As Fair Housing Act Turns 35, Discrimination Persists

Linda Gagne and her husband, Alfred, thought they had found the perfect apartment in San Bruno, Calif. But when the couple met the landlord, she took one look at Gagne’s guide dog and said she would not rent to them because of a strict no-pets policy.

Gagne explained that her guide dog was not a pet, but a companion trained to assist her because she is blind. When the landlord still refused, Gagne decided to file a housing discrimination complaint.

The Gagnes are among thousands of people across the country who are victims of housing discrimination, according to a report released Wednesday by the National Fair Housing Alliance.

“Before this, I never experienced discrimination in renting a home,” Linda Gagne said at a news conference Wednesday. “We also felt like we needed to pursue this so it didn’t happen to other blind people. This experience really upset me. I had hoped by the year 2001, owners would know the law.”

The federal government recorded 25,246 housing complaints in 2002, according to the report -- 72% of them filed by African Americans, people with disabilities or families with children. People in those groups are the most likely to be targets of discrimination, according to the alliance, a consortium of private, nonprofit fair housing organizations and civil rights groups.

Moreover, complaints based on country of origin increased from 10% in 2001 to 12% in 2002, in part because of increased discrimination against people of Middle Eastern and South Asian descent after the Sept. 11 attacks, the report said.

The 1968 Fair Housing Act, which has its 35th anniversary this month, prohibits rental and sale decisions based on an applicant’s race, color, religion or national origin. On Tuesday, President Bush, Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Mel Martinez signed a proclamation at the White House urging Americans to abide by the law’s provisions.

Since it was signed into law, the Fair Housing Act has been expanded to prohibit discrimination based on gender and family status. California also outlaws housing discrimination based on age, marital status and sexual orientation.

The fair housing complaints reported in 2002 represent less than 1% of all cases of discrimination, said Shanna Smith, president of the alliance.

“Thirty-five years after the passage of the Fair Housing Act, discrimination persists virtually unchallenged,” Smith said. “These low complaint levels signal a need for increased fair housing enforcement by the current administration.”