Tristan’s Landlord-Tenant Law Blog
Call us: (414) 276-2850
Tristan’s Landlord-Tenant Law Blog
Archive of: Fair Housing / Discrimination
Attempt to Add Source of Income and Veteran Status As New Federal Protected Classes
Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in Fair Housing / Discrimination, Section 8 / Rent Assistance / Vouchers / Comments
Two U.S. Senators recently introduced a new federal bill that is being referred to as the "Fair Housing Improvement Act" (FHIA). The FHIA introduces two additional protected classes to the seven protected classes under the Fair Housing Act of 1968. The first proposal would make veterans of wars a new federal protected class. The second, would make "source of income" a new federal protected class. If "source of income" becomes a federal ...
Read MoreHUD Announces $3 Million Dollar Settlement with California Landlords for Discriminating Against Families With Children By Requiring Supervision and Prohibiting Outside Play
Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in Fair Housing / Discrimination / Comments
Earlier today, April 10, 2023, HUD announced that two of its housing partners reached a $3 Million settlement with a California property management company and more than 30 owners who were discriminating against families with children by prohibiting any outdoor play activities and requiring adult supervision of all children under the age of 14 years in all common areas. Its was alleged that tenants who violated those rules faced the threat ...
Read MoreGUEST POST: Wisconsin Rental Income Standards and Section 8 Rent Vouchers
Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in Fair Housing / Discrimination, Protected Classes, Screening Tenants, Section 8 / Rent Assistance / Vouchers / Comments
Guest post from Tim Ballering - justalandlord.com~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ From a Fair Housing perspective, you probably must account in some manner for the value of the Section 8 payment when calculating an income multiplier guideline. I’ve read of the argument made in other jurisdictions that if an owner is using a rent multiplier, that it should be on net rent to the tenant. This is probably not a workable answer for either tenant ...
Read MorePart 2: Landlords Can Be Liable for the Discriminatory Acts of Their Tenants
Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in Caselaw, Fair Housing / Discrimination, Protected Classes, Landlord Liability / Comments
I received an email from a reader regarding my last post about the Wetzel case. The reader essentially asked me what a landlord could do to make sure that they do not become liable for the discriminatory acts of their tenants like what happened to the landlord in the Wetzel case. While I cannot give legal advice (i.e. applying the law to a certain set of facts) via this blog, I ...
Read MoreLandlords Can Be Liable for the Discriminatory Acts of Their Tenants
Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in Caselaw, Fair Housing / Discrimination, Protected Classes, Landlord Liability / Comments
Perhaps one of the most important cases to be published in 2018 affecting landlord-tenant law was the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals case of Wetzel v. Glen St. Andrew Living Community, LLC, 2018 WI 4057365 (7th Cir. Aug 27, 2018). In the Wetzel case the Seventh Circuit (which includes Wisconsin) held that a landlord may be liable under the Fair Housing Act (FHA) for failing to protect a tenant from ...
Read MoreMilwaukee County Passes Ordinance Making "Receipt of Rental or Housing Assistance" A Protected Class
Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in Fair Housing / Discrimination, Protected Classes, Section 8 / Rent Assistance / Vouchers / Comments
On June 21, 2018 the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors passed a county ordinance amending Chapter 107 of the County Code of Ordinances (which deals with Fair Housing) adding "receipt of rental or housing assistance" as a protected class. The ordinance went into effect as of July 19, 2018. The Milwaukee County's Office of Corporation Counsel shall be responsible for enforcement. The revised ordinance defines "receipt of rental or housing assistance" ...
Read MoreMilwaukee County Proposes A New Protected Class in Housing - "Receipt of Rental or Housing Assistance"
Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in Fair Housing / Discrimination, Legislation, Protected Classes, Milwaukee County / Comments
Milwaukee County Supervisor Maria Dimitrijevec is sponsoring a resolution to amend the Milwaukee County Code of General Ordinances related to Fair Housing to include a new protected class - the "receipt of rental or housing assistance." The resolution has been referred to the Economic Development Committee and may be scheduled to be discussed at the committee's meeting on March 12, 2018 at 9 AM.If passed, this resolution ...
Read MoreWhat Is The Difference Between A Service Animal, An Emotional Support Animal, A Comfort Animal, A Companion Animal, and a Therapy Animal?
Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in Fair Housing / Discrimination, Assistance Animals, Companion/Comfort Animals / Comments
There is much confusion regarding the difference between the various terms used for assistance animals. Landlords, tenants, tenant's health care providers, lawyers and even the courts are often confused when it comes to this issue. Hopefully this blog post will help.I often use the generic term "assistance animal" to refer to any animal that is prescribed for a tenant to assist him or her in some way. ...
Read MoreHUD Issues New Guidelines On The Use of Criminal Records In The Rental Screening Process
Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in Fair Housing / Discrimination, Screening Tenants / Comments
On April 4, 2016 the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) dropped a bombshell on owners and managers of residential rental properties in the U.S.HUD's Office of General Counsel published a 10 page guide entitled "Guidance on Application of Fair Housing Act Standards to the Use of Criminal Records by Providers of Housing and Real-Estate Related Transactions." This guide essentially changes the rules as we ...
Read MoreCan A Landlord Deny A Reasonable Accommodation Request For A Pit Bull Companion Animal?
Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in Fair Housing / Discrimination, Assistance Animals, Companion/Comfort Animals / Comments
As I have mentioned in a prior blog post I have seen a significant increase in tenant requests for a reasonable accommodation to a landlord's "no pet" policy so that the tenant can keep a comfort/companion animal. As a result of this increase, I am also seeing an increase in reasonable accommodation requests to keep what are often referred to as "dangerous breeds" of dogs -- such as Pit ...
Read More
