Housing Council Fights Discrimination Where It Lives

Rage is not something you associate with David Quezada. He talks quietly and uses words like “by golly.” He even cautions his staff: We don’t react with anger, but with proof.

But Quezada knows something about rage within. He was raised in the Fullerton/Anaheim area, and can well remember when Latinos like himself could use neighborhood pools only on the day before they were to be cleaned. Latinos went to schools so poor, he says, that textbooks were often 20 years old.

This isn’t the Orange County I know and love. But then, Quezada has been showing me a lot about this county that I would have thought we’d outgrown. Quezada is executive director of the Fair Housing Council of Orange County. It’s a nonprofit corporation representing cities here with populations of 50,000 or more, its budget mostly from federal dollars.

Its job is to fight housing discrimination as resources permit. If you’re a discriminating landlord, Quezada will find a way to nail you. In nearly 900 disputes filed with the Fair Housing Council office the past fiscal year, investigation showed nearly 70% were legitimate--nearly 100 that couldn’t be resolved resulted in prosecution. That’s bad news if you’re the target of the accusation. Because the Fair Housing Council here hasn’t lost a single case that’s reached a courtroom. That’s batting 1,000.

The council never takes anybody’s word for it. It investigates by sending undercover operatives to the scene. Quezada gives this example: Someone in a wheelchair is turned down for an apartment. Quezada’s staff sends three people to rent that same apartment--one of the three in a wheelchair.

“We always make sure the wheelchair person has credentials slightly above the other two,” he says. If the wheelchair person is denied but one of the other two gets in, that’s good evidence of discrimination, he says. If both of the others get in, he says, “then by golly we’ve got a very strong case.” That particular tactic, by the way, is called “sandwich testing.” And it’s left a whole lot of landlords in a jam.

So how bad is housing discrimination in Orange County? It’s improving in some areas, getting worse in others. Up until two years ago, the biggest discrimination problem here was directed at families with children. Landlords are quickly learning they can’t turn you away just because you come with youngsters. But the past two years, the highest number of cases has involved discrimination based on race or national origin.

And Quezada was quick to correct my assumption that most of the bad guys in these cases were white.

“It’s really a mix,” he says. “We have Asians who won’t rent to anyone but Asians. We have Hispanics who discriminate too.”

Then there are those tricky landlords. You get in OK, but if you’re Asian, for example, you get assigned to a back building with other Asians--and there’s never any upkeep of the grounds around it.

I suggested to Quezada that it must be a tremendous kick to know you’ve forced a landlord to end a discriminatory pattern. But he shakes his head no. “For every one you resolve, there’s two more waiting to be done, and you often don’t have the resources to do them.”

Besides fighting discrimination, his office helps solve landlord-tenant disputes (15,000 last year), and helped tenants recover $3 million last year in deposits that landlords didn’t want to give back. It also gave 160 presentations last year on housing discrimination to private groups and housing professionals such as real estate agents and apartment managers.

“We have a lot of really great landlords in this county,” he cautions. “But it’s a continuous disappointment that we haven’t seen more change in the last 15 to 20 years.”

More Discrimination Fighters: The phrase “corporate lawyer” isn’t always identified with humanitarian causes. But the Anti-Defamation League of Orange County and Long Beach is honoring two such Newport Beach lawyers Wednesday with its 1996 Jurisprudence Awards. One is Francis Tunney, general counsel for Allergan Inc., the other Richard Goodman, a founding member of a law firm that now has 75 attorneys and represents businesses that go to court as both plaintiffs and defendants.

Tunney has worked with both the United Cerebral Palsy Assn. and the Lido Isle Community Assn. Through Allergan he also has helped with the building of homes for low-income people. Goodman has been active in Jewish affairs in the county and has served on the Anti-Defamation League’s board. Two years ago, Gov. Pete Wilson appointed him to the board of the California Israel Exchange to promote trade between the two.

Friendly Suggestion Desk: Definition of a garage in Southern California: place to store your junk. That means a lot of people park their cars, vans and motor homes in their driveways. It’s irritating to have to walk around them, especially if you’re pushing a baby carriage or you’re on in-line skates.

But think what it’s like for someone who uses a wheelchair, people like Dawn Blodgett of Costa Mesa, who’s active in wheelchair issues.

“You bet it’s irritating,” she says. “You’re forced onto the really slanted part of the driveway, where your wheelchair can easily turn over. Sometimes I have no choice but to wheel into the street. And that’s always dangerous for us.” . . .

Her solution: Obey the law and keep the sidewalks clear. They’re public domain.

Wrap-Up: The Fair Housing Council recently moved into new facilities at the Sanwa Bank Building on Main Street in Santa Ana. The bank practically donated the 5,800 square feet of space--and even threw in all the plants and furniture. For the first time the council has the luxury of conference and meeting rooms, a law library, and plenty of space for its staff of a dozen.

But Quezada is also excited about the council’s improved computer capabilities. It’s been storing more than a million items of data manually. But soon, with computer help, the staff will know in seconds if a landlord has a history of discrimination complaints against him.

“Once we get technology, watch out,” Quezada says.

Landlords who discriminate then will be in big trouble, by golly.

Jerry Hicks’ column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Readers may reach Hicks by calling the Times Orange County Edition at (714) 966-7823 or sending a fax to (714) 966-7711.