[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the
Town of Stillwater 3-3-1988 by Ord. No. 1-1988. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
For the purposes of providing and ensuring fair
housing opportunities for all within the Town of Stillwater, the Town
Board of the Town of Stillwater in the County of Saratoga, State of
New York, under the authority of the General Municipal and General
City Law, hereby ordains, enacts, and publishes this chapter.
A.Â
General. For the purpose of this chapter, certain
words or phrases herein shall be interpreted as follows, except where
the context clearly indicates the contrary: words used in the singular
include the plural, words used in the present tense include the future
tense, the word "person" includes a corporation as well as an individual,
and the word "shall" is always mandatory.
B.Â
DISCRIMINATORY HOUSING PRACTICE
DWELLING
FAMILY
IN RENT
PERSON
Specific words or phrases. For the purpose of this
chapter, certain terms or words herein shall be interpreted as follows:
Any building, structure, or portion thereof which is occupied
as, or designed or intended for occupancy as, a residence by one or
more families, and any vacant land which is offered for sale or lease
for the construction or location thereof of any such building, structure,
or portion thereof.
Includes a single individual.
Includes to lease, to sublease, to let and otherwise to grant
for a consideration the right to occupy premises not owned by the
occupant.
Includes one or more individuals, corporations, partnerships,
associations, labor organizations, legal representatives, mutual companies,
joint-stock companies, trusts, unincorporated organizations, trustees;
trustees in bankruptcy, receivers, and fiduciaries.
Except as exempted by § 93-6, it shall be unlawful within the Town of Stillwater:
A.Â
To refuse to sell or rent after the making of a bona
fide offer, or to refuse to negotiate for the sale or rental of, or
otherwise make unavailable or deny, a dwelling to any person because
of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
B.Â
To discriminate against any person in the terms, conditions,
or privileges of sale or rental of a dwelling, or in the provision
of services or facilities in connection therewith, because of race,
color, religion, sex, or national origin.
C.Â
To make, print, or publish, or cause to be made, printed,
or published any notice, statement, or advertisement, with respect
to the sale or rental of a dwelling that indicates any preference,
limitations, or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex,
or national origin, or an intention to make any such preference, limitation,
or discrimination.
D.Â
To represent to any person because of race, color,
religion, sex, or national origin that any dwelling is not available
for inspection, sale, or rental when such dwelling is in fact so available.
E.Â
For profit, to induce or attempt to induce any person
to sell or rent any dwelling by representations regarding the entry
or prospective entry into the neighborhood of a person or persons
of a particular race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
It shall be unlawful within the Town of Stillwater for any bank, building-and-loan association, insurance company or other corporation association, firm or enterprise whose business consists in whole or in part in the making of commercial real estate loans, to deny a loan or other financial assistance to a person applying therefor for the purpose of purchasing, constructing, improving, repairing, or maintaining a dwelling, or to discriminate against him in the fixing of the amount, interest rate, duration, or other terms or conditions of such loan or other financial assistance because of the rate, color, religion, sex, or national origin of such person or of any person associated with him in connection with such loan or other financial assistance or the purposes of such loan or other financial assistance, or of the present or prospective owners, lessees, tenants, or occupants of the dwelling or dwellings in relation to which such loan or other financial assistance is to be made or given; provided that nothing contained in this section shall impair the scope or effectiveness of the exception contained in § 93-6.
It shall be unlawful within the Town of Stillwater
to deny any person access to or membership or participation in any
multiple-listing services, real estate brokers' organization or other
service, organization, or facility relating to the business of selling
or renting dwellings, or to discriminate against him in the terms
or conditions or such access, membership, or participation, on account
of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
A.Â
(1)Â
Any single-family house sold or rented by an owner; provided that such private individual owners does not own more than three such single-family houses at any one time. Provided, further, that in the case of the sale of any such single-family house by a private individual owner not residing in such house at the time of such sale or who was not the recent resident of such house prior to such sale, the exemption granted by this subsection shall apply only with respect to one such sale within any twenty-four-month period. Provided, further, that such bona fide private individual owner does not own any interest in, nor is there owned or reserved on his behalf, under any express or voluntary agreement, title to any right to all or a portion of the proceeds from the sale or rental of more than three such single-family houses at any one time. Provided, further, that the sale or rental of any such single-family house shall be excepted from the application of this chapter only if such house is sold or rented: A) without the use in any manner of the sales or rental facilities or the sales or rental services of any real estate broker, agent, or salesman, or of such facilities or services of any person in the business of selling or renting dwellings, or of any employee or agent of any such broker, agent, salesman, or person; and B) without the publication, posting or mailing, after notice of any advertisement or written notice in violation of § 93-3 of this chapter; but nothing in this proviso shall prohibit the use of attorneys, escrow agents, abstractors, title companies, and other such professional assistance as necessary to perfect or transfer the title; or
(2)Â
Rooms or units in dwellings containing living quarters
occupied or intended to be occupied by no more than four families
living independently of each other, if the owner actually maintains
and occupies one of such living quarters as his residence. For the
purpose of this exemption, a person shall be deemed to be in the business
of selling or renting dwellings if:
(a)Â
He has, within the preceding 12 months, participated
as principal in three or more transactions involving the sale or rental
of any dwelling or any interest therein, or
(b)Â
He has, within the preceding 12 months, participated
as agent, other than in the sale of his own personal residence, in
providing sales or rental facilities or sales or rental services in
two or more transactions involving the sale or rental of any dwelling
or any interest therein, or
(c)Â
He is the owner of any dwelling designed or
intended for occupancy by, or occupied by, five or more families.
B.Â
Sales/rentals by religious organizations. Nothing
in this chapter shall prohibit a religious organization, association,
or society, or any nonprofit institution or organization operated,
supervised or controlled by or in conjunction with a religious organization,
association, or society, from limiting the sale, rental, or occupancy
of dwellings which it owns or operates for other than a commercial
purpose to persons of the same religion, or from giving preference
to such persons, unless membership in such religion is restricted
on account of race, color, sex, or national origin. Nor shall anything
in this chapter prohibit a private club not in fact open to the public,
which as an incident to its primary purpose or purposes provides lodgings
which it owns or operates for other than a commercial purpose, from
limiting the rental or occupancy of such lodgings to its members or
from giving preference to its members.
A.Â
Authority and responsibility. The authority and responsibility
for publicizing, administering, and enforcing this chapter shall be
in the Town's Fair Housing Officer, to be designated by the Supervisor
of the Town of Stillwater.
B.Â
Violations. Violations of this chapter shall be reported
in person or in writing to the Town's Fair Housing Officer.
C.Â
Enforcement. Where sufficient cause exists to believe
that the terms of this chapter have been violated, the Fair Housing
Officer shall institute a suit in Town Court against the alleged violator.
D.Â
Penalties. Where a person or organization has been
found, after a trial on the merit, in violation of this chapter, a
fine shall be imposed on such person or organization not to exceed
$500 for a first offense, and $1,000 for each additional offense.
The minimum fine for violations of this chapter shall be $100 for
a first offense, and $500 for each additional offense. Each and every
separate violation of this chapter shall be deemed an offense for
the purposes of imposing the appropriate fine.
The Town Board may, on its own initiative, or
on petition, amend, supplement, or repeal the provisions of this chapter
in conformity with applicable law after public notice and hearing.
In their interpretations and application, the
provisions of this chapter shall be held to be minimum requirements,
adopted for the promotion of the public health, morals, safety or
the general welfare. Whenever the requirements of this chapter are
at variance with the requirements of any other lawfully adopted rule,
regulations, or ordinances, the most restrictive, or that imposing
the higher standards, shall govern.
This chapter shall be known and may be cited
as the "Town of Stillwater Fair Housing Ordinance."
