Fair Housing
What is Fair Housing?
Fair housing means that you may freely choose a place to live without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability and familial status.
Fair housing is a right protected by federal, state, and local laws. Your right to fair housing is enforced locally by the Orange County Human Relations Commission. The commission is supported by staff from the Housing, Human Rights and Community Development Department.
If you believe you have experienced housing discrimination in Orange County, you can file a free, confidential complaint by calling the Orange County Human Relations Commission at 919-245-2487.
Did You Know?
It is illegal for an apartment building owner to assign families with younger children to one particular building.
An apartment building owner has the right to reject an applicant because of poor housekeeping habits.
An apartment building owner must allow the construction of a wheelchair ramp.
Indicating a preference based on religion in advertising an available apartment is illegal.
An apartment building owner may not legally reject an applicant with a history of mental illness.
A rental application may not be rejected by the landlord because of the applicant’s religion.
When using a real estate agent, a family may not sell their house only to a white buyer.
A real estate agent is not allowed to limit a home search to certain neighborhoods based on the client’s race/ethnicity.
A loan officer may turn down a black applicant because of the applicant’s lack of a steady job and income.
It is illegal for a loan officer to require higher down payments from Hispanic families in order to get a mortgage.
