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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1981-033NO $1-33 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS BY ADDING THERETO A CHAPTER 27 ENTITLED "FAIR HOUSING" BY PROVIDING A SHORT TITLE, DECLARING THE POLICY OF THE CITY AGAINST DISCRIMINATION IN HOUSING, DEFINING TERMS, PROHIBITING DISCRIMINATION IN THE SALE OR RENTAL OF HOUSING, PROVIDING FOR CERTAIN EXEMPTIONS AND EXCLUSIONS, PROVIDING FOR THE ADMINISTRATION AND ENFORCEMENT OF THIS CHAPTER, PROVIDING FOR REMEDIES, FORBIDDING INTERFERENCE, COERCION, OR INTIMIDATION, PROVIDING FOR COOPERATION WITH FEDERAL AND STATE AGENCIES, PROVIDING A SBVERABILITY CLAUSE, PROVIDING A PENALTY, PROVIDING FOR PUBLICATION, AND DECLARING AN EFFECTIVE DATE THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF DENTON HEREBY ORDAINS PART I That the Code of Ordinances of the City of Denton, Texas, as amended, is hereby amended by adding a Chapter 27 to the contents thereof, which said Chapter shall read as follows Section 27-1 Section 27-2 Section 27-3 Section 27-4 Section 27-5 Section 27-6 Section 27-7 Section 27-8 Section 27-9 Section 27-10 Section 27-11 Section 27-12 Section 27-13 SECTION 27- CHAPTER 27 FAIR HOUSING TABLE OF CONTENTS Short Title Declaration of Policy Definitions Discriminatory Housing Practices Discrimination in Financing of Housing Discrimination in Provision of Brokerage Services Exemptions $ Exclusions Administration Enforcement Cumulative Legal Effect Interference, Coercion, or Intimidation Cooperation with Federal and State Agencies Education $ Public Information SHORT TITLE This Chapter may be cited as the Denton Fair Housing Ordinance SECTION 27-2 DECLARATION OF POLICY It is the policy of the City of Denton, Texas, to provide within constitutional limitations, for fair housing throughout the City of Denton by insuring the opportunity for every person to obtain housing without regard to race, color, sex, religion, or national origin SECTION 27-3 DEFINITIONS As used in this Chapter, unless the context requires a different definition 1 "Administrator" means the individual serving as the Fair Housing Administrator and includes the assistants, agents, or employees designated by the administrator 2 "Dwelling" means any building, structure, or portion thereof which is occupied as, or designed or intended for occupancy as, a residence by one or more families, and any vacant land which is offered for sale or lease for the construction or location thereon of any such building, structure, or portion thereof 3 "Family" includes a single individual 4 "Person" includes one or more individuals, corporations, partnerships, associations, labor organizations, legal representatives, mutual companies, joint-stock companies, trusts, unincorporated organizations, trustees, trustees in bankruptcy, receivers, fiduciaries, and any other organization or entity of whatever character 5 "To Rent" includes to lease, to sublease, to let and otherwise to grant for a consideration the right to occupy premises not owned by the occupant 6 "Discriminatory Housing Practice" means an act that is unlawful under Section 27-4 of this Chapter SECTION 27-4 DISCRIMINATORY HOUSING PRACTICES Except as exempted by Section 27-7 of this Chapter, it shall be unlawful for any person (a) To refuse to sell or rent after the making of a bona fide offer, or to refuse to negotiate for the sale or rental of, or otherwise make unavailable or deny, a dwelling to any person because of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin (b) To discriminate against any person in the terms, conditions, or privileges of sale or rental of a dwelling or in the provision of services or facilities in connection PAGE 2 therewith, because of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin (c) To make, print, or publish, or cause to be made, printed, or published any notice, statement, or advertisement, with respect to the sale or rental of a dwelling that indicates any preference, limitation, or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin or an intention to make any such preference, limitation, or discrimination (d) To represent to any person because of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin that any dwelling is not available for inspection, sale, or rental when such dwelling is in fact so available (e) For profit, to induce or attempt to induce any person to sell or rent any dwelling by representatives regarding the entry or prospective entry into the neighborhood of a person or persons of a particular race, color, religion, sex, or national origin SECTION 27-5 DISCRIMINATION IN FINANCING OF HOUSING It shall be unlawful for any bank, building and loan association, insurance company or other corporation, association, firm or enterprise whose business consists in whole or part in the making of commercial real estate loans, to deny a loan or other financial assistance to a person applying therefor for the purpose of purchasing, constructing, improving, repairing, or maintaining a dwelling, or to discriminate against any such person in the fixing of the amount, interest rate, duration, or other such terms or conditions of such loan or other financial assistance, because of (a) the race, color, religion, sex, or national origin of such person or of any person associated with him in connection with such loan or other financial assistance or the purposes of such loan or other financial assistance, or (b) the race, color, religion, sex, or national origin of the present or prospective owners, lessees, tenants, or occupants of the dwelling or dwellings in relation to which such loan or other financial assistance is to be made or given FAG 3 SECTION 27-6 DISCRIMINATION IN PROVISION OF BROKERAGE SERVICES It shall be unlawful for any person to deny 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 dwellings, or to discriminate against him in the terms or conditions of such access, membership, or in participation, on account of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin SECTION 27-7 EXEMPTIONS $ EXCLUSIONS (a) Nothing in Section 27-4 of this Chapter (other than subsection (c)) shall apply to 1 Any single-family house sold or rented by an owner, provided, (a) that such private individual owner does not own more than three such single-family houses at any one time, (b) that in the case of the sale of any such single-family house by a private individual owner not residing in such house at the time of such sale or who was not the most recent resident of such house prior to such sale, the exemption granted by this subsection shall apply only with respect to one such sale within any twenty-four month period, (c) that such bona fide private individual owner does not own any interest in, nor is there owned or reserved on his behalf, under any express or voluntary agreement, title to any right to all or a portion of the proceeds from the sale or rental of, more than three such single-family houses at any one time, (d) the sale or rental of any such single- family house shall be excepted from the application of this section only if such house is sold or rented (1) without the use in any manner of the sales or rental facilities or the sales or rental services of any real estate broker, agent, or salesman, or of such facilities or services of any person in the business of selling or renting dwellings, or of any employee or agent of any such broker, agent, salesman, or person and (2) without the publication, posting or mailing, after notice, of any advertisement or written notice in violation of Section PAGE 4 27-4(c) of this Chapter, but nothing in this provision shall prohibit the use of attorneys, escrow agents, abstractors, title companies, and other such professional assistance as necessary to perfect or transfer the title 2 Rooms or units in dwellings containing living quarters occupied or intended to be occupied by no more than four families living independently of each other, if the owner actually maintains and occupies one of such living quarters as his residence 3 Rental of a single room in a dwelling containing living quarters occupied by no more than one family if the person offering such room for rental actually maintains and occupies the remainder of such dwelling as his residence and not more than four such rooms are offered (b) For the purposes of section (a) of this section, a person shall be deemed to be in the business of selling ox renting dwellings if 1 the person has, within the preceeding twelve months, participated as principal in three or more transactions involving the sale or rental of any dwelling or any interest therein, or 2 the person has, within the preceeding twelve months, participated as agent, other than in the sale of his own personal residence in providing sales or rental facilities or sales or rental services in two or more transactions involving the sale or rental of any dwelling or any interest therein, or 3 the person is the owner of any dwelling designed or intended for occupancy by, five or more families (c) Nothing in this Chapter shall prohibit a religious organization, association, or society, or any nonprofit institution or organization operated, supervised or controlled by or in conjunction with a religious organization, association, or society, from limiting the sale, rental or occupancy of dwellings which it owns or operates for other than a commercial purpose to persons of the same religion, or from giving preference to such persons, unless membership in such religion is restricted on account of race, color or national origin (d) Nothing in this Chapter shall prohibit a private club not in fact open to the public, which as an incident to its PAGE 5 primary purpose or purposes provides lodging which it owns or operates for other than a commercial purpose, from limiting the rental or occupancy of such lodgings to its members or from giving preference to its members (e) Nothing in this Chapter shall prohibit any person from owning and operating a dwelling in which a room or rooms are leased, subleased or rented only to persons of the same sex, when such dwelling contains one common lavatory and kitchen facility available for the use of all persons occupying such dwelling SECTION 27-8 ADMINISTRATION (a) The authority and responsibility for administering this Chapter shall be the individual appointed as the Fair Housing Administrator by the City Manager of the City of Denton, Texas (b) The Administrator may delegate any of his functions, duties, and powers to employees of the City of Denton under his direction, including functions, duties and powers with respect to investigating, conciliating, hearing, determining, ordering, certifying, reporting, or otherwise acting as to any work, business, or matter under this Chapter SECTION 27-9 ENFORCEMENT (a) Any person who claims to have been injured by a discriminatory housing practice or who believes that he will be irrevocably injured by a discriminatory housing practice that is about to occur (hereinafter "person aggrieved") may file a complaint with the Administrator Complaints shall be in writing and shall contain such information and be in such form as the Administrator requires Upon receipt of such complaint the Administrator shall furnish a copy of the same to the person or persons who allegedly committed or are about to commit the alleged discriminatory housing practice A copy of all written complaints received by the Administrator shall be forwarded to the Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity Division of the Region VI Office of the Department of Housing and Urban Development Within thirty (30) days after receiving a PAGE 6 complaint, the Administrator shall investigate the complaint the complaint and give notice in writing to the person aggrieved whether he intends to resolve it If the Administrator decides to resolve the complaint, he shall proceed to try to eliminate or correct the alleged discriminatory housing practice by informal methods of conference, conciliation, and persuasion Nothing said or done in the course of such informal endeavors may be made public or used as evidence in a subsequent proceeding under this Chapter without the written consent of the persons concerned (b) A complaint under subsection (a) of this section shall be filed within thirty (30) days after the alleged discriminatory housing practice occurred Complaints shall be in writing and shall state the facts upon which the allegations of a discriminatory housing practice are based Complaints may be reasonably and fairly amended at any time A respondent may file a written answer to the complaint against him within ten (10) days of receipt of notification, and may amend his answer at any time Both complaints, answers, and amendments shall be verified (c) If within sixty (60) days after a complaint is filed with the Administrator, the Administrator has been unable to obtain voluntary compliance with this Chapter, and if the Administrator reasonably believes that a discriminatory housing practice or practices have occurred, the Administrator shall refer such violation or violations to the City Attorney for prosecution If the City Attorney determines to prosecute, he shall commence proceedings in the matter in the Municipal Court and carry forward such proceedings with reasonable promptness (d) The Municipal Court in which a proceeding is instituted under this Chapter shall assign the case for hearing at the earliest practicable date and cause the case to he in every way expedited (e) The Administrator shall receive and accept notification and referral complaints from the U S Attorney General and the PAGB 7 Secretary of Housing and Urban Development pursuant to the provisions of title VIII, Fair Housing Act of 1968, Public Law 90-284, as amended (42 U S C Sec 3610), and shall treat such complaints in the same manner as other complaints filed pursuant to this section (f) Whenever the Administrator has reasonable cause to believe that any person or group of persons is engaged in a pattern or practice of resistance to the full enjoyment of any of the rights granted by this Chapter, or that any group of persons has been denied any of the rights granted by this Chapter, he may prepare and file a complaint setting forth the facts in his own name and such complaint shall be treated in the same manner as a complaint filed by a person aggrieved SECTION 27-10 CUMULATIVE LEGAL EFFECT This Chapter is cumulative in its legal effect and is not in lieu of any and all other legal remedies which the person aggrieved may pursue SECTION 27-11 INTERFERENCE, COERCION, OR INTIMIDATION It shall be unlawful to coerce, intimidate, threaten, or interfere with any person in the exercise or enjoyment of, or on account of his having exercised or enjoyed, or on account of his having aided or encouraged any other person in the exercise or enjoyment of, any right granted or protected by Section 27-4, 27-5, 27-6, or 27-7 of this Chapter SECTION 27-12 COOPERATION WITH FEDERAL AND STATE AGENCIES The Administrator and City Attorney are authorized to cooperate with federal and state agencies charged with the administration of fair housing laws SECTION 27-13 EDUCATION AND PUBLIC INFORMATION In order to further the intent and objectives of this Chapter, the Administrator may conduct educational and public information programs PART II If any provision, section, subsection, sentence clause, phrase or word in this ordinance, or application thereof to any PAGE 8 person or circumstances is held invalid, unconstitutional, or for any reason unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, such holding shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this ordinance, and the application of the provision, section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or word to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected thereby, it being the intent of the City Council of the City of Denton, Texas, in adopting and approving this ordinance that all provisions, sections, subsections, sentences, clauses, phrases or words be severable PART III A person who violates this ordinance is guilty of a separate misdemeanor offense for each day or portion of a day on which the violation is committed, and each offense is punishable by a fine of not more than Two Hundred Dollars ($200 00) PART IV That this ordinance shall become effective fourteen (14) days from the date of its passage, and the City Secretary is hereby directed to cause the caption of this ordinance to be published twice in the Denton Record -Chronicle, the official newspaper of the City of Denton, Texas, within ten (10) days of the date of its passage ''// A PASSED AND APPROVED this the ,2T' day of%�/� , 1981 0A / � 1 � APPROVED AS TO LEGAL FORM C J TAYLOR, JR , CITY ATTORNEY CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS BY C PAGE 9