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Fair Housing 101 - Overview
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The Federal Act of 1968 prohibits discrimination and intimidation of people in their homes, apartment buildings, and condominium developments and housing transactions, including the rental and sale of housing and the provision of mortgage loans based on race, color, sex, religion and national origin. The Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 added handicap and familial status as a protected class.
On November 21, 1971 the Dallas City Council adopted its first Fair Housing Ordinance (Chapter 20A) to prohibit housing discrimination based on race, color, religion and national origin and to provide for criminal offenses with fines. The Fair Housing Ordinance was amended in February 1975 to include sex as a protected class and again in June 1990 to add protection based on handicap and familial status (families with children).
The Mission of the City of Dallas Fair Housing Office is:
To promote and preserve housing choice without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, handicap, familial status or sexual orientation; and to promote and preserve equal employment and public accommodations without regard to sexual orientation.
The State law was amended in June 1991 to allow local Fair Housing Laws equivalent to Federal law. In April 1989 the City of Dallas established the Fair Housing Office. The City of Dallas Fair Housing Ordinance received full certification as substantially equivalent to Federal Law by the U.S. Department of Housing Urban Development (HUD) on April 24, 1995.