City of Alexandria, Virginia
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MEMORANDUM
DATE: JUNE 17, 2015
TO: THE HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL
FROM: MARK B. JINKS, CITY MANAGER /s/
DOCKET TITLE:
TITLE
Consideration of the Receipt of Results of Fiscal Year 2015 Fair Housing Testing.
BODY
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ISSUE: Receipt of the results of fair housing tests performed in Fiscal Year 2015.
RECOMMENDATION: That City Council receive the results of fair housing tests conducted in Fiscal Year 2015 for discrimination in real estate sales on the basis of race.
BACKGROUND: The Fair Housing Testing Program uses pairs of trained testers to identify evidence of discrimination in the provision of housing by the rental, sales, and mortgage lending industries. The program is administered by the Office of Housing with review and oversight by the Executive Committee of the Alexandria Human Rights Commission, and tests for discrimination prohibited by the City's Human Rights Ordinance.
Federal fair housing law prohibits housing discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, familial status, national origin or handicap. The state fair housing law includes the same protections, and adds elderliness. The City's Human Rights Ordinance adds protection against housing discrimination on the basis of marital status and sexual orientation. Prohibited rental, sales, and lending practices include, but are not limited to, refusal to rent, sell, or negotiate the sale or rental of housing, but also discrimination in the terms, conditions, or privileges of rental or sale, as well as the provision of services or facilities.
Since the Fair Housing Testing Program started in 1990, the Office of Housing has conducted a series of tests to identify discriminatory housing practices in real estate sales, lending, and rental housing based on race, national origin, familial status, disability, and sexua...
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