EVENTS FEATURE
The Top Ten Things You Need to Know About the New Department of Fair Employment and Housing Regulations By Janet L.S. Powers, Esq. CCAL
T
he California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) has adopted Regulations on Fair Housing for the first time in the history of our State. These Regulations will become effective on January 1, 2019, and will specifically cover and regulate community associations (which will be referred to as HOAs in the Regulations). Managers and management companies will also be covered and regulated. On October 26, 2018, Senior Legal Counsel for the DFEH, Gregory J. Mann, Esq., and I spoke at the Chapter's luncheon on this topic. There were some great questions, which we will cover in a future article on the DFEH complaint and response process in a future edition of Quorum. Here are the top ten things we covered that you need to know about the new DFEH regulations. Those are as follows:
1
Associations are now specifically covered by the Regulations, including associations, managers, and management companies.
2
The Regulations interpret and clarify the various fair housing laws in California, including discrimination against members of protected classes. Protected classes include race, color, religion, national origin, religion,
sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, and other medical conditions), disability, age (40 and older), genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, AIDS/ HIV, medical conditions, citizenship and language.
associations may also have vicarious liability for a discriminatory housing practice by an employee or agent regardless whether the association knew or should have known of the discriminatory conduct if the association has control and can take action regarding the situation. Community associations may also have liability for harassment and retaliation because of membership in a protected class, including quid pro quo harassment, hostile environment harassment and for retaliation against persons engaging in "Protected Activities" such as filing a DFEH complaint.
4
3
Associations have potential liability for discriminatory housing practices, including direct liability and vicarious liability. If community associations fail to take prompt action to end a discriminatory housing practice by the association, an employee or an agent, where the association knew or should have known of the discriminatory conduct, there is potential direct liability for the association. Community CAI-CV.org
Community associations may not discriminate against persons based on disabilities, and must allow persons with disabilities to request reasonable accommodations, including being allowed to have assistance animals. "Disability" is defined under California law as a condition that limits major life activities including physical and mental disabilities. "Assistance animals" are defined in the new Regulations to include both service animals and support animals. "Service animals" are animals that are trained to perform specific tasks to assist persons with disabilities, including persons with mental health disabilities. Service animals do not have
facebook.com/CAICV
twitter.com/CAI_CV
17
