Beavercreek, OH Fair Housing

Beavercreek, OH, US

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Type: Ordinance

Status: Adopted on 9/23/85

Source File: http://www.ci.beavercreek.oh.us/

Text:

CHAPTER 92: FAIR HOUSING

92.01 INTENT
It is hereby designated to be the continuing policy of the city, in accord with the enacted laws of the United States of America and of the State of Ohio, and declared to be in the best interest of the health, safety and welfare of the people of the city to secure to all persons living or desiring to live in the city a fair opportunity to sell, purchase, transfer, lease, rent, occupy and finance housing without any discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin or ancestry.

92.02 DEFINITIONS.

For the purpose of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.

FAMILY. A single person or a group of people related by affinity, blood relationship or adoption.

PERSON. One or more natural persons, partnerships, associations, organizations, corporations, legal representatives, trustees, trustees in bankruptcy, receivers and other organized groups of persons. It also includes, but is not limited to, any owner, lessor, assignor, builder, manager, broker, salesman, agent, employee or lending institution.

REAL PROPERTY. Any building, structure or portion thereof which is used, intended to be used or occupied as a home, residence, sleeping place of one or more persons, place of business or office, or any vacant land offered for the construction or location thereon of any such building, structure or portion thereof.

92.03 PROHIBITED ACTS.
It shall be an unlawful discriminatory practice for any person to any of the following:

(A) Refuse to sell, transfer, assign, rent, lease, sublease, or finance housing accommodations, refuse to negotiate for the sale or rental of housing accommodations, or otherwise deny or make unavailable housing accommodations because of race, color, religion, sex, familial status, ancestry, disability, or national origin;

(B) Represent to any person that housing accommodations are not available for inspection, sale or rental, when in fact they are available, because of race, color, religion, sex, familial status, ancestry, disability, or national origin;

(C) Discriminate against any person in the making or purchasing of loans or the provision of other financial assistance for the acquisition, construction, rehabilitation, repair, or maintenance of housing accommodations, or any person in the making or purchasing of loans or the provision of other financial assistance that is secured by residential real estate, because of race, color, religion, sex, familial status, ancestry, disability, or national origin or because of the racial composition of the neighborhood in which the housing accommodations are located, provided that the person, whether an individual, corporation, or association of any type, lends money as one of the principal aspects or incident to the person's principal business and not only as a part of the purchase price of an owner-occupied residence the person is selling nor merely casually or occasionally to a relative or friend;

(D) Discriminate against any person in the terms or conditions of selling, transferring, assigning, renting, leasing, or subleasing any housing accommodations or in furnishing facilities, services, or privileges in connection with the ownership, occupancy or use of any housing accommodations, including the sale of fire, extended coverage, or homeowners insurance, because of race, color, religion, sex, familial status, ancestry, disability, or national origin or because of the racial composition of the neighborhood in which the housing accommodations are located;

(E) Discriminate against any person in the terms or conditions of any loan of money, whether or not secured by mortgage or otherwise, for the acquisition, construction, rehabilitation, repair, or maintenance of housing accommodations because of race, color, religion, sex, familial status, ancestry, disability, or national origin or because of the racial composition of the neighborhood in which the housing accommodations are located;

(F) Refuse to consider without prejudice the combined income of both husband and wife for the purpose of extending mortgage credit to a married couple or either member of a married couple;

(G) Print, publish, or circulate any statement or advertisement, or make or cause to be made any statement or advertisement, relating to the sale, transfer, assignment, rental, lease, sublease, or acquisition of any housing accommodations, or relating to the loan of money, whether or not secured by mortgage or otherwise, for the acquisition, construction, rehabilitation, repair, or maintenance of housing accommodations, that indicates any preference, limitation, specification, or discrimination based upon race, color, religion, sex, familial status, ancestry, disability, or national origin, or an intention to make any such preference, limitation, specification, or discrimination;

(H) Except as otherwise provided in this division or division (Q) of this section, make any inquiry, elicit any information, make or keep any record, or use any form of application containing questions or entries concerning race, color, religion, sex, familial status, ancestry, disability, or national origin in connection with the sale or lease of any housing accommodations or the loan of any money, whether or not secured by mortgage or otherwise, for the acquisition, construction, rehabilitation, repair, or maintenance of housing accommodations. Any person may make inquiries, and make and keep records, concerning race, color, religion, sex, familial status, ancestry, disability, or national origin for the purpose of monitoring compliance with this chapter;

(I) Include in any transfer, rental, or lease of housing accommodations any restrictive covenant, or honor or exercise, or attempt to honor or exercise, any restrictive covenant;

(J) Induce or solicit, or attempt to induce or solicit, a housing accommodations listing, sale, or transaction by representing that a change has occurred or may occur with respect to the racial, religious, sexual, familial status, or ethnic composition of the block neighborhood, or other area in which in which the housing accommodations are located, or induce or solicit, or attempt to induce or solicit a housing accommodations listing, sale, or transaction by representing the presence or anticipated presence of persons of any race, color, religion, sex, familial status, ancestry, disability, or national origin, in block, neighborhood, or other area will or may have results including, but not limited to, the following:

(1) The lowering of property values;

(2) A change in the racial, religious, sexual, familial status, or ethnic composition of the block, neighborhood, or other area;

(3) An increase in criminal or antisocial behavior in the block, neighborhood, or other area;

(4) A decline in the quality of schools serving the block, neighborhood, or other area.

(K) Deny any person access to or membership or participation in any multiple-listing service, real estate brokers' organization, or other service, organization, or facility relating to the business of selling or renting housing accommodations, or discriminate against any person in the terms or conditions of that access, membership, or participation, on account of race, color, religion, sex, familial status, ancestry, disability, or national origin;

(L) Coerce, intimidate, threaten, or interfere with any person in the exercise or enjoyment of, or on account of that person's having exercised or enjoyed or having aided or encouraged any other person in the exercise or enjoyment of, any right granted or protected by this section;

(M) Discourage or attempt to discourage the purchase by a prospective purchaser of housing accommodations, by representing that any block, neighborhood, or other area has undergone or might undergo a change with respect to its religious, racial, sexual, familial status, or ethnic composition;

(N) Refuse to sell, transfer, assign, rent, lease, sublease, or finance, or otherwise deny or withhold, a burial lot from any person because of race, color, religion, sex, familial status, age, ancestry, disability, or national origin of any prospective owner or user of the lot;

(O) Discriminate in the sale or rental of, or otherwise make unavailable or deny, housing accommodations to any buyer or renter because of a disability of any of the following:

(1) The buyer or renter;

(2) A person residing in or intending to reside in the housing accommodations after they are sold, rented, or made available;

(3) Any individual associated with the person described in division (O)(2) above;

(P) Discriminate in the terms, conditions, or privileges of the sale or rental of housing accommodations to any person or in the provision of services or facilities to any person in connection with the housing accommodations because of a disability of any of the following:

(1) That person;

(2) A person residing in or intending to reside in the housing accommodations after they are sold, rented, or made available;

(3) Any individual associated with the person described in division (P)(2) above;

(Q) Except as otherwise provided in this division, make an inquiry to determine whether an applicant for the sale or rental of housing accommodations, a person residing in or intending to reside in the housing accommodations after they are sold, rented, or made available, or any individual associated with that person has a disability, or make an inquiry to determine the nature or severity of a disability of the applicant or such a person or individual. The following inquiries may be made of all applicants for the sale or rental of housing accommodations, regardless of whether they have disabilities:

(1) An inquiry into an applicant's ability to meet the requirements of ownership or tenancy;

(2) An inquiry to determine whether an applicant is qualified for housing accommodations available only to persons with disabilities or persons with a particular type of disability;

(3) An inquiry to determine whether an applicant is qualified for a priority available to persons with disabilities or persons with a particular type of disability;

(4) An inquiry to determine whether an applicant currently uses a controlled substance in violation of R.C. ' 2925.11 or a substantively comparable municipal ordinance;

(5) An inquiry to determine whether an applicant at any time has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to any offense, an element of which is the illegal sale, offer to sell, cultivation, manufacture, other production, shipment, transportation, delivery, or other distribution of a controlled substance;

(R) (1) Refuse to permit, at the expense of a person with a disability, reasonable modifications of existing housing accommodations that are occupied or to be occupied by the person with a disability, if the modifications may be necessary to afford the person with a disability full enjoyment of the housing accommodations. This division does not preclude a landlord of housing accommodations that are rented or to be rented to a disabled tenant from conditioning permission for a proposed modification upon the disabled tenant's doing one or more of the following:

(a) Providing a reasonable description of the proposed modification and reasonable assurances that the proposed modification will be made in a workerlike manner and that any required building permits will be obtained prior to the commencement of the proposed modification;

(b) Agreeing to restore at the end of the tenancy the interior of the housing accommodations to the condition they were in prior to the proposed modification, but subject to reasonable wear and tear during the period of occupancy, if it is reasonable for the landlord to condition permission for the proposed modification upon the agreement;

(c) Paying into an interest-bearing escrow account that is in the landlord's name, over a reasonable period of time, a reasonable amount of money not to exceed the projected costs at the end of the tenancy of the restoration of the interior of the housing accommodations to the condition they were in prior to the proposed modification, but subject to reasonable wear and tear during the period of occupancy, if the landlord finds the account reasonably necessary to ensure the availability of funds for the restoration work. The interest earned in connection with an escrow account described in this division shall accrue to the benefit of the disabled tenant who makes payments into the account;

(2) A landlord shall not condition permission for a proposed modification upon a disabled tenant's payment of a security deposit that exceeds the customarily required security deposit of all tenants of the particular housing accommodations;

(S) Refuse to make reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices, or services when necessary to afford a person with a disability equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling unit, including associated public and common use areas;

(T) Fail to comply with the standards and rules adopted under R.C. ' 3781.111(A).

(U) Discriminate against any person in the selling, brokering, or appraising of real property because of race, color, religion, sex, familial status, ancestry, disability, or national origin;

(V) Fail to design and construct covered multifamily dwellings for first occupancy on or after June 30, 1992, in accordance with the following conditions:

(1) The dwellings shall have at least one building entrance on an accessible route, unless it is impractical to do so because of the terrain or unusual characteristics of the site;

(2) With respect to dwellings that have a building entrance on an accessible route, all of the following apply:

(a) The public use areas and common use areas of the dwellings shall be readily accessible to and usable by persons with a disability;

(b) All the doors designed to allow passage into and within all premises shall be sufficiently wide to allow passage by persons with a disability who are in wheelchairs;

(c) All premises within covered multifamily dwelling units shall contain an accessible route into and through the dwelling; all light switches, electrical outlets, thermostats, and other environmental controls within such units shall be in accessible locations; the bathroom walls within such units shall contain reinforcements to allow later installation of grab bars; and the kitchens and bathrooms within such units shall be designed and constructed in a manner that enables an individual in a wheelchair to maneuver about such rooms.

(3) For the purpose of this division, COVERED MULTIFAMILY DWELLINGS means buildings consisting of four or more units if such buildings have one or more elevators and ground floor units in other buildings consisting of four or more units.

92.04 LIMITATIONS.

(A) Nothing in 92.03 shall bar any religious or denominational institution or organization, or any nonprofit charitable or educational organization that is operated, supervised, or controlled by or in connection with a religious organization, from limiting the sale, rental, or occupancy of housing accommodations that it owns or operates for other than a commercial purpose to persons of the same religion, or from giving preference in the sale, rental, or occupancy of such housing accommodations to persons of the sale religion, unless membership in the religion is restricted on account of race, color, or national origin.

(B) Nothing in 92.03 shall bar any bona fide private or fraternal organization that, incidental to its primary purpose, owns or operates lodgings for other than a commercial purpose, from limiting the rental or occupancy of the lodgings to its members or from giving preference to its members.

(C) Nothing in ' 92.03 limits the applicability of any reasonable local, state, or federal restrictions regarding the maximum number of occupants permitted to occupy housing accommodations, Nothing in ' 92.03 prohibits the owners or managers of housing accommodations from implementing reasonable occupancy standards based on the number and size of sleeping area or bedrooms and the overall size of a dwelling unit, provided that the standards are not implemented in a manner consistent with this chapter and any applicable local, state, or federal restrictions regarding the maximum number of occupants permitted to occupy housing accommodations.

(D) Nothing in ' 92.03 requires that housing accommodations be made available to an individual whose tenancy would constitute a direct threat to the health or safety of other individuals or whose tenancy would result in substantial physical damage to the property of others.

(E) Nothing in ' 92.03 pertaining to discrimination on the basis of familial status shall be construed to apply to any of the following:

(1) Housing accommodations provided under any state or federal program that have been determined under the A Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988,@ being 102 Stat. 1623, 42 USCA 3607 et seq., to be specifically designed and operated to assist elderly persons;

(2) Housing accommodations intended for and solely occupied by persons who are 62 years of age or older;

(3) Housing accommodations intended for and operated for occupancy by at least one person who is 55 years of age or older per unit, as determined under the AFair Housing Amendments Act of 1988,@ being 102 Stat. 1623, 42 USCA 3607 et seq.

(F) Nothing in ' 92.03(A) through (R) shall be construed to required any person selling or renting property to modify the property in any way or to exercise a higher degree of care for a person with a disability, to relieve any person with a disability of any obligation generally imposed on all persons regardless of disability in a written lease, rental agreement, or contract of purchase or sale, or to forbid distinctions based on the inability to fulfill the terms and conditions, including financial obligations, of the lease, agreement, or contract.

92.05 COMPLAINTS.

(A) Any person aggrieved in any manner by an unfair real property practice may file a written complaint setting forth his grievance with the City Manager. Such complaint shall state the name and address of the complainant and of the person or persons against whom the complaint is brought and shall also state the alleged facts surrounding the alleged unfair real property practice.

(B) Upon the filing of any complaint, the City Manager shall make, or cause to be made, a prompt investigation that probable cause exists in connection with the alleged unfair real property practice, he shall immediately endeavor to eliminate the alleged practice by conference, conciliation and persuasion. In case of failure to eliminate such practice, the City Manager, if in his judgment circumstances so warrant, shall instruct the complainant to execute the appropriate affidavit charging the alleged offender with the alleged violation of this chapter, and shall instruct the complainant to file the affidavit with the clerk of the court of competent jurisdiction.

(C) Such clerk of court need not accept for filing any affidavit alleging any violation of this chapter unless the prosecuting attorney has approved in writing the filing thereof.

(D) Any complaint filed hereunder with the City Manager must be filed within 30 days after the alleged discriminatory practice occurred or it shall be barred.

92.06 DESIGNATION OF THE FAIR HOUSING AGENCY.

(A) The Greene and Clark County Fair Housing Office is hereby designated as the Fair Housing Agency for the city, as acknowledged by a cooperative administrative agreement between the city and the Board of Greene County Commissioners.

(B) The fair housing program is in consortium with other neighboring units of government.

92.99 PENALTY.
Whoever violates this chapter is guilty of a minor misdemeanor for a first offense (penalty of a fine of not more than $100) is guilty of a misdemeanor of the fourth degree for a second offense (penalty of a fine of not more than $200 or imprisonment of not more than 30 days or both), and is guilty of a misdemeanor of the third degree for each subsequent offense (penalty of a fine of not more than $500 or imprisonment of not more than 60 days or both).