What does the Fair Housing Act do?

The federal Fair Housing Act makes it illegal for landlords, homeowners’ associations, real estate agents, mortgage brokers, lenders, insurance companies, and others to discriminate against anyone on the basis of:

• Race
• Color
• National Origin/Ethnicity
• Religion
• Family Status (families with children under 18)
• Physical or Mental Disability
• Sex/Gender

Oregon Law also includes:

Legal Sources of Income, Domestic Violence Survivors, Marital Status, Sexual Orientation and
Gender Identity. It is illegal to discriminate because an income source is a public assistance program. This includes the Section 8/Housing Choice voucher program operated by local housing authorities and rent assistance from agencies.

Additional information about tenants’ rights and housing providers’ responsibilities is available through the Fair Housing Council of Oregon.

If you are a tenant and believe you have been discriminated against you may wish to contact:

The Fair Housing Council of Oregon (FHCO), which operates a hotline for housing discrimination and maintains a website with fair housing information. Anyone with a fair housing question can contact the hotline. In addition, housing discrimination can be reported by calling the hotline. Before calling, it will help if you:

• Keep a record of all documents letters, receipts, contracts, voicemail messages and notices;
• Take pictures of the problem if possible;
• Get names and numbers of people involved;
• Get details — date of the incident, costs, address where it happened;
• Talk to neighbors —Who else is experiencing this? Who saw it happen?

Hotline hours: 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm, Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays

Telephone: 1-800-424-3247, ext 2

Email: Information@fhco.org

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Additional information about the federal Fair Housing Act is available and complaints may be filed online.