NEWS RELEASE FROM:
CITY OF HENDERSON PIO DONNA STINNETT
HENDERSON, KY, April 20, 2016– The nuts and bolts of enforcing Kentucky’s Fair Housing Law was the focus during a Wednesday lunch for Fair Housing Month hosted by the Henderson-Henderson County Human Relations Commission.
The luncheon took place at Denton Shelter in Atkinson Park.
Mary Ann Taylor of the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights explained the role of her office in enforcing the law that was passed in 1968 and became part of the Kentucky Civil Rights Act.
“We are a law enforcement agency,” said Taylor, speaking to a community group that included housing administrators, landlords, city officials, social service agencies and others. “People don’t think of us that way, but we are charged with upholding the Civil Rights Act. We have jurisdiction in employment, public accommodation, housing, financial transactions … .”
Taylor said her office often gets calls from people claiming discrimination in housing matters or employment.
“But they can’t (always) tell me why,” she said, reminding the audience that the law bans discrimination based on color, disability, national origin, race, religion and familial status. “You’ve got to be a member of a protected class.”
Those who must comply include property owners along with their managers and employees, real estate brokers, sales agents, operators, builders and developers, advertisers and advertising media like newspapers and property listing publications, mortgage lenders, insurers, and banks or other financial institutions.
The laws provide equal opportunity to people when buying, selling, renting, financing or insuring housing. People have the right to buy or rent where they choose a home, condominium, apartment, trailer or lot.
Taylor said complaints about discrimination based on disability are “going up every day,” and suggested that an aging population is one of the factors causing that spike.
She offered advice to those dealing with housing situations, explaining such things as the difference between accommodation and modification and the rules about service animals and emotional support animals.
Taylor talked about accommodation in the issue of disability and advised leasing agents and housing administrators to always maintain a dialogue with tenants, even when “you don’t have what you don’t have” in the type of housing requested.
“Your job is to accommodate,” she said.
Taylor commended the local Human Relations Commission for its work, noting that Henderson’s is one of 25 in the state.
“They don’t all work that way,” she added. “Some are really serious about doing the work of human rights and some aren’t.”
Captions: Mary Ann Taylor of the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights speaks at Denton Shelter in Henderson on Wednesday during a luncheon in observance of Fair Housing Month hosted by the Henderson-Henderson County Human Relations Commission; Guests at the Fair Housing Luncheon.