About Fair Housing

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Types of Housing Discrimination

Whether people are trying to rent, buy, sell, or finance a home or apartment, as a tenant, homeowner, or landlord, rights and protections are provided by the Federal Fair Housing Act. Illegal housing discrimination can take many forms including:

  • Realtors showing apartments or homes only in certain neighborhoods.
  • Advertising housing only to preferred groups of people.
  • Denials of property insurance.
  • Discriminatory property appraisals.
  • Refusals to make reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities.

Reports across the country indicate that those who are low-income, seniors or disabled, seeking to purchase, refinance, or secure a reverse mortgage, are often targets for predatory lenders or loan fraud. Predatory lenders take advantage of borrowers with a variety of abusive practices, such as charging excessive interest rates or loan fees.

Why provide fair housing information?

 
In Lakewood, fair housing information is provided to the public to do the following:

  • Raise awareness of critical fair housing issues.
  • Educate residents of their rights and responsibilities.
  • Provide an avenue to file a complaint.

About the Fair Housing Act

 
The federal Fair Housing Act was adopted in 1968 and amended in 1988. HUD is the agency charged with enforcing the Fair Housing Act. According to HUD, impediments to fair housing choice are any actions, omissions, or decisions taken because of race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status, or national origin that restrict housing choices, or the availability of housing choices. HUD also considers any actions, omissions or decisions that have the effect of restricting housing choices or the availability of housing choices on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status, or national origin to be impediments to fair housing choice. The State of Colorado also has enacted legislation prohibiting housing discrimination, and State law offers the same protections as the Fair Housing Act, with additional protections based on marital status, creed, and ancestry.

Contacts

For assistance with fair housing concerns, contact the Housing Discrimination Hotline by fheo_webmanager@hud.gov, or at 1-800-669-9777 (Voice) or 1-800-927-9275 (TTY).

Fair Housing Resources

FAQs and Laws(PDF, 55KB)
Information for Persons with Disabilities(PDF, 54KB)
Information for Realtors, Property Managers, and Mortgage Lenders(PDF, 46KB)
Information for Parents and Guardians(PDF, 47KB)
Information for Seniors(PDF, 32KB) 

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