Thursday, October 6, 2005
By JEANNIE CLAIRE
Register Business Editor
NAPA VALLEY REGISTER
Napa Valley attorneys, property owners and real estate agents gathered at River Terrace Inn on Wednesday to learn more about equal rights in housing.
The luncheon, sponsored by Fair Housing Napa Valley and the Napa County Bar Association, featured Liza Cristol-Deman, an attorney at Brancart & Brancart in Pescadero who represents plaintiffs in housing discrimination cases in federal and state courts throughout the United States.
Fair Housing Napa Valley is a nonprofit organization dedicated to fair and equal housing opportunity for Napa County residents and is headed by Executive Director Kathryn Winter.
According to Cristol-Deman, "The Fair Housing Act provides an aggrieved person a right to a remedy if they have been injured by a discriminatory housing practice." The dwellings covered under the Act include houses, apartments, land to be used for residence, residence motels, nursing homes, dorms and trailer parks, she said.
There are exceptions to the law including: the "mom and pop," senior housing, private clubs and religious organizations.
In the "mom and pop" exception, an owner of three or fewer units is not subject to federal law if the owner lives in one of the units, said Cristol-Deman. "Nearly all dwellings offered for rent or sale are still covered under California law," she said.
The senior housing exception covers residences for persons 55 and older, and allows age restrictions, even if the excluded person is a spouse of someone over 55, Cristol-Deman said.
The private clubs exception can be used only for noncommercial lodging and temporary accommodations. "Under this rule, religious groups may not discriminate on any basis except religion," Cristol-Deman said.
Megan's Law is a major issue facing apartment owners. A hand-out from the California Apartment Association noted that the organization has begun a concerted effort to address the recent developments regarding the new easy access to information about registered sex offenders in California.
Megan's Law limits what an owner can do with respect to the residency of a registered sex offender, the hand-out stated.
Owners and managers can inform tenants that they are working with the California Apartment Association on legislative relief that will give rental property owners and managers the ability to protect their residents from known sex offenders who present a threat to their safety and well being, noted the hand-out.
While Cristol-Deman did not elaborate on Megan Law's restrictions, she did acknowledge concern about the subject among property owners.
Cristol-Deman focused her presentation on discriminatory housing practices based on race, national origin, religion, sex, familial status and handicap or disability. She gave examples of discriminatory practices including refusal to rent to applicants of certain races, using different application criteria for different nationalities, requiring higher security deposits from families with minor children and segregating families with children to ground level.
Cristol-Deman noted several ways property owners violate the law, such as making statements or writing notices that convey a preference or limitation based on disability, lying about the availability of units because of religion, using different rules or applying rules differently to children, evicting because of ethnicity and retaliation and harassment for fair housing complaint activity.
"People tend to think about sexual harassment in the workplace, but it's also significant in housing," she said. "You'd be surprised at how many sexual harassment cases there are out there."
Cristol-Deman said sexual harassment in housing includes requesting sexual favors in exchange for housing-related benefits such as lower rent, policy exceptions or caneling an eviction. It can also include unwanted touching, entry without notice, peeping, unwelcome requests for dates or sex, unwelcome sexual comments or jokes and asking about a tenant's private life, she said.
Property owners also need to consider all levels of income, Cristol-Deman said. "If housing providers require certain forms of income, they need to do so across the board," she said. "Housing providers who have a minimum income requirement must add up the income of household members. They cannot require each member to satisfy the requirement." This is just under California law; it is not a federal law, according to Cristol-Deman.
Congress has also added protections based on disability because people with disabilities historically have been denied housing due to misconceptions, ignorance and prejudice, Cristol-Deman said. "Artificial barriers should not prevent people with disabilities from using and enjoying housing of their choice," she said.
Cristol-Deman said some of the ways property owners discriminate against disabled persons include refusing to allow a person with a disability to make reasonable modifications to their unit or a common area; refusing to make reasonable accommodations to rules, policies, practices or procedures for a person with a disability; failing to comply with accessibility rules for new construction; and asking questions about an applicant's or tenant's disability.
Examples of reasonable modifications given by Cristol-Deman include ramps in unit or common areas, widening doorways, lowering counters and installing flashing lights in lieu of a doorbell. Property owners with a "no pet" policy must make exceptions to allow service animals, and is not limited to "seeing eye dogs," she said.
"It's important to engage in dialogue to have all of the information you need before turning anyone down," Cristol-Deman added.
Rules that restrict children may also violate the Fair Housing laws, she continued. The law protects anyone with custody of a child under 18, and pregnant women or would-be foster or adoptive parents, she noted. "It's important to target the problem, not children," she said.
Health and safety rules required by state law such as health restrictions for children under 14 do not violate the Fair Housing Act.
Cristol-Deman has handled nearly 100 fair housing cases and has litigated cases on sexual harassment of tenants and rental applicants.
She joined Brancart & Brancart in 1997 after graduating from Stanford Law School, and in her first year of practice, she won a verdict for the plaintiffs in the first-ever California trial involving housing discrimination based on sexual orientation, said Winter.
Fair Housing Napa Valley is located at 611 Cabot Way in Napa.