established in April 1977. Mr. Tomkowiak had been a cooperating attorney for our fair housing center since 2001. He has taken 13 of our cases to federal court resulting in settlements of $225,000 for our complainants.
We are excited to welcome Steve to his new position. And, thank you, Margaret, for leading the FHC-Detroit the past several years
We were excited to partner with Black Men Read (BMR), a community reading series focused on sharing the stories of Black people with local youth, to share the story of the The Fair Housing Five and The Haunted House (see story on page 9).
The mission of Black Men Read states: “We promote the power of stories, storytelling and literacy to normalize the historical and cultural contributions of Black people through stories while uplifting Black men all of the ways that they engage in their families and communities.”
You can find BMR online at: www.facebook.com/BMRBlackMenRead
The Fair Housing Center of Southeast & Mid Michigan has assisted in the settlement of a housing discrimination lawsuit against Group Five Management Company and TG Properties LLC, the owners of Randolph Court Apartments in Ann Arbor.
Sarah Tankson, who has a debilitating neurological disorder known as dystonia, contacted the Fair Housing Center in January 2017 for help with a request for reasonable accommodation. Prior to signing a lease at Randolph Court, the manager stated in writing that Ms. Tankson would be able to install a wheelchair ramp upon move in, as she uses a wheelchair and the home she was planning to rent had three steps from the sidewalk to the front door.
According to the lawsuit, once Ms. Tankson moved in, Randolph Court Apartments management told her that “she and health aide [Karen Kelsey] must remove [her temporary ramp] and stow it away after each use.” Because it was not possible for her to stow and then reconstruct the ramp each time she needed to use it, she and her aide complied by removing the materials, thus forcing Ms. Tankson to remain shut in her apartment or crawl out of her unit on days she required outside care. Ms. Tankson missed many medical appointments as a result of being unable to safely leave her apartment, which caused the symptoms of her disability to worsen.
This dire situation forced Ms. Kelsey to redouble her effort to locate a contractor to install a more secure removable wheelchair ramp. These efforts received media attention from WXYZ Channel 7 in Detroit, who did several pieces on the story (available on our website). Thanks to the televised news coverage, a volunteer contractor agreed to construct and install the ramp, and raised contributions to cover the cost of the materials.
The Fair Housing Center worked with Ms. Tankson and the contractor, but management continued to delay the installation by refusing to grant approval for the ramp. The FHC contacted Group Five Management one last time to remind them that the Federal Fair Housing Act requires housing providers to grant permission for tenants who use wheelchairs to install ramps to make the entrance to their units accessible. The Fair Housing Center never received a response.
FHC Cooperating Attorney Steve Tomkowiak filed the lawsuit on behalf of Ms. Tankson in U.S. Federal District Court on March 15, 2017. The case was assigned to the Honorable Sean F. Cox. Ms. Tankson was permitted to have the ramp installed in April, and the lawsuit settled in July 2017.
The Fair Housing Center of West Michigan, the Fair Housing Center of Southeast & Mid Michigan, the Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana, the Fair Housing Center of Southwest Michigan, and the Central Ohio Fair Housing Association settled a fair housing complaint against AMP Residential, an Indianapolis-based property management company that owns and operates properties throughout the United States.
The complaint, filed with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in July 2016, alleged that AMP had engaged in systemic discrimination against families case updates with children across 20 properties evaluated in three states by enforcing an occupancy limit of no more than two people per bedroom in each apartment, regardless of the unit’s square footage. Testing by each of the agencies named here confirmed the company-wide policy.
In order to settle the complaint, AMP agreed to pay $207,000, change their occupancy policy to provide equal housing opportunity to families with children, and train their employees and managers across the nation on fair housing each year for the next three years, among other terms to ensure compliance with fair housing laws.
Chelsae Lakin accepted an undisclosed amount to settle her fair housing case. The suit was filed October 14, 2015 by FHC Cooperating Attorneys Stephen M. Dane and Joseph Wardenski from Relman, Dane, & Colfax with assistance from local Cooperating Attorney Thomas Daniels of Pear, Sperling, Eggan, & Daniels. FHC testing supports rental agent Chelsae Lakin’s claim that her nowformer employers, Sakti and Papri Pramanik, instructed her to discriminate against families with a child. Ms. Lakin contacted the FHC on her first day of work. The case was assigned to the Honorable Thomas L. Ludington.
FHC Board of Directors presented Chelsae Lakin with the first Fair Housing Board of Directors Award at our 2017 Fair Housing Breakfast. Chelsae was honored for “boldly standing up for equal housing opportunity in her role as a housing professional.”
Denise Cox and her mother accepted $40,000 to settle their case against Hastings Mutual Insurance Company and East Bay Manufactured Home Community. Citing insurance company breed restrictions, the property refused to allow her to keep her emotional support animal, a pit bull called Kylee. Ms. Cox lived on the property with Kylee for two years without incident. To avoid an eviction from their mobile home, Ms. Cox was forced to be separated from her dog.
The suit against the mobile home community, East Bay, as well as the property’s insurance company, was filed on September 9, 2016 by FHC Cooperating Attorney Steve Tomkowiak. The case was assigned to the Honorable Victoria A. Roberts.
On October 17, 2016, Kylee was allowed to return home. The settlement agreement also included changes in policies by both East Bay Manufactured Home Community and Hasting Mutual Insurance Company. Hasting Mutual agreed to modify its underwriting rules relating to its animal policies and accommodation requests, and undertake staff training regarding assistance animals. East Bay agreed to modify its community rules and regulations regarding requests for emotional support animals.
Phillip Cusumano, who uses a wheelchair and has a visual impairment, contacted the Fair Housing Center to report blocked sidewalks in his mobile home community. FHC staff wrote a letter to the property manager asking them to enforce their own community rule that prohibited residents from parking on or otherwise blocking the sidewalks, so that Mr. Cusumano could safely travel around the community.
Despite repeated requests by Mr. Cusumano, his wife, and the FHC, the housing provider failed to comply. As a result, the Cusumanos filed claims under the Federal Fair Housing Act and Michigan Persons with Disabilities Civil Rights Act, seeking to require the housing provider to enforce its own rule (non-monetary relief) and for compensatory and punitive damages (monetary relief).
The case was filed by FHC Cooperating Attorney Steve Tomkowiak on August 14, 2014, assigned to the Honorable Matthew F. Leitman, and settled on August 23, 2016.
Sunshine Welch contacted the FHC to report discrimination based on disability at an Ypsilanti Township apartment. FHC testing supported her claim of discrimination based on mental/emotional disability. FHC Cooperating Attorney Steve Tomkowiak filed suit on behalf of Ms. Welch in U.S. Federal District Court on January 28, 2015. The case was assigned to the Honorable David M. Lawson and settled in December 2016.
Jennifer L. Daugherty contacted the Fair Housing Center in August 2016 to file a sexual harassment complaint against her Ypsilanti Township landlord. Ms. Daugherty stated that she had been receiving unwelcome messages at all times of the day and night, unannounced visits, and other unwanted attention from her landlord for over a year. According to the lawsuit, the defendant, Michael Carpenter, harassed and intimidated her by repeatedly asking her to go out with him, spend time with him, and even going as far as to leave a present under her pillow while she was away.
Ms. Daugherty’s responses varied from “no” to “stop this” to several months of ignoring his constant requests and sexual innuendos. According to the lawsuit, “Defendant twice initiated eviction proceedings against Daugherty in retaliation for Daugherty’s refusals to enter into a relationship with Defendant, and thus grant him sexual favors.” Ms. Daugherty wanted to continue to live in the apartment only because she needed to help care for her grandmother, who lived next door and was afflicted with Alzheimer’s.
The lawsuit states that Mr. Carpenter most recently gave Ms. Daugherty a notice to vacate on September 5, 2016, after watching her leave her apartment with another man and texting her that he would no longer rent to her. Worried about her safety, Ms. Daugherty filed a police report at that time. After the FHC advised her of her rights, Ms. Daugherty chose to take her case to litigation. FHC Cooperating Attorney Steve Tomkowiak filed the fair housing complaint based on the protected class of sex in Federal Court on July 14, 2017. The case has been assigned to the Honorable Linda Parker.
The Fair Housing Center of Southeast & Mid Michigan held its 4th Annual Fair Housing Breakfast on March 22nd in Ann Arbor. We welcomed Sara Pratt, Attorney with Relman, Dane, & Colfax, PLLC, as the keynote speaker. Ms. Pratt spoke to us about “The Role of Fair Housing in Strong Communities.” You can view a video of the talk and pictures on our website’s 2017 Breakfast page.
Some recent reasonable accommodation and modification requests resolved by our office.
In the first case, a woman with an emotional disability had an experience that left her feeling unsafe in her apartment. FHC staff asked that she be let out of her lease without penalty as a reasonable accommodation of her disability. The request was granted.
In the second case, a woman who uses a wheelchair needed to move to a more accessible apartment building. We asked the landlord to let her out of her lease without a $500 penalty. The property owner agreed. The FHC is investigating the possibility that the owner illegally withheld her security deposit to recover their original fees.
The third case concerned a woman with a visual impairment. She had moved into a multi-family apartment complex and quickly realized that it lacked sidewalks leading to the bus stop, forcing her to walk her children to the stop in the busy road. She asked for her family to be let out of their lease so they could find safer alternative housing. The property management wanted nearly $3,000 to end the lease early. A letter from FHC staff resulted in ending the lease without any fees.
The first case involved a woman with a mental/ emotional disability who moved into an apartment complex and later adopted a dog, as recommended by her doctor to alleviate the symptoms of her disability. When the manager became aware of the dog they told her that dogs were not allowed. FHC staff wrote a letter to the owner alerting him of fair housing law requirements to accommodate a person with a disability, and our complainant was able to keep her emotional support animal.
In the second case, a young woman with a disability had an assistance dog to help manage the symptoms of her disability. The complainant’s family sent an accommodation request and a doctor’s letter to the property owner in an effort to classify the dog as an emotional support animal. The property owner refused saying the dog wasn’t certified and, in addition, required a letter from a specialist and not a general practice doctor. A letter from FHC staff convinced the owner that his demands were unlawful, and the young woman was able to keep her emotional support animal.
In the first case, a man with a disability lived with his mother. The nature of his disability would make it detrimental to his health if he were forced to move from one apartment to another. FHC staff negotiated to have him and his mother stay in their unit instead of being moved to another unit as the landlord preferred.
In the second case, a woman had a cat as an emotional support animal. She was then sent an eviction notice citing the animal as the reason. FHC staff sent a letter to the owner, including a letter from the woman’s doctor, asking for the emotional support animal to be allowed as a reasonable accommodation and for the eviction be dropped. The owner then cashed the tenant’s subsequent rent checks and has made no mention of eviction.
The third case concerned a young man with a disability who was evicted from his adult foster care home after they discovered he had a criminal record. There was no evidence to suggest that he had reoffended. At the time of the crime (nearly a decade ago) he was not receiving the medical and psychological treatment he needed. He is now getting that treatment. Research, advocacy, and a letter to the owner and licensing agency resulted in him moving back into the foster care home.
Our first case involved a woman with a disability who received her Social Security Disability on the 3rd of the month. She faced a $75 fine if her rent was not paid on the 1st of the month. A letter from FHC staff asked that her rent due date be changed to the 4th of the month as an accommodation of her disability. The property agreed to change the date.
The second case concerned a man with a mobility impairment who was living on the 4th floor in an apartment building. When the owners decided to replace the only elevator in the complex he asked to be moved to a first floor unit to avoid being effectively trapped on the 4th floor during the long construction project. Initially the owners denied his request. FHC staff wrote a letter asking for the move to be done quickly and at the owner’s expense. The complainant was then moved as requested.
The first case involved an 83-year-old disabled veteran who was told he could no longer keep his automobile in his covered carport near the entrance of his building. Our complainant paid a monthly fee for the carport and used his car occasionally. The staff at the apartment complex for seniors claimed he didn’t use his car and threatened to have it towed. Fearing the cost of getting his car towed, he moved the car off the premises.
In a letter to the property, FHC staff demanded to know how much driving was required for each tenant to keep a car at the property and asked that our complainant’s parking space not be rented to another tenant. Upon further investigation it became clear that no written rules exist covering car usage. In the end, our complainant’s carport rental agreement was reinstated.
In the second case, a woman with a physical disability needed a parking space near the entrance of her apartment. It took two letters from FHC staff to get her the spot she requested.
Earlier this year the United Way of Washtenaw County awarded the FHC a grant for our “Fair Policy, Fair Chance” Project.
The project revolves around the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s new guidance which bans both private and public housing providers from using strict “no felony” rules for tenant selection. The grant has allowed us to hold various workshops and webinars, counsel individuals, create materials, and send out mailings to educate landlords, people with prior felony convictions, and service providers working with people with felonies about the change in HUD’s rule, as well as to share best practices for tenant selection with landlords. The ultimate goals for Fair Policy, Fair Chance are to ensure that landlords are following the new guidance and that people at risk of homelessness understand their rights.
Experts now estimate that up to 65 million people are living with a criminal conviction in the United States, a high percentage of whom are African American and Latino/a. Housing policies that ban all people with criminal records impact a disproportionate number of people of color because they are overrepresented in the criminal justice system.
For further information, please visit www.fhcmichigan.org/background
FHC Staff and Board of Directors were honored to receive the “Servant Leadership in Building a Beloved and Just Community (in the way of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.) Award by the Church of the Good Shepherd in Ann Arbor. The congregation has a 28-year tradition of recognizing people and organizations who work toward intersectional justice. We are humbled to join the ranks of the esteemed previous recipients.
FHC Associate Director Kristen Cuhran married Christopher (Cre) Fuller on January 28th in Negril, Jamaica. We wish them a long, happy life together.
In 1994, in response to hate crimes in Ann Arbor, our office worked with community members to start the WIMBY campaign (Welcome in My BackYard). We relaunched the campaign in 2017, during a time of increased intolerance, to help make visible the large number of people who believe in diversity and inclusion.
If you support the tenets of this pledge (below), please add your signature today and download a poster at www.fhcWIMBY.org. Show your support on social media using #fhcWIMBY
I affirm that I welcome people of all walks of life in my neighborhood and community, and value human diversity in all its forms.
I cherish my right to live according to my own values and beliefs, and respect the rights of others to do the same.
I am personally opposed to and will try to find ways to speak out against:
I recognize that I may also hold such prejudices and stereotypes of various kinds developed during my life. Over the next year, I will try to better understand and reverse such attitudes in order to ensure that I do not act upon them.
I also intend to exercise my rights of free speech and political expression by keeping the WIMBY sign in one of my windows for the next year, in order to increase consciousness in my neighborhood and community about the principles of this pledge
The Fair Housing Center filed a complaint with the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) against Ypsilanti Township regarding the planned 398-unit Majestic Lakes subdivision.
As a condition of the sale of the land to a developer, the Ypsilanti Township Board of Trustees passed an ordinance on September 15, 2015 to approve Majestic Lakes while prohibiting the developer from accepting tenants with any form of government rental subsidy.
According to the complaint, “Ypsilanti Township’s activities seeking to limit opportunities for Section 8 Voucher Holders and renters are contrary to its duty to affirmatively further fair housing. The population of persons holding Housing Choice Vouchers or on the waiting list for Housing Choice Vouchers in Washtenaw County and Southeastern Michigan overwhelmingly consists of persons protected by the Fair Housing Act: African Americans, women, single women with children, and persons with disabilities.”
As a recipient of HUD funding, the Township has an obligation to “affirmatively further fair housing” in order to remove barriers to housing choice. “We believe this new ordinance is illegal,” said Pam Kisch, Executive Director of the Fair Housing Center.
FHC Cooperating Attorneys Christopher and Elizabeth Brancart of Brancart & Brancart are representing the Fair Housing Center in the complaint, which was officially filed on March 30, 2016. The United States Department of Justice is also looking into the case.
Lakin v Fontaine Gardens Apartments was filed October 14, 2015 by FHC Cooperating Attorneys Stephen M. Dane and Jia Cobb from Relman, Dane & Colfax with assistance from local Cooperating Attorney Thomas Daniels of Pear, Sperling, Eggan, & Daniels. Fontaine Gardens Apartments is located Saginaw. FHC testing supported rental agent Chelsae Lakin’s claim that her employers, Sakti and Papri Pramanik, instructed her to discriminate against families with a child. Ms. Lakin contacted the FHC on her first day of work. The case is assigned to the Honorable Thomas L. Ludington in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
The Fair Housing Center of West Michigan (FHCWM), the Fair Housing Center of Southeast & Mid Michigan (FHCSEM), the Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana (FHCCI), the Fair Housing Center of Southwest Michigan (FHCSWM), and the Central Ohio Fair Housing Association (COFHA) filed a fair housing complaint against AMP Residential, an Indianapolis-based property management company that owns and operates over 8,000 rental housing units in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and Alabama.
In the complaint filed with the United States Office of Housing and Urban Development on July 13, 2016, AMP Residential is alleged to have an occupancy standard of no more than two people per bedroom, regardless of a unit’s square footage or whether that unit has a den, office, or other feature that could provide an additional bedroom or living area for a child.
Local health and property maintenance codes state the square footage required for each occupant in a rental unit. In each of the 20 properties named in the complaint, AMP was found to have denied housing to families with children despite the apartments having ample square footage for the family size to be allowed under local codes. Not only were the families prohibited from living in a particular unit, but many were denied from the complex all together due to their family size. Such overly restrictive occupancy standards impact the ability of families with children to find affordable, safe housing in neighborhoods of their choice.
The FHCWM enlisted the FHCCI, FHCSEM, FHCSWM, and COFHA to join in a systemic investigation into the AMP properties located in their respective service areas after they received the original complaint from a prospective tenant who reported being denied because of children. FHCSEM conducted testing at Runaway Club in Delta Township, MI; this testing confirmed the restrictive policy.
Our third annual Fair Housing Breakfast was held on March 16, 2016 at Weber’s Inn in Ann Arbor. Over 100 people, from housing-related professionals to government officials to local community members, attended the event and heard the talk given by guest speaker Theodore M. Shaw, “The Sleeping Giant of Civil Rights: The Fair Housing Act.”
Professor Shaw is the Julius L. Chambers Distinguished Professor of Law and the Director of the Center for Civil Rights at the University of North Carolina School of Law at Chapel Hill.
You can view a video of the talk and pictures from the event at www.fhcmichigan.org/breakfast.
Thank you again to our sponsors, speaker, and attendees for making our third annual Fair Housing Breakfast a success.
Some recent reasonable accommodation and modification requests resolved by our office – to view more, please visit www.fhcmichigan.org
In the first case, a man with a physical disability was promised a unit near a sidewalk ramp and curb cut to accommodate his power wheelchair. Upon move-in, the landlord assigned him to a unit that did not accommodate his needs. A letter from the FHC requesting a reasonable accommodation resulted in the landlord letting our complainant out of his lease without penalty.
In the second case, our complaint had a stroke and could no longer live alone. The management company insisted that he pay rent for the remainder of his lease. FHC staff coached his advocate to ask for a reasonable accommodation under the law. The advocate was able to end the lease without penalty so the complainant could find appropriate housing.
The first case involved a woman living with multiple disabilities. She contacted our office to report an eviction notice related to housekeeping. The complainant was in the process of getting the services she needed. As a reasonable accommodation of her disability, we asked the property management company to drop the eviction while the services were put in place. Our letter was accompanied by a letter from her treating physician, verifying the complainant’s disability and how it led to her current situation. The eviction was eventually dropped and the tenant and her children avoided homelessness.
In the second case, a man with a mental disability was forced to change his medication because of a change in his health insurance coverage. The medication change resulted in episodes of what the property manager considered odd behavior. She promptly sent the tenant of 15 years an eviction notice. Advocacy on the part of FHC staff and the local legal aid office successfully stopped the eviction as a reasonable accommodation of his disability. In the mean time, his medication issue was resolved.
The third case concerned a woman who was suddenly hospitalized due to symptoms/complications of her disability. She had no way to access her checkbook or any other means to pay her rent. She contacted the manager and the management company to alert them to her situation. She had been their tenant for four years. Despite her need for an accommodation, the owner charged her a late fee and filed for eviction. A letter from FHC staff stopped the late fee and eviction.
In the fourth case, a woman with a mental/emotional disability exhibited behaviors which lead her landlord to file an eviction notice. The behavior was caused by not taking her medication on a regular basis. FHC staff spoke to the complainant’s advocate and wrote a letter to the property manager asking them to drop the eviction now that community services were in place to ensure she received her medication. The eviction was dropped and the woman, who had lived in her unit for over two decades, was allowed a second chance.
A man with a disability wanted to sublease an apartment. When the landlord found out he had an emotional support animal, he was told he could not take over the lease because of the dog. A letter from the FHC requesting a reasonable accommodation resulted in the landlord signing a lease with our complainant, preventing him, his wife, and their baby from becoming homeless.
On April 4, 2016, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued new guidance to the real estate community regarding the use of criminal background in evaluating prospective tenants. The guidance explains how using criminal background as a screening tool could violate the Fair Housing Act, and suggests standards and procedures that landlords should follow instead. This is the first time HUD has issued guidance on the issue to non-governmental entities.
Important Highlights:
Criminal background is not a protected class under the Fair Housing Act (FHA). The new guidance explains how blanket denials of applicants with conviction records, and any denial of applicants with only an arrest record, have been proven to have a disparate impact on classes that are protected under the FHA (for instance, race and national origin), which means these housing selection policies may violate the Fair Housing Act.
We are aware of the nexus between criminal background and the exclusion of people of color from the housing market. We have taken complaints from people of color whose convictions were over 20 or 30 years old, and others who had non-violent misdemeanors that in no way should have affected their ability to rent an apartment. Our office will continue to take and investigate these complaints when they come in, as well as negotiate and resolve reasonable accommodations for those who have a disability and criminal background.
The Fair Housing Center encourages property owners and landlords who are moving toward less-restrictive tenant selection criteria to read the guidance in full, as it outlines HUD’s “three steps used to analyze claims that a housing provider’s use of criminal history to deny housing opportunities results in a discriminatory effect in violation of the Act… [as well as the] analytical framework used to evaluate claims of intentional discrimination.”
Good examples of new housing selection criteria have already been rolled out around the country. One example is the Housing Authority of New Orleans (HANO); their new plan now includes the use of a three-person application review panel when needed. If you see a good example, please let us know at info@fhcmichigan.org.
One to watch: The law firm Relman, Dane & Colfax filed a case in October 2014 that is now pending before the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Their client, the Fortune Society, alleges that Sandcastle Towers in New York City has a blanket ban against applicants with any convictions and this likely violates the Fair Housing Act. In a New York Times article on the guidance, John Relman is quoted as saying that “the agency in charge of interpreting the Fair Housing Act agrees with us, and that will have a lot of weight” on the Fortune Society litigation.
It is not possible to be in favor of justice for some people and not justice for all people.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Paula Scott accepted a non-disclosed settlement to resolve her lawsuit against Swan Creek Mobile Home Community in Ypsilanti Township.
In April 2014, the FHC took a complaint from Paula Scott. Ms. Scott was referred to the Fair Housing Center by Legal Services of South Central Michigan (LSSCM). Ms. Scott reported that on March 5, 2014, her 17-year-old African American daughter, Zakara Scott, was pushed to the ground and physically assaulted by Amanda Cadreau, a white adult resident at Swan Creek.
Swan Creek staff requested statements regarding the incident, but only from the family of Amanda Cadreau. Two days after the assault and battery incident, Swan Creek served the Scotts with an eviction notice. Legal Services attorneys successfully stopped the eviction case against the Scott family. According to the lawsuit, “Ms. Cadreau assaulted and battered Plaintiff Zakara Scott as Zakara exited a school bus at the Defendant’s manufactured home park community […] The police report was filed immediately thereafter, listing Zakara Scott as victim of Amanda Cadreau’s assault and battery.”
On September 26, 2014, a jury convicted Amanda Cadreau of assault and battery against Zakara Scott.
FHC Cooperating Attorney Steve Tomkowiak assisted LSSCM in opposing the eviction and agreed to continue with the civil rights portion of the case. In December 2014, Mr. Tomkowiak filed suit on behalf of the Scott family in U.S. Federal District Court. The case was assigned to the Honorable Bernard A. Friedman. The case settled on July 21, 2015 following a settlement conference before Magistrate Judge Michael J. Hluchaniuk.
The Fair Housing Center initiated a housing discrimination lawsuit against several multi-family apartment properties owned, operated, and/or managed by Sudi Hopper. Testing showed evidence of discrimination against families with children. The properties include Parkside Apartments in East Lansing, Holt Manor Apartments in Holt, and Kelly Manor Apartments in Owosso.
According to the lawsuit, testers posing as a single parent with a young child were told that children were not allowed to live in one-bedroom apartments. By comparison, “Testers without children who inquired about the availability of one-bedroom units for themselves and a spouse were asked to confirm that they did not have children, told that apartments were available, provided additional information about the units, and invited to view the apartments.”
Fair Housing Center Cooperating Attorneys Jia Cobb and Stephen M. Dane of Relman, Dane & Colfax, along with local counsel Thomas Daniels and Matthew Daniels of Pear, Sperling, Eggan & Daniels, filed the lawsuit on behalf of the Fair Housing Center. The case, filed in U.S. Federal District Court on May 7, 2015, was assigned to the Honorable Sean F. Cox and settled in August 2015.
Philip Cusumano has filed a disability discrimination lawsuit, claiming violations of the federal Fair Housing Act, against the Hartland Meadows mobile home community in Livingston County. Mr. Cusumano is legally blind and uses a wheelchair. He contacted the Fair Housing Center in April 2014 to report that Hartland Meadows’ “no parking on sidewalk” rule was not enforced. This made traveling around the community dangerous and denied him access to common areas, including his mailbox.
Mr. Cusumano also reported to FHC staff that in one instance when “the sidewalks were blocked by cars; I couldn’t get around the cars on the sidewalk in my wheelchair, so I had to go on the road, where I was nearly hit by a car.”
Mr. Cusumano and his wife, Vicki, have several photographs of cars parked on sidewalks throughout Hartland Meadows. Fair Housing Center staff investigated the property and also witnessed numerous cars on sidewalks.
Hartland Meadows’ policy states that residents are not to park on the sidewalks. Three off-street parking spaces are provided to each home site. According to the lawsuit, the policy is not enforced.
The Fair Housing Center sent multiple letters to Hartland Meadows urging the enforcement of the rule that prevents parking on sidewalks. However, when the rule was still not enforced effectively, the FHC referred Mr. Cusumano to Cooperating Attorney Steve Tomkowiak for litigation. On August 1, 2014, Mr. Tomkowiak filed suit on behalf of Mr. Cusumano in U.S. Federal District Court. The case is assigned to the Honorable Matthew F. Lietman.
Welch v Cerda was filed on January 28, 2015. Sunshine Welch contacted the FHC to report discrimination based on disability at an Ypsilanti Township apartment. FHC testing supported her claim of discrimination based on mental/emotional disability. FHC Cooperating Attorney Steve Tomkowiak filed suit on behalf of Ms. Welch in U.S. Federal District Court. The case is assigned to the Honorable David M. Lawson.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) published a new final rule that requires state and local governments and housing authorities seeking HUD funding to consider how to eliminate fair housing barriers for people of color, families with children, and people with disabilities.
What is the duty to affirmatively further fair housing? “From its inception, the Fair Housing Act (and subsequent laws reaffirming its principles) not only prohibited discrimination in housing related activities and transactions but also imposed a duty to affirmatively further fair housing (AFFH). The AFFH rule sets out a framework for local governments, States, and public housing agencies (PHAs) to take meaningful actions to overcome historic patterns of segregation, promote fair housing choice, and foster inclusive communities that are free from discrimination. The rule is designed to help programs participants better understand what they are required to do to meet their AFFH duties and enables them to assess fair housing issues in their communities and then to make informed policy decisions.” – AAFH Fact Sheet
Jurisdictions that receive Community Development Block Grant monies (in our eight county area, this includes the City of Lansing, the City of Jackson, the City of Monroe, and the Washtenaw Urban County) are included in this new rule. The tool these governments will use will now be the “Assessment of Fair Housing” (AFH), replacing the current “Analysis of Impediments” (AI) process.
As provided in the final rule, AFFH “means taking meaningful actions that, taken together, address significant disparities in housing needs and in access to opportunity, replacing segregated living patterns with truly integrated and balanced living patterns, transforming racially and ethnically concentrated areas of poverty into areas of opportunity, and fostering and maintaining compliance with civil rights and fair housing laws. “
You can read more about the new rule and the AFH process at www.hudexchange.info/programs/affh/
On March 25, 2015, we held our second Fair Housing Breakfast event in downtown Ann Arbor. Housing professionals, community members, and policy makers attended the event, including local mayors and city council members.
Our guest speaker was Jason Reece, the Director of Research for the Kirwan Institute. Mr. Reece’s talk at the Breakfast, “Place, Housing & Opportunity: Fair Housing for Supporting Thriving Families and Communities,” covered housing and health equity, the need for fair housing enforcement, and the need for high quality housing in high opportunity areas for all.
You can view slides from the talk and pictures from the event at www.fhcmichigan.org/breakfast.
Thank you to our sponsors, speaker, and attendees for making our 2nd annual Fair Housing Breakfast a success. We hope the event expands the conversation about equal housing opportunity
Some recent reasonable accommodation and modification requests resolved by our office.
A woman living with cerebral palsy needed to break her lease because she could no longer safely enter and exit her apartment. She was told the step up to her unit would not be adjusted to ease her entrance, and that she would have to pay two months’ rent to break her lease. A letter from the FHC resulted in the complainant breaking her lease without a penalty.
A man with a physical disability who lived in a second floor unit could no longer climb stairs. FHC staff asked that he be let out of his lease without penalty as a reasonable accommodation of his disability. His request was granted.
In the first case, our complainant received an eviction notice based on his reaction to loud noise from his neighbors. We negotiated a plan to stop the eviction, allowing the man to remain in his home until the end of his lease.
The second case concerned a family whose son is living with autism. The family was sent an eviction notice after witnesses claimed they saw him putting out a fire. The child was then accused of setting that fire, and several others, on the apartment complex property. FHC staff spoke with the son’s doctor and helped the mother advocate for her son who could not have started the other fires because he was hospitalized at the time. The eviction was dropped.
The third case involved a woman who was sent an eviction notice for having an emotional support animal. FHC staff wrote a letter on her behalf including a letter from her doctor outlining the need for the emotional support dog. The eviction was dropped and she continues to live at the property.
We were asked for help by a woman with multiple, severe disabilities. Her doctor prescribed numerous large pieces of equipment to manage her symptoms and pain. Her housing provider told her she had to move to a smaller unit. She asked for a reasonable accommodation to remain in her larger unit and her request was denied. FHC staff reviewed her case and wrote to the housing provider. The accommodation was made and the tenant was allowed to stay in her unit.
A man with a mental/emotional disability was treated by a doctor who suggested that caring for a dog may help him manage his symptoms. The man explained his situation to his new housing provider. The manager stated that no pets were allowed especially because the unit came with an assigned roommate. Our complainant got written permission from his roommate who was very enthusiastic about the having a dog in their suite. Still, the manager tried to ban the support animal. Letters from the FHC staff led to the dog and the tenant staying in the property.
A man with a disability was offered a long awaited space in low income housing. He contacted the FHC to report that he was turned down because his income was not three times that of the rent. FHC staff argued that he had been managing a higher rent in his current residence, that he met the income threshold if they counted only his portion of the rent, and that because of his disability he was unable to earn more income. The accommodation was granted.
A man with a physical disability lived in his apartment building for three years. He was, by all accounts, an excellent tenant. When a new management company took over, they required that each tenant reapply. Our complainant had a felony record from 14 years ago and for this reason the new managers told him he would have to move at the end of his lease. As a reasonable accommodation, FHC asked for a new lease to be issued, pointing out that our complaint had turned his life around and based on the severity of his disability he was unable to reoffend. The accommodation was granted. The complex later removed his reserved parking space. We asked for a second accommodation to have his reserved parking space returned to him and the accommodation was granted.
A woman receives her disability check from the government on the third Wednesday of the month. Each month her landlord charged her a $35 late fee and an additional $128 in court filing fees. FHC staff requested a return of over $1,100 in fees and to stop future charges related to the timing of her disability income. The money was credited to her account and the late fees have stopped.
A woman with a disability faced eviction when her caregiver was accused of illegal activity on the property. FHC staff met with the property manager and the complainant. When an FHC investigation found there was no evidence of illegal activity, we requested the eviction be dropped and the no trespass order against the caregiver be lifted as a reasonable accommodation of her disability. Both requests were granted.
A young man with a disability applied to live in an apartment building. After being denied, he asked for a hearing and the denial was reversed. However, months went by and the manager appeared to be stalling, as she asked him for more duplicate paperwork. FHC staff advised the young man’s disability advocate and aided her in writing a letter asking for his file. Shortly after the request he was offered a lease.
A young woman with a disability applied to live in an apartment building with her emotional support animal. The landlord said he didn’t allow pets. She supplied a letter from her doctor and the landlord permitted the animal but only if she paid “pet rent.” After living at the apartment for 11 months and paying the “pet rent,” she learned about fair housing laws and contacted the Fair Housing Center. FHC staff wrote a letter informing the landlord that emotional support animals are not pets and asking that, as a reasonable accommodation under the law, the owner refund the “pet rent” already paid and discontinue charging the illegal fee. The accommodation was granted: $275 was refunded and the landlord agreed to stop future charges.
Assistant Coordinator of Investigations Niki Green and husband Ed welcomed their second child on November 12, 2014. Elliott Joseph Green was born on a snowy winter morning weighing in at a sizable 8 lbs 13.5 oz. Big brother Julian is very excited to have a sibling.
The Fair Housing Center launched a new education and outreach campaign on sexual harassment and fair housing. The “Shine a Light” campaign includes billboards, posters, and other handouts, as well as in-person education and outreach services.
Under the Fair Housing Act, housing providers – including landlords, management companies, real estate agents, home sellers, lending institutions, and homeowners’ insurance companies – are prohibited from discriminating based on sex. Sexual harassment is considered a form of sex discrimination that is prohibited by the Fair Housing Act. Statements such as “I’ll fix the sink if you go out with me” or “if you sleep with me, I can forget that the rent is late” are considered harassment and are illegal.
Read more about the law, our campaign, and view the materials at www.fhcmichigan.org. We also welcome contributions to this campaign to help “Shine a Light” on this critical issue.
We would like to thank the members of Youth Advocates for Women’s Empowerment (YAWE), a grassroots grant making organization made up of 18 high school students in Washtenaw County, for the initial opportunity to highlight our work on sex discrimination.
After 22 years in Ann Arbor, the FHC has moved to Ypsilanti. While our mailing address remains the same (PO BOX 7825, Ann Arbor, MI 48107), we now have only one phone number – 877-979-FAIR – and our fax number has changed to 734-340-6598.
Members: The 2015 Annual Meeting is on Thursday, November 12th. Invitations to follow.
On the third Tuesday of every month The Bar at 327 Braun Court in Kerrytown, Ann Arbor, gives a little back. One dollar from every drink sold on those days will be donated to a local nonprofit.
The Fair Housing Center’s next designated evening is on Tuesday, November 17.
Please stop by for great drinks in a cozy atmosphere.
Thank you to the Bar at 327 Braun Court!
Do you use Amazon or Amazon Prime? If so, we encourage you to place your orders through AmazonSmile. Visit smile.amazon.com to select a non-profit of your choice to receive a percentage of your purchase. It’s simple and free to participate, and you’ll find the exact same products and benefits. Shop and do good with every purchase.
It’s now easier than ever to join the Fair Housing Center and aid in our mission to end discrimination in housing and public accommodations and to promote accessible, integrated communities. Just visit our website at www.fhcmichigan.org to make a one-time donation or set up a reoccurring donation subscription on our membership page (www.fhcmichigan.org/get-involved/membership)
On Thursday, June 25, 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States voted 5-4 to keep a critical piece of its legacy: the disparate impact claim. This claim allows Americans to challenge not only laws, policies, and practices that are intentionally discriminatory, but also those that have an unjustified discriminatory effect.
This ruling is a solid victory for equal opportunity and for the future of our nation. The Court’s decision will not only continue to protect millions of Americans, but it also upholds the important principle that, as a nation, we value the diversity of the communities in which we live, especially at a key moment for racial justice in America.
Examples of Disparate Impact from the National Fair Housing Alliance:
The Fair Housing Center staff, along with the Michigan Poverty Law Program and Legal Services of South Central Michigan, will be holding Housing Advocates Training (HAT) on October 13 and 15, 2015, in Monroe. Registration is required.
HAT is designed to help social service workers gain a working knowledge of fair housing law, landlord/tenant law, and housing subsidy programs. The Welfare Policy Seminar focuses on the Department of Human Services’ most popular programs. The trainings are an excellent resource for anyone working as an advocate (clients/consumers also welcome).
For details on the training and to register, visit the Housing Advocates Training page on our website
Cicily Pippens of Monroe has settled her housing discrimination lawsuit against landlord Mildred Trkula for $20,000, with assistance from the Fair Housing Center of Southeastern Michigan.
Ms. Pippens contacted the Fair Housing Center in January 2013 to report that the agent at a West Eighth Street property in the City of Monroe took a rental application away from her after the agent learned that she has two children.
The Fair Housing Center investigated the claim of housing discrimination by sending testers who acted as potential home seekers and reported their experiences to FHC staff. Testers visited the property at various times during the period of a month. The results of FHC testing strongly supported Ms. Pippens’ claim of discrimination based on familial status.
According to the lawsuit, the defendant, Mildred Trkula, told Pippens that “they really do not want children living here.” Ms. Trkula is the owner of the property. The lawsuit also states that the defendant told FHC testers “you can’t have kids,” “it is an adult unit,” and a non-FHC tester that when a previous tenant “found a girlfriend with kids” she, Ms. Trkula, “got rid of them.”
FHC staff met with Ms. Pippens in early February 2013 to discuss her options. Ms. Pippens chose to go to litigation with a Fair Housing Center Cooperating Attorney, selecting Steve Tomkowiak to handle her case. On March 5, 2013, Mr. Tomkowiak filed Pippens v. Trkula in U.S. Federal District Court. The case was assigned to Judge Victoria A. Roberts and in November 2013, Judge Roberts found in favor of Ms. Pippens, resulting in a $20,000 settlement.
On February 25th, we held a Fair Housing Breakfast event for our 22nd Anniversary. Our guest speaker was attorney John Relman, founder and managing partner of Relman, Dane & Colfax PLLC. Mr. Relman also teaches public interest law at Georgetown University Law Center, where he serves as an adjunct professor. He received his law degree from the University of Michigan. Mr. Relman is a national expert in fair housing and the author of the “Housing Discrimination Practice Manual.”
The morning began with a delicious breakfast buffet at the Dahlmann Campus Inn in downtown Ann Arbor. Attendees got a chance to network and learn more about the Fair Housing Center. Mr. Relman then spoke to us about “Lasting Effects: The Next Generation of Fair Housing Enforcement.”
We hope the event expanded the conversation about fair housing for participants. Mr. Relman’s talk covered redlining, reverse redlining, and the impact that leaders in the real estate and lending industries can make in working to end housing discrimination.
This was our first event for housing industry professionals. We look forward to making this event a tradition.
This past June, the Fair Housing Center (FHC) and Renaissance Community Homes (Renaissance) – a provider of assisted living services – settled a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) complaint against Scio Farms Estates in Ann Arbor. Scio Farms Estates is part of Sun Community Homes, a nationwide company with yearly sales near $300 million.
Under terms of the settlement, Scio Farms Estates and Sun Community Homes will no longer require guardians of tenants with developmental disabilities to live on the premises when co-signing a lease. Sun Community Homes will also provide relevant training to staff, and pay $39,500 to Renaissance and FHC.
“Sun Communities placed the bar so high that it would have been practically impossible for people with developmental disabilities to live there,” said Pam Kisch, Director of the Fair Housing Center of Southeastern Michigan. “We’re pleased that HUD was able to step in and change that. A harmful policy has been removed and I hope Sun Communities has learned from this.”
The case began on March 28, 2011 when FHC staff member Kristen Cuhran took a complaint from Sandi Donner, on behalf of Renaissance and two of its clients (who wish to remain anonymous). Ms. Donner claimed that three of her clients were denied housing at Scio Farms Estates because of their developmental disabilities.
Two weeks before the complaint was filed, an application was submitted to Scio Farms Estates by Ms. Donner on behalf of the three clients, signed by their guardians. The home was perfect – a great location, less expensive rent than what the clients were currently paying, and larger square footage. Ms. Donner was told by the Scio Farms agent to expect to hear back in 24-48 hours.
When she hadn’t heard back after 48 hours, she followed up with an agent at Scio Farms who said she was looking into the situation. The next day, Ms. Donner called again and an agent told her that the corporate office was looking into the matter. One week after they had originally applied, Ms. Donner went to the Scio Farms office in person where an agent told her that the corporate office denied the application because the clients’ guardians signed the lease and “whoever signs the lease has to live there.”
The Fair Housing Center advised the Renaissance staff to have the men (one of whom was his own guardian; the other two had related family as guardians) sign the lease themselves, which they did. Because the clients have developmental disabilities, they rely on representative payees (someone who manages their money) who also co-signed the lease. Sun Community Homes denied the application a second time, stating that the payees would have to live with them. The payees in this instance were an organization – Renaissance Community Homes.
FHC testing found that the policy “whoever signs the lease has to live there” was not enforced for prospective tenants without disabilities.
The Fair Housing Center tested the property through phone and on-site investigations in regards to payees, guardians, and co-signers. FHC staff talked with the families of the clients and Renaissance staff about what action they would like to pursue.
One Renaissance client and his family decided to pursue the case through a HUD complaint. FHC Board voted to join the case in order to seek changes in policies for all Sun Community Homes properties. FHC staff referred the case to HUD on December 14, 2011. A conciliation agreement was finalized on May 16, 2013, between the owner, Sun Communities, Inc., and Renaissance Community Homes, the Fair Housing Center of Southeastern Michigan, and the individual complainant and his family.
The agreement includes a monetary settlement of $30,000 to Renaissance Community Homes and $9,500 to the Fair Housing Center of Southeastern Michigan to monitor Sun Community Homes for fair housing compliance. The client and his family declined any settlement money but stayed in the case in order to further civil rights for people with disabilities. They generously were in full support of Renaissance and FHC receiving monetary settlements.
The agreement also includes a charge to Sun Community to develop and distribute written policies to all staff that interacts with potential and current residents regarding the HUD suggested language on a “Payee Policy” and a “Policy Against Unlawful Scrutiny on the Basis of Disability.” Sun Community Homes must also develop additional training for all staff on these issues, as well as adhere to monitoring from HUD for a period of 18 months (separate from FHC monitoring).
Some recent reasonable accommodation and modification requests resolved by our office.
FHC staff assisted five people who required emotional support animals due to their disabilities. Each landlord cited “No Pets” policies as a reason for refusing to accept, threatening, or trying to evict the tenant. Staff at one property told an FHC complainant to muzzle her dog and put it in a cage. They also intimidated other tenants for their perceived association with the complainant. Letters from the Fair Housing Center convinced the landlords to allow the animals as reasonable accommodations and put a stop to the harassment. The FHC also clarified that pet rent could not be charged in these circumstances.
The Fair Housing Center assisted two people with getting late fees dropped, eviction proceedings stopped, and previously assessed fines returned. Each complainant received their monthly Social Security Disability checks after their rent due date. The checks are their only sources of income. As reasonable accommodations of their disabilities, the FHC asked that no late fees be charged if their rent checks were received two days after their Social Security Disability checks arrived, that landlords refrain from mid-month eviction proceedings in the future, and that any past fees be refunded. The accommodations were all granted.
A man with a mobility impairment needed to move to a more accessible unit. His landlord denied him the request. FHC staff asked for a reasonable accommodation and the landlord agreed to make modifications to his current unit instead.
The family of a child with a disability that affected his ability to breathe needed a non-chemical treatment of bed bugs in their rented apartment. FHC staff aided the family in getting a letter from the child’s physician and made a written request for thermal treatment as a reasonable accommodation. The accommodation was granted and the family was able to stay in their apartment.
A woman with a physical disability is living in a manufactured home. Management stated she was required to install a railing on her back stairs. The railing previously prevented medical personnel from getting her safely out of the home during an emergency. A letter from FHC staff led to a solution that included changing the position of her back steps as a reasonable accommodation of her disability.
A woman with a physical disability needed a roll-in shower in her apartment unit. FHC staff wrote a letter asking for permission to make the modification and asked if the owner would pay half the cost. Not only did they allow the modification, the owner split the cost with a local community service organization (which is not required by the FHA).
FHC staff assisted three people with reasonable accommodations related to parking spaces. The accommodations included new accessible spaces, restriping, and appropriate signage, including one tenant whose parking space was designated for his use only.
A couple, both of whom use wheelchairs, were charged hundreds of dollars for damages caused by their wheelchairs scraping the floor and walls of their rented apartment. The owner applied the damages to their rent and sent out an eviction notice for non-payment. FHC informed the owner that this type of “damage” is considered normal wear and tear for wheelchair users. The owner dropped the charges and stopped the eviction to the considerable relief of the tenants.
A woman with a mobility impairment needed to have her mail delivered to her front door. FHC staff wrote a letter asking the US Postal Service to bypass the communal mail boxes that were inaccessible to the complainant. The accommodation was made and the woman was able to continue living in her apartment building.
A woman who owns a mobile home needs 24-hour-aday care provided by her son and her boyfriend. Both had been living with her for the last six years without complaint or incident. A new manager demanded she officially put her caregivers on her lease, but denied their applications because of past felony convictions. This led to an eviction notice and the complainant feared that any gap in her care could be fatal. FHC staff wrote a letter asking that they let her add her caregivers to the lease as a reasonable accommodation of her disability. The accommodation was granted.
The United States Department of Justice advises that more than 650,000 ex-offenders are released from prison every year1, and social scientists and legal scholars now estimate up to 65,000,000 people are living with a criminal conviction in the U.S.2 A high percentage of those 65 million are African- Americans and Latinos3, and we therefore believe that housing policies that ban people with criminal records impact a disproportionate number of people of color because they are overrepresented in the criminal justice system.
For years the Fair Housing Center has been documenting calls to our office from people who cannot find housing due to their conviction record.
Currently no federal or state fair housing protections exist for persons with a criminal background (regardless of type of crime, length of sentence, or time elapsed since conviction). Many fair housing advocates believe that using civil rights law is one way to successfully advocate for stable housing for this growing population.
We believe there are robust frameworks which demonstrate how civil rights law may provide successful arguments to assist this substantial population in both securing and keeping housing.
When we look at discriminatory practices against a protected class barred by the Fair Housing Act of 1968 (protected classes here include race, religion, sex, disability, the presence of children, national origin, and color), how do we understand these practices when combined with criminal background?
Here’s an example: If a property owner or manager requires only applicants of a certain race to submit to a criminal background check OR if a property manager or owner requires all applicants to undergo a background check but only denies housing to applicants of color, this may violate the FHA.
Local community ordinances exist that prohibit housing discrimination against individuals with an arrest or conviction, such as the Fair Housing Ordinance in Dane County, Wisconsin4, but to date they are extremely rare. We believe ordinances like these are a valuable tool to promote greater housing security for this population and should be replicated.
The FHA has established what is known as disparate impact analysis (DIA). DIA is a legal doctrine that can be used to rigorously enforce fair housing law. Disparate impact arguments frequently rely on statistical analysis to demonstrate that seemingly neutral housing policy may actually produce a discriminatory effect on a protected group of people as established in the FHA of 1968.
In March 2013, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued a Final Rule, “Implementation of the Fair Housing Act’s Discriminatory Effects Standard,” which officially provides pathways to liability or relief, as established by disparate impact claims. In the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review5, Assessing HUD’s Disparate Impact Rule: A Practitioner’s Perspective, authors Michael G. Allen, Jamie L. Crook, and John P. Relman suggest:
“By applying the framework in HUD’s Final Rule, a successful disparate impact challenge to criminal background screening can achieve important results, including incentivizing housing providers to adopt alternative and less discriminatory screening policies, increasing access to housing for a vulnerable population, and perhaps even ferreting out subtle evidence of discriminatory intent motivating blanket bans.”
Thus, the disparate impact claim differs from the example in the first section in a critical way. If a property owner requires all applicants to submit to a criminal background check, and the owner subsequently fails to ever rent or lease to people of a certain race, regardless of whether or not discrimination was intended, the owner may be liable under disparate impact theory and HUD’s Final Rule.
Recently, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan and Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing Sandra Henriquez wrote to the Executive Directors of the Country’s Public Housing Authorities6 encouraging them to use less restrictive tenant selection criteria. This included considering all relevant information, such as family support or evidence of rehabilitation. This is critical, as many public housing agencies explicitly bar individuals with a criminal conviction from tenancy.
Secretary Donovan also wrote to all HUD-assisted property owners nationwide, asking them to evaluate, review, and potentially edit their tenant selection policies. He proposes these changes as part of a larger social and governmental effort to reduce recidivism, reunify families, encourage productivity, and to reduce homelessness among the ever expanding group of citizens with criminal backgrounds.
HUD’s recommendations are notable for the ways housing applicants with conviction records may be protected, but they also provide a road map for replication in the private housing market.
We expect lively conversations and productive dialogue on the connection between criminal background and fair housing to not only continue, but accelerate in upcoming years.
Niki Green joined the Fair Housing Center staff in September 2013. Niki has committed herself professionally to public interest and advocacy work for the past five years as an attorney for two Michigan legal aid programs. Niki has substantial experience in the landlord/tenant law arena, which led to her interest in fair housing law, after observing how often the two areas intersect. We are fortunate that Niki plans to use her Spanish speaking skills to assist FHC complainants. Niki received her B.A. in History and Sociology from Emory University and her J.D. from the University of Denver. She lives in Ann Arbor with her husband, Ed, and their toddler son, Julian.
Norah Rast volunteered with the FHC during her junior and senior year at Ann Arbor Pioneer High School. Norah’s volunteer duties included research, programmatic support, collating, and copying (in other words, the real non-profit gamut!). Norah is now a student at Washington University in St. Louis. We wish her the best!
Our colleagues across the country have been part of, and producing, some fantastic work in the realm of fair housing. Below is a quick glimpse of some film and radio shows to check out. All of these titles are linked at fhcmichigan.org.
This gripping, eight-minute award winning film, produced by Nationwide in conjunction with the National Fair Housing Alliance, tells the story of the seven days that changed America. From the devastating assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King on April 4, 1968 to the passage of the Fair Housing Act on April 11, 1968, America’s cities were in turmoil – its people looking for some sign of hope. President Johnson compelled Congress to move hastily to pass sweeping civil rights legislation in an effort to demonstrate to the American people that Dr. King’s dream would live on. The Fair Housing Act, drafted by then- Senators Ed Brooke and Walter Mondale, would become a cornerstone of the Civil Rights Act. vimeo.com/68787849
We lost an important friend and mentor to the Fair Housing Center when Clifford Schrupp, the founder and Executive Director of the Fair Housing Center of Metropolitan Detroit, passed away on September 11, 2013. He was 74. The Michigan Roundtable for Diversity and Inclusion produced a video honoring Cliff, titled “Cliff Schrupp 2013 Humanitarian Tribute.” We encourage you to take a few moments to learn more about the life of this extraordinary “agent for change.” youtu.be/-gftRB28fQ0
The Fair Housing Justice Center in New York partnered with Kavanagh Productions to produce the film “A Matter of Place,” a documentary film that shines a bright light on housing discrimination, one of the most shrouded and misunderstood civil rights issues in America. This 30-minute, superbly crafted documentary details the testing process used by many fair housing centers.
Synopsis: “A Matter of Place” connects past struggles for fair housing to contemporary incidents of housing bias based on race, sexual orientation, disability, and source of income. Three stories are presented by people who faced housing discrimination in presentday New York City. They poignantly describe the injuries inflicted on them during these incidents, as well as their resolve to fight for justice. Through experts, civil rights advocates, and fair housing testers, the film also recounts our nation’s often overlooked history of residential segregation. vimeo.com/77785957
This American Life recently aired a show titled “House Rules.” The piece focuses on the Fair Housing Act, affirmatively furthering fair housing (including former Republican Governor of Michigan George Romney’s pro-integration role in fair housing), and why and how testing matters. Also in the show are actual recordings from Fair Housing Justice Center testers. Much of the show’s content comes from ProPublica reporter Nikole Hannah-Jones, whose 2012 series “Living Apart: Fair Housing In America” has won several awards. thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/512/house-rules
WKAR Current State staff spoke with FHC Executive Director Pam Kisch and previous FHC complainant Lauretta Codrington. The piece, titled “Housing Discrimination Pervasive but Subtle,” explores the work of the Fair Housing Center of Southeastern Michigan and a compelling personal story of what housing discrimination looks and feels like. wkar.org/post/housing-discrimination-pervasive-subtle
Legislative Fair Housing Updates in the State of Michigan In recent months, Michigan has seen significant updates to its fair housing laws, including amendments to the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act (ELCRA) and progress on source of income antidiscrimination bills. ELCRA Amendments: Expanded Protections Now in Effect This year, amendments to the ELCRA have broadened the […]
Breakfast Event Celebrates Fair Housing Advancements and Challenges Our keynote speaker was John Reiman, the founder and managing partner of civil rights law firm Reiman Colfax. For more than 30 years, he has represented individual plaintiffs, cities, and civil rights organizations in many of the country’s most important civil rights cases and pioneered groundbreaking fair […]
FHC Expands to Meet Community Needs The Fair Housing Center of Southeast & Mid Michigan’s staff is growing thanks to new grants from the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA), the United Way of Washtenaw County, and the Washtenaw County Office of Community & Economic Development’s New Human Services Partnership. With complaints to our office […]
FHC Files Four Lawsuits Based on Criminal Background and Race The Fair Housing Center has been working on issues related to criminal background and housing for several years now. In our 2014 newsletter we wrote about the nexus between race (particularly Black and Latino) and incarceration rates, and how that translated into housing inequities. Policies […]
Need for Fair Housing Continues to Rise Yoder, FHC v. McDonell New Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Sarah Yoder contacted the Fair Housing Center in August 2018 to file a sexual harassment complaint against Ryan McDonell. Ms. Yoder says she was asked to do a striptease in exchange for negotiating a lower rent. Ms. Yoder, a 39-year-old […]
New Fair Housing Lawsuit Filed Against MSU Sorority Kayla Hicks is suing Alpha Omicron Pi (AOII) for denying her the right to live in her sorority with an emotional support animal (ESA) while she was a student at Michigan State University. According to the complaint taken by the Fair Housing Center in the fall of […]
Tankson v Randolph Court FHC Settles Case for Wheelchair User Forced to Crawl into Home The Fair Housing Center of Southeast & Mid Michigan has assisted in the settlement of a housing discrimination lawsuit against Group Five Management Company and TG Properties LLC, the owners of Randolph Court Apartments in Ann Arbor. Sarah Tankson, who […]
No Section 8? No Way! FHC Challenges Discriminatory Zoning Code The Fair Housing Center filed a complaint with the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) against Ypsilanti Township regarding the planned 398-unit Majestic Lakes subdivision. As a condition of the sale of the land to a developer, the Ypsilanti Township Board of […]
Scott v Swan Creek Paula Scott accepted a non-disclosed settlement to resolve her lawsuit against Swan Creek Mobile Home Community in Ypsilanti Township. In April 2014, the FHC took a complaint from Paula Scott. Ms. Scott was referred to the Fair Housing Center by Legal Services of South Central Michigan (LSSCM). Ms. Scott reported that […]
Case Updates $20,000 to Monroe Mom Discrimination Against Families with Kids Case Settles Cicily Pippens of Monroe has settled her housing discrimination lawsuit against landlord Mildred Trkula for $20,000, with assistance from the Fair Housing Center of Southeastern Michigan. Ms. Pippens contacted the Fair Housing Center in January 2013 to report that the agent at […]
Discrimination against Kids A new fair housing case heads to Federal Court Cicily Pippens contacted the Fair Housing Center to report that the agent at a West Eighth Street property, in the City of Monroe, took a rental application out of her hands after the agent learned that Ms. Pippens has two children. The FHC […]
Dear Friends, This year marks our 20th Anniversary! The Fair Housing Center of Metropolitan Detroit helped us get started in 1992 with a $20,000 grant from HUD. The Fair Housing Center of Washtenaw County officially opened for business on February 17, 1992. In 2002, we changed our name to the Fair Housing Center of Southeastern […]
Disability Advocacy a Top Priority for FHC Darrian Has Room to Play Reasonable modification Darrian Shaffer is a 35-month-old toddler who suffered from HSV Encephalitis, an illness that left him with a significant amount of brain damage. He is at the cognitive level of a 6-9 month old. Darrian’s disability impedes his understanding of language- […]
Lowrey & FHC v. Uptown in Canton Apartments Apartment Complex to Renovate 97 Units Largest-ever FHC settlement award; plaintiffs accept $272,500 In a landmark settlement, the Fair Housing Center of Southeastern Michigan has negotiated an agreement which will require the Uptown in Canton Apartments complex to renovate 97 first-floor units, in order to fully comply […]
Thanks to a new grant, the Fair Housing Center of Southeastern Michigan (FHC) now provides services in Ingham, Jackson and Livingston counties. The 3-year grant funded under the HUD Fair Housing Initiatives Program – Performance Based Funding Component (FHIP-PBFC) allows us to formally expand our enforcement area. We started by hiring Jasmine Cooper, our new […]
Tyus v Fairway Trails Tyus case pushes FHC over $1,000,000 mark When Harry Tyus accepted $50,000 to settle his claim against Fairway Trails Apartments, FHC aided settlements went over the $1,000,000 mark. The Tyus v Fairway Trails victory was a group effort involving the Fair Housing Center, Legal Services of South Central Michigan, Washtenaw County […]
Frye v Keystone Management Group / Parkway Meadows Apartments $50,000 for Parkway Meadows TenantAnn Arbor Carol Frye asked the management of her complex for permission to install a ramp and roll-in shower at her own expense. “Your requests are denied” said the letter from Keystone. The management company said neither of the requests was possible. […]
Mackey v Parkhill Apartments $11,500 Settles Race Discrimination Suit, Same Complex Sued in 1997 When Rashawnda and Marcus Mackey, an African-American couple, were denied an apartment at Parkhill Apartments, Ms. Mackey was suspicious. She contacted the Fair Housing Center to report the denial. FHC staff were familiar with Parkhill Apartments. In 1997, FHC assist ed […]
Moody and Stowe v Frey $20,000 Settles Gender Discrimination Case Two men, Shannon Moody and Robert Stowe, accepted $20,000 to settle their sex discrimination suit against Roland and Joan Frey of Ann Arbor. According to the suit, Roland and Joan Frey refused to rent their Potter Street apartment to two men. Moody and Stowe contacted […]
Coates et. al. v Myers et. al. $166,200 Settles Sex Harassment Suit On October 23, the Fair Housing Center of Washtenaw County announced the settlement of a civil action for sexual harassment, Coates et. al. v Myers et. al. The case began with a few women meeting with Fair Housing Center staff and ended with […]
Coates et. al. v Myer Sexual Harassment/Race Discrimination Suit Filed They all answered the same ad: “FEMALE NEEDED. Elegant home, near WCC. Jacuzzi, laundry, $280+. 572-0724.” and now, Rachel Coates, Amanda Coffin, Erin Cuniffe, Cynthia Moening, Dawn Ottinger and Sarah Ruggles have filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against their former landlords, Raymond Scott Myers and […]
Thomas v Parkhill Pamela Thomas has accepted $7,500 to settle her housing discrimination claim against Parkhill Apartments. According to the suit filed in February of 1997, Ms. Thomas was denied the rental of an apartment at 1932 Washtenaw Ave. in Ypsilanti because she has children and children were prohibited from occupying apartments on all but […]
Patterson v The Pines Is Settled: GO DEB! Deborah Patterson has at last settled her disability discrimination claim against The Pines of Cloverlane apartment complex for an undisclosed amount. Patterson’s initial request for modification to the door and sidewalk outside her building came in late 1994. Final work on the sidewalk wasn’t completed until the […]
Tankson v Arbor Apartments Race and Disability Bias Suit Settled Sarah Tankson has accepted $5,000 to settle her suit against Thomas Robert Allmand, owner of Arbor Apartments. Tankson sued Allmand in 19951 claiming discrimination based on disability and race. Arbor Apartments are located at 3310 Packard at Fernwood. According to the suit, Arbor Apartments’ agents […]
Lewis v Williamsburg Village Apartments $32,500 Settles Race Discrimination Case Sharon Lewis and Tyrone Tillison have accepted $32,500 to settle a race discrimination suit against Williamsburg Village Apartments in Lyon Township, Michigan. In April, 1995 Lewis, a white woman, contacted Fair Housing Center Cooperating Attorney Michael J. Steinberg about her housing discrimination claim. Steinberg referred […]
Brannan v The Fourmidable Group $10,000 Settles Disability Suit When a water pipe burst in Phyllis Brannan’s apartment she asked the manager at Pine Valley Apartments to repair the damage one room at a time to accommodate her disability. They refused and Brannan, who had lived at Pine Valley for twenty-one years, was forced to […]
Battistone v Johnson Disability Case Settles Janine Battistone has settled her case against landlord David Johnson. The details of the settlement are undisclosed. Battistone sued Johnson claiming he violated the Michigan Handicappers’ Civil Rights Act by refusing to rent his first floor apartment to Battistone and her family because ten-year old Laura Battistone uses a […]
Faulk v Maes In the fall of 1994Stacey Faulk accepted an undisclosed amount to settle her housing discrimination claim against Barbara Maes. According to the suit Ms. Faulk was denied the rental of an apartment at 943 W. Cross in Ypsilanti near the Eastern Michigan University campus because she has a baby. Testing by the […]
The Fair Housing Center of Washtenaw County will hold our Third Annual Meeting for members on Tuesday, October 25, 1994 at the First Methodist Church located at 602 E. Huron at State St. in Ann Arbor. The meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. with a light buffet dinner. After the meeting and election of new […]
Hawkins v Maplewood FHC Settles New Familial Status Case Tashie Hawkins settled her housing discrimination suit against Maplewood Apartments in March of 1994. The amount of the settlement is undisclosed, but includes funds for a down payment available for Hawkins to purchase a home. “I feel much better now that Maplewood has been penalized for […]