Fair Housing is Your Right under City, State, and Federal Law
It is illegal for property owners, housing providers, real estate agents, and banks to discriminate against certain classes of people when making decisions about housing sales, rentals, and lending/financing.
If you think that you may have been discriminated against, please click here or scroll down below to TAKE ACTION.
Three laws govern fair housing in the City of Rochester – the federal Fair Housing Act, the New York State (NYS) Human Rights Law and the City of Rochester Human Rights Law. Each law protects certain types of people – called “protected classes” – from discrimination. Some protected classes are the same across multiple laws (i.e. race, color, national origin, and disability status are all covered under federal, NYS, and City law), while some are specific to individual laws (e.g., gender is covered by City law).
The table below shows who the protected classes are under City, NYS, and federal Law.
Protected Class
|
Federal Fair Housing Law
|
New York State Human Rights Law
|
City of Rochester Human Rights Law
|
Race
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
Color
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
National Origin
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
Disability Status
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
Religion
|
X
|
X
|
|
Familial Status
|
X
|
X
|
|
Victims of Domestic Violence
|
X
|
X
|
|
Sex
|
X
|
X
|
|
Age
|
|
X
|
X
|
Creed
|
|
X
|
X
|
Sexual orientation
|
|
X
|
X
|
Marital Status
|
|
X
|
X
|
Military Status
|
|
X
|
|
Gender expression/identity
|
|
X
|
X
|
Gender
|
|
|
X
|
Source of Income
|
|
X
|
X
|
The City of Rochester developed an Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice (AI) in 2020, which is a fair housing planning document that includes detailed analysis and recommendations.The City of Rochester developed an Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice (AI) in 2020, which is a fair housing planning document that includes detailed analysis and recommendations.
TAKE ACTION!
If you think that you may have been discriminated against, you can: