Unfair to Families
There is something terribly wrong when a homeless family of six, seeking housing and able to pay for it, is repeatedly rejected because landlords think the family income is too small and the family size is too large for a three-bedroom home.
But, as documented in a recent Times story, that is the situation in which Jim and Kim Abbott and their four children found themselves for nearly three months. As a result of that story, a Huntington Beach landlord offered to rent them a three-bedroom home that Abbott agreed to help renovate as part of the rental agreement. The Abbotts, although homeless until that offer was made, were not looking for a free ride. They had been working and had saved some money to use toward renting a place to live but had been unsuccessful after calling or visiting more than 50 prospective landlords.
Theirs is not an isolated situation. Many other families, struggling to be independent and finding homes that they can afford but cannot rent, are in much the same predicament, according to housing officials.
One problem for many is that there simply is not enough lower-cost housing in Orange County. That problem, however, is compounded for the homeless and larger families, especially those new to the area, on whom landlords look as poor rental risks. Unlike the Abbotts, they all can’t have stories written about them that prompt compassionate landlords to offer them a place to live.
Housing officials report that some landlords resort to a variety of legal and suspected illegal means to reject renters. Landlords who simply refuse to rent to families with children violate the 1982 state Supreme Court ruling that found adults-only apartments an unlawful form of discrimination. Some landlords try to skirt the law by setting arbitrary and restrictive space limits, such as allowing only one child per bedroom. Others set stringent income rules, requiring renters to have a gross monthly income three times higher than the monthly rent to weed out lower-income families.
The practices, even when legal, are morally offensive. David T. Quezeda, executive director of the private, nonprofit Fair Housing Council of Orange County, sees housing discrimination against the homeless or large families as “a very serious problem” in the county. Complaints filed with the council bear out his cause for concern.
In the past 12 months 1,745 people have contacted the council to allege unlawful discrimination in housing. That’s nearly five every day of the year. Nearly one-third of the cases involved families with children. It’s anyone’s guess as to how many incidents go unreported.
The Fair Housing Council can’t do much about insensitive landlords who merely violate the spirit of the anti-discrimination law, but it has the authority to bring legal action against those who fail to meet the letter of the law. That’s a path that it should vigorously pursue. The homeless problem is serious enough without allowing landlords to add to it by ignoring the law and forcing large families into the street.
