Report Title:

Housing Discrimination

Description:

Prohibits discrimination against prospective tenants by landlords based on source of income. Also requires the Housing and Community Development Corporation of Hawaii, as a public housing agency, to partner with landlords in order to increase participation in rental assistance programs. (HB1409 HD1)

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

1409

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2003

H.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

RELATING TO HOUSING PRACTICES.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that safe and affordable housing should be a basic human right. As the federal government has expanded its supply of rent subsidies such as section 8 vouchers, landlords have rendered these vouchers useless by refusing to accept them. Since many voucher recipients are women and children, this type of income-source discrimination undermines current fair housing laws prohibiting discrimination based on sex, marital status, familial status, and age.

The legislature further finds that landlords who impose arbitrary minimum income levels on prospective tenants can circumvent source-of-income protection. These levels typically involve multiplying the total rent by three. While such formulas are not illegal, subsidy recipients are at a distinct disadvantage because their incomes already are low. Therefore, the legislature believes that tenancy should be based on a tenant's rental and credit histories.

Therefore, it is the purpose of this Act to:

(1) Prohibit discrimination based on legal sources of income and to require that landlords who impose income standards do so based solely on the portion of the rent to be paid by the tenant after the subsidy is deducted; and

(2) Encourage the housing and community development corporation of Hawaii, as a public housing agency, to become actively involved in the landlord-tenant relationship, as a way to assist landlords in resolving tenancy problems and educate them on participating in the various rent subsidy programs.

SECTION 2. Section 201G-8, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"[[]§201G-8[]] Housing counseling. The corporation may provide the following services for programs administered by the corporation:

(1) Listing and referral services to tenants seeking to rent homes;

(2) Counseling to tenants on matters such as financial management and budgeting, basic housekeeping, communicating effectively and getting along with others, and other matters as may be desirable or necessary;

(3) Counseling to prospective homeowners on the rudiments of owning a home;

(4) Assistance to any person or government agency regarding the nature and availability of federal assistance for housing development and community development or redevelopment;

(5) Counseling and guidance services to aid any person or government agency in securing the financial aid or cooperation of the federal government in undertaking, constructing, maintaining, operating, or financing any housing designated for elders; persons displaced by governmental action; university and college students and faculty; and any other persons; [and]

(6) Assistance to a county agency upon request from the agency in the development of programs to correct or eliminate blight and deterioration, and to effect community development[.]; and

(7) Liaison services between landlords and tenants receiving government rent subsidies to address concerns and problems raised by either party."

SECTION 3. Section 515-3, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§515-3 Discriminatory practices. 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, color, religion, marital status, familial status, ancestry, disability, age, [or HIV (]human immunodeficiency virus[)] infection[:], or because an individual receives lawful, verifiable income, including federal or state public assistance, paid directly to the individual or paid to a representative of the individual:

(1) To refuse to engage in a real estate transaction with a person;

(2) To discriminate against a person in the terms, conditions, or privileges of a real estate transaction or in the furnishing of facilities or services in connection therewith;

(3) To refuse to receive or to fail to transmit a bona fide offer to engage in a real estate transaction from a person;

(4) To refuse to negotiate for a real estate transaction with a person;

(5) To represent to a person that real property is not available for inspection, sale, rental, or lease when in fact it is so available, or to fail to bring a property listing to the person's attention, or to refuse to permit the person to inspect real property, or to steer a person seeking to engage in a real estate transaction;

(6) To print, circulate, post, or mail, or cause to be so published a statement, advertisement, or sign, or to use a form of application for a real estate transaction, or to make a record or inquiry in connection with a prospective real estate transaction, [which] that indicates, directly or indirectly, an intent to make a limitation, specification, or discrimination with respect thereto;

(7) To offer, solicit, accept, use, or retain a listing of real property with the understanding that a person may be discriminated against in a real estate transaction or in the furnishing of facilities or services in connection therewith;

(8) To refuse to engage in a real estate transaction with a person or to deny equal opportunity to use and enjoy a housing accommodation due to a disability because the person uses the services of a guide dog, signal dog, or service animal; provided that reasonable restrictions or prohibitions may be imposed regarding excessive noise or other problems caused by those animals. For the purposes of this paragraph:

"Blind" shall be as defined in section 235-1;

"Deaf" shall be as defined in section 235-1;

"Guide dog" means any dog individually trained by a licensed guide dog trainer for guiding a blind person by means of a harness attached to the dog and a rigid handle grasped by the person;

"Reasonable restriction" shall not include any restriction that allows any owner or person to refuse to negotiate or refuse to engage in a real estate transaction; provided that as used in this paragraph, the "reasonableness" of a restriction shall be examined by giving due consideration to the needs of a reasonable prudent person in the same or similar circumstances. Depending on the circumstances, a "reasonable restriction" may require the owner of the service animal, guide dog, or signal dog to comply with one or more of the following:

(A) Observe applicable laws including leash laws and pick-up laws;

(B) Assume responsibility for damage caused by the dog; or

(C) Have the housing unit cleaned upon vacating by fumigation, deodorizing, professional carpet cleaning, or other method appropriate under the circumstances.

The foregoing list is illustrative only, and neither exhaustive nor mandatory;

"Service animal" means any animal that is trained to provide those life activities limited by the disability of the person;

"Signal dog" means any dog that is trained to alert a deaf person to intruders or sounds;

(9) To solicit or require as a condition of engaging in a real estate transaction that the buyer, renter, or lessee be tested for human immunodeficiency virus infection [(HIV)], the causative agent of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome [(AIDS)];

(10) To refuse to permit, at the expense of a person with a disability, reasonable modifications to existing premises occupied or to be occupied by the person if modifications may be necessary to afford the person full enjoyment of the premises. A real estate broker or salesperson, where it is reasonable to do so, may condition permission for a modification on the person agreeing to restore the interior of the premises to the condition that existed before the modification, reasonable wear and tear excepted;

(11) To refuse to make reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices, or services, when the accommodations may be necessary to afford a person with a disability equal opportunity to use and enjoy a housing accommodation;

(12) In connection with the design and construction of covered multifamily housing accommodations for first occupancy after March 13, 1991, to fail to design and construct housing accommodations in such a manner that:

(A) The housing accommodations have at least one accessible entrance, unless it is impractical to do so because of the terrain or unusual characteristics of the site; and

(B) With respect to housing accommodations with an accessible building entrance:

(i) The public use and common use portions of the housing accommodations are accessible to and usable by disabled persons;

(ii) Doors allow passage by persons in wheelchairs; and

(iii) All premises within covered multifamily housing accommodations contain an accessible route into and through the housing accommodations; light switches, electrical outlets, thermostats, and other environmental controls are in accessible locations; reinforcements in the bathroom walls allow installation of grab bars; and kitchens and bathrooms are accessible by wheelchair; [or]

(13) To discriminate against or deny a person access to, or membership or participation in, any multiple listing service, real estate broker's organization, or other service, organization, or facility involved either directly or indirectly in real estate transactions, or to discriminate against any person in the terms or conditions of such access, membership, or participation[.]; or

(14) To use a financial or income standard, in instances where there is a government rent subsidy, in assessing eligibility for the rental of housing that is not based on the portion of the rent to be paid by the tenant."

SECTION 4. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2004.