Manager’s attention to teen unwelcome
Question: The resident manager where I live has taken a liking to my teenage daughter. He always finds chores to do near my apartment when my daughter is home alone.
He hasn’t actually been inappropriate, but she says his presence makes her uncomfortable. What can I do without jeopardizing my tenancy?
Answer: Sexual harassment, as interpreted by the courts, is prohibited under the Federal Fair Housing Act and under state fair housing laws. It is considered discrimination based on gender.
The Fair Housing Act recognizes two forms of sexual harassment. The first, called “quid pro quo,” is when a landlord or agent of the landlord offers a service or privilege such as a rent reduction in exchange for sexual favors or evicts a tenant or refuses services because the tenant refuses to have sex with him or her.
The second form of sexual harassment involves maintaining or creating a “hostile living environment.” This form of sexual harassment includes unwelcome behavior of a sexual nature that creates an intimidating, hostile or abusive housing environment or has an effect of interfering with a tenant’s housing.
One example of a hostile environment is when a landlord or agent repeatedly makes unwanted sexual advances or comments, or touches a person in a sexual way.
Fair housing laws also protect tenants from retaliation because they report sexual harassment or try to stop it.
In your situation, although there has been no explicitly inappropriate activity, your daughter’s sense of discomfort is significant. Use your best judgment about how to handle this delicate situation, but consider sending a letter to the manager or meeting with him to state that it makes your daughter feel uncomfortable when he talks to her while she’s alone.
Be sure to keep a log or record of everything -- both your efforts to communicate about the problem and any incidents that make your daughter uncomfortable. Keep copies of any letters you write to the management.
If the manager does not remedy the situation, you may want to write a letter to the property owner describing the situation. The owner is responsible for the acts, conduct and statements of his or her employees and agents.
Lastly, if your efforts fail or if taking these steps jeopardizes your tenancy, contact your local fair housing agency to discuss filing a complaint or other steps available to you for your assistance and protection.
Vacancy must be open to disabled
Question: One of my current tenants brought in a friend to apply for a vacancy. The available unit is on the second floor and the prospective tenant is disabled and uses a wheelchair.
Because putting in an elevator would be too expensive, I did not accept the application, saying the unit had already been rented. Was I wrong to do this?
Answer: Yes. You are in direct violation of both state and federal fair housing laws. These laws state that it is discriminatory to misrepresent the availability of a unit because of the presence, or perception, of a disability.
Just because the prospective tenant used a wheelchair does not mean you have to automatically install an elevator. The person may not be permanently confined to the wheelchair or may use it as a support mechanism when he or she experiences muscle fatigue.
Whatever the situation, you should not deny disabled individuals the opportunity to obtain housing because of an assumption without investigating the actual circumstances.
A disabled tenant should be given the opportunity to consider all available units so long as he or she meets the screening criteria you have in place based on legitimate business reasons. Individuals with disabilities have the same rights as any able-bodied person seeking housing.
When you discriminate, you, as well as the property owner, may be subject to a costly lawsuit or an investigation by either a local, state or federal fair housing agency.
This column is prepared by Project Sentinel, a rental housing mediation service in Sunnyvale, Calif. Questions may be sent to 1055 Sunnyvale-Saratoga Road, Suite 3, Sunnyvale, CA 94087, but cannot be answered individually. For housing discrimination questions, complaints or help, call the state Department of Fair Housing and Employment at (800) 233-3212 or the Southern California Housing Rights Center at (800) 477-5977.
