Fair Housing Law Project: Mission

The mission of the Fair Housing Law Project is to ensure that all people may freely choose a place to live without regard to their race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, ancestry, sexual preference, marital status, source of income, operation of a licensed daycare, disability, or whether they have children in their family.

Our History

The Fair Housing Law Project (FHLP) was founded in 1998 as a program of the Law Foundation in response to the need for increased enforcement of fair housing laws in the City of San José.

Despite the existence of strong fair housing laws, discrimination still plays a role in determining if a person finds and keeps housing. To address this need, the City of San José has provided Community Development Block Grant funding to three agencies that are members of the San José Fair Housing Consortium: Project Sentinel, Asian Law Alliance, and FHLP. These three agencies have formed a comprehensive continuum of expert fair housing services to prevent housing discrimination in San José and to take action when it occurs. More recent funding has allowed FHLP to expand its services to cover all of Santa Clara County.

What is housing discrimination?

A landlord, manager, home seller, real estate agent, or manager may not discriminate on the basis of:

• Race or national origin
• Religion
• Disability
• Familial status (having kids)
• Sex
• Marital status
• Sexual orientation
• Age
• Source of income (though discrimination based on amount of income is permitted)
• Operating a licensed home day care
• Other arbitrary characteristics not related to rental or sale qualifications

Discrimination can include refusing to rent or sell, offering different terms (such as a higher rent), asking questions or making statements about the categories listed above, evicting or harassing a resident, or steering people to certain areas of the housing complex or certain neighborhoods.

Please click here to view a short video clip.

Recognizing Predatory Lending

Some mortgage brokers and lenders take advantage of people who are applying for a purchase or refinance home loan. Here are some warning signs to look out for: 

• The broker or lender does not ask for any details about your income or assets.

• The broker suggests that you use an unrelated co-signor that the broker found for you.

• You spoke to the broker in your native language, but all the documents are in English.

• The loan is interest-only or negative amortization (so the amount you owe increases).

• The broker says, "I'm not charging you anything for this loan."

• You are not given a chance to read your documents before signing because everything is rushed.

• You are told to sign over your deed so that someone else's credit can be used to "refinance."

• Documents are back-dated or blank.

• You are told, "Don't worry - we can always refinance you again."

Although federal and state law offers some protection against fraudulent home loans, abuse is still common. Predatory lending typically affects vulnerable groups, such as seniors, immigrants, people of color, and people with disabilities.

Please click here to view a short video clip.

Recent Legislative Changes

California Civil Code section 1632:  Now requires notices given with regard to reverse mortgages be in the language that the reverse mortgage loan was negotiated in.

California Civil Code Section 1923 et seq. now requires that the consumer participate in counseling before entering into the reverse mortgage transaction.  The lender must provide certification of the consumers counseling.  The lender must also provide the borrower with notice that the lender does or does not require the borrower to purchase an annuity as a condition of the reverse mortgage.

Civil Code § 1940.3: effective starting January 1, 2008, prohibits cities and counties from enacting any law that would require a landlord to take any action regarding a tenant or prospective tenant based on the immigration or citizenship status of that person.  It also prohibits a landlord from inquiring about a tenant’s or prospective tenant’s immigration status or citizenship and requiring proof of legal residency or citizenship as a prerequisite to renting.  The law does not prohibit a landlord from complying with any legal obligation imposed by federal law or requesting documentation necessary to verify a prospective tenant’s identity or financial qualification to rent.

SB 1137:  Requires posted notice of sale to inform tenants about pending foreclosure in various languages.  Requires 60 day notice to tenants after house is sold at trustee sale. 

Updated: January 2009