Fair Housing Laws
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This webpage is provided by the City and County of Honolulu’s Fair Housing Office for general information and educational purposes only. Nothing on this webpage may be considered or deemed to constitute legal advice. Due to the rapidly changing nature of the law, information may become outdated. The information presented should not be used by lawyers as a substitute for independent research or by non-lawyers as a substitute for legal or other advice.
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
This Act provides that no person shall be excluded from participation, denied program benefits, or subject to discrimination based on race, color, or national origin under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.
Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (The Fair Housing Act)
This Act prohibits discrimination in housing on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. This law also requires actions that affirmatively promote fair housing.
Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987
This Act restores the broad scope of coverage and clarifies the application of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It specifies that an institution that receives federal financial assistance is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, or age in a program or activity that does not directly benefit from such assistance.
Section 109 of Title 1 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974
This section of Title 1 provides that no person shall be excluded from participation (including employment), denied program benefits, or be subject to discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, or sex under any program or activity funded in whole or in part under Title I Community Development Block Grants of the Act.
The Fair Housing Amendment Act of 1988
This Act amended the original Fair Housing Act to provide for the protection of families with children and people with disabilities, strengthen punishment for acts of housing discrimination, expand the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Justice to bring suit on behalf of victims in federal court, and create an exemption to the provisions barring discrimination on the basis of familial status for housing developments that qualify as housing for persons age 55 or older.
Housing for Older Persons Act of 1995
Retained the requirement that the housing must have one person who is 55 years of age or older living in at least 80 percent of its occupied units. The Act also retained the requirement that housing facilities publish and follow policies and procedures that demonstrate intent to be housing for persons 55 and older.
The Age Discrimination Act of 1975
This Act provides that no person shall be excluded from participation, denied program benefits, or be subject to discrimination on the basis of age under any program or activity receiving federal funding assistance. Effective January 1987, the age cap of 70 was deleted from the laws.
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
It is unlawful to discriminate based on disability in federally assisted programs. This section provides that no otherwise qualified individual shall, solely by reason of his or her disability, be excluded from participation (including employment), denied program benefits, or subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal funding assistance. Section 504 also contains design and construction accessibility provisions for multi-family dwellings developed or substantially rehabilitated for first occupancy on or after March 13, 1991.
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA)
This Act modifies and expands the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to prohibit discrimination against “a qualified individual with a disability” in employment and public accommodations. The ADA requires that an individual with a physical or mental impairment who is otherwise qualified to perform the essential functions of a job, with or without reasonable accommodation, be afforded equal employment opportunity in all phases of employment.
Executive Order 11063
This Executive Order provides that no person shall be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in housing and related facilities provided with federal assistance and lending practices with respect to residential property when such practices are connected with loans insured or guaranteed by the federal government.
Executive Order 12259
This Executive Order provides that the administration of all federal programs and activities relating to housing and urban development be carried out in a manner to further housing opportunities throughout the United States.
Section 3 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968, as amended
Requires the provision of opportunities for training and employment that arise through HUD-financed projects to lower-income residents of the project area, to the greatest extent feasible and consistent with Federal, State and local laws and regulations. Also required is that contracts be awarded to businesses that provide economic opportunities for low- and very low-income persons residing in the area. Amendments to Section 3 in 1992 included requirements for providing these opportunities in contracts for housing rehabilitation, including lead-based paint abatement, and other construction contracts.
Executive Order 11246
This Executive Order applies to all Federally assisted construction contracts and subcontracts. It provides that no person shall be discriminated against on the basis of race.
24 CFR Part 85 (the Common Rule)
This rule provides that the grantee shall take affirmative steps to encourage contracting with small minority and female owned business enterprises when possible as sources of supplies, equipment, construction, and services.
Violence Against Women Act and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act of 2005
This Act provides legal protections to victims of domestic violence, dating violence or stalking. These protections prohibit owners and management agents from evicting or terminating assistance from individuals being assisted under a project-based Section 8 program if the asserted grounds for such action is an instance of domestic violence, dating violence or stalking.
Section 103-50, Hawaiʻi Revised Statutes
Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, all plans and specifications for the construction of public buildings, facilities, and sites, funded by the State, or any County, shall be prepared so that the buildings, facilities, and sites are accessible to and usable by persons with disabilities. The buildings, facilities, and sites shall conform to the Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines, Title 36 Code of Federal Regulations Part 1191, and the requirements of the Federal Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988, as established in Title 24 Code of Federal Regulations Part 100, Subpart D, as adopted and amended by the disability and communication access board under chapter 348F. Such agencies shall seek review by the State of Hawaiʻi’s Disability and Communication Access Board (DCAB) to ensure conformance with the Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines and Federal Fair Housing Act Guidelines.
Chapter 362, Hawaiʻi Revised Statutes
The legislature finds and declares that the practice of discrimination because of race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, ancestry, or disability in employment, housing, public accommodations, or access to services receiving state financial assistance is against public policy.
Chapter 515, Hawaiʻi Revised Statutes
It is a discriminatory practice for an owner or any other person engaging in a real estate transaction, or for a real estate broker or salesperson, because of race, sex, including gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, color, religion, marital status, familial status, ancestry, disability, age, or human immunodeficiency virus infection.
Residential Landlord-Tenant Code Handbook of the Hawaiʻi Revised Statutes
Hawaiʻi Administrative Rules (HAR) §12-46-301 – 318
The purpose of this subchapter is to implement laws prohibiting discrimination in real property transactions toward the goal of eliminating such discrimination and to implement changes made by Act 171, Session Laws of Hawaiʻi 1992, to conform state law to Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, as amended by the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988. Chapter 515, HRS, prohibits discriminatory practices by an owner, any person engaging in a real property or real estate transaction, or a real estate broker or salesperson against another person because of a protected basis.