[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Fort Edward as
indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 11-10-1980 by L.L. No. 1-1980]
The Town of Fort Edward, as a recipient of funding under the Housing
and Community Development Act of 1974 (PL 93-83), as amended in 1977 (PL 95-129),
will take affirmative action to ensure that no person shall, on the grounds
of race, color, national origin, religion or sex, be excluded from participation
in, be denied benefits of or be subjected to discrimination under any program
or activity funded, in whole or in part, with community development funds.
It is the policy of the Town of Fort Edward to obey all applicable fair
housing laws that no person shall, on the grounds of race, color, national
origin or sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied benefit of or
be subject to discrimination under any program or activity funded, in whole
or in part, with community development funds and to affirmatively promote
fair housing.
It shall be the policy of the Town of Fort Edward that the following
affirmative actions will be complied with:
A.
A copy of this article and plan, together with a copy
of Executive Order 11063, Title VI, of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title
VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 and copies of state and local fair housing
laws shall be kept on file in the town offices.
B.
HUD-approved discrimination complaint forms will be available
to the general public at the town offices.
C.
Assistance shall be provided to all persons in filing
such forms, and all eligible persons shall be referred to Legal Aid for further
assistance, if necessary.
D.
Copies of HUD fair housing pamphlets will be distributed
to all interested parties upon request.
E.
All advertising for the community development program
will use the equal housing opportunity logotype and statement.
F.
The Fair Housing Officer will collect all complaints
filed with the town and perform preliminary investigation to ascertain and
verify the allegation.
G.
If the Fair Housing Officer is unable to conciliate the
issue, he or she will refer to all the appropriate state and federal agencies
(United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and the New York
State Division of Human Rights).
H.
The Fair Housing Officer will forward a copy of this
article and plan to all local banks and financing organizations and cooperatively
work for voluntary compliance with Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968.
The Town Clerk's office will be opened to the public to receive
all discrimination complaints and to assist in the filing of such complaints
with the Fair Housing Officer.
[Adopted 3-13-1997 by L.L. No. 3-1997]
This article shall be known and may be cited as the "Town of Fort Edward
Fair Housing Law."
The purpose of this article is to provide and ensure fair housing opportunities
for all persons within the Town of Fort Edward, County of Washington, State
of New York, under the applicable federal and state laws and regulations pertaining
thereto, as the same may be amended from time-to-time, and, under the authority
of General Municipal and Town Law, hereby obtains, enacts and publishes this
article.
A.
General. For the purpose of this article, 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.
AGGRIEVED PERSON
COMPLAINANT
CONCILIATION
CONCILIATION AGREEMENT
DISCRIMINATORY HOUSING PRACTICE
DWELLING
FAMILIAL STATUS
FAMILY
HANDICAP
PERSON
PREVAILING PARTY
RESPONDENT
TO RENT
Specific words or phrases. For the purpose of this article,
certain terms or words herein shall be interpreted as follows:
The meaning set forth in 42 U.S.C.A. § 3602(i),
as amended.
The meaning set forth in 42 U.S.C.A. § 3602(j), as amended.
The meaning set forth in 42 U.S.C.A. § 3602(m), as amended.
The meaning set forth in 42 U.S.C.A. § 3602(m), as amended.
The meaning set forth in 42 U.S.C.A. § 3602(f), and 24
CFR, Part 100, as amended, and shall include an act that is unlawful under
§ 3604, 3605, 3606 or 3617 of Chapter 45 of Title 42 of the United
States Code, as amended.
The meaning set forth in 42 U.S.C.A. § 3602(b), as amended.
The meaning set forth in 42 U.S.C.A. § 3602(k), as amended.
The meaning set forth in 42 U.S.C.A. § 10602(c), as amended.
The meaning set forth in 42 U.S.C.A. § 3602(h), as amended.
The meaning set forth in 42 U.S.C.A. § 3602(d), as amended.
The meaning set forth in 42 U.S.C.A. § 1988, as amended.
The meaning set forth in 42 U.S.C.A. § 3602(n), as amended.
The meaning set forth in 42 U.S.C.A. § 3602(e), as amended.
Except as exempted by § 47-11, it shall be unlawful within the Town of Fort Edward to:
A.
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, handicap, familial status or national origin.
B.
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,
handicap, familial status or national origin.
C.
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, limitation or discrimination
based on race, color, religion, sex handicap, familial status or national
origin, or intention to make any such preference, limitation or discrimination.
D.
Represent to any person because of race, color, religion,
sex, handicap, familial status or national origin that any dwelling is not
available for inspection, sale or rental when such dwelling is in fact so
available.
E.
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 of a particular race, color, religion,
sex, handicap, familial status or national origin.
F.
Refuse a physically or mentally disabled person (including
hearing, mobility and visual impairments, chronic alcoholism, chronic mental
illness, AIDS, AIDS related complex and mental retardation that substantially
limit one or more major life activities) to make reasonable modifications
to a dwelling or common use area, at the expense of the person with the disability,
if necessary for the handicapped person to use the housing.
G.
Refuse to make reasonable accommodations in rules, policies,
practices or services, if necessary for the handicapped person to use the
housing.
It shall be unlawful in the Town of Fort Edward 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 or her in the fixing of the amount, interest rate, duration or other terms or conditions of such loan or other financial assistance because of the race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin of such person or 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 the present or prospective owner, lessee, tenant or occupant of the dwelling 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 exemptions contained in § 47-11.
It shall be unlawful within the Town of Fort Edward to deny any person
access to or membership or participation in any multiple-listing service,
real estate broker's organization or other service organization or facility
relating to the business of selling or renting dwellings; or to discriminate
against him or her in terms or conditions of such access, membership or participation
on account of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national
origin.
B.
Sales/rentals by religious organizations. Nothing in
this article 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, handicap, familial status or
national origin. Nor shall anything in this article prohibit a private club
not in fact open to the public, which as an incident to its primary purpose
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.
Any aggrieved person may file a complaint in person or
by mail to:
(1)
The Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, United
States Department of Housing and Urban Development, Washington, DC 20410-2000;
(2)
Any regional or field office of the United States Department
of Housing and Urban Development; or
(3)
The Town Fair Housing Officer, who shall immediately
file a copy thereof with the regional or field office of the United States
Department of Housing and Urban Development, along with a request for a determination
as to whether such complaint will be referred to said Officer for administrative
disposition.
B.
A complaint may be filed with the assistance of an authorized
representative of an aggrieved person, including any organization acting on
behalf of an aggrieved person.
C.
No complaint shall be filed more than one year after
an alleged discriminatory housing practice has occurred or terminated.
D.
A complaint shall be made on the form prescribed by the
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and shall contain
all of the information required therein and thereby.
E.
A complaint may be reasonably and fairly amended at any
time as permitted by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
or, upon referral, by the Town Fair Housing Officer.
F.
The respondent may file an answer to any complaint not
later than 10 days after receipt of notice from either the United States Department
of Housing and Urban Development or the Fair Housing Officer of the filing
of such complaint.
G.
Any complaint and any answer shall be affirmed by the
person filing the same.
H.
Upon referral by the United States Department of Housing
and Urban Development of a complaint duly filed therewith to the Fair Housing
Officer, the Fair Housing Office shall service notice, by certified mail or
personal service, upon both the complainant and the respondent containing
the following:
(1)
Acknowledge the referral of the complaint, stating the
date that the complaint was accepted for filing and that the respondent must
file an answer within 10 days.
(2)
Include a copy of the complaint.
(3)
Advise the aggrieved person and the respondent of the
time limits applicable to complaint processing and disposition, and of the
procedural rights and obligations of the aggrieved person, under this article.
(4)
Advise the aggrieved person and the respondent that the
aggrieved person has the right to commence a civil action under § 813
of the Fair Housing Act in an appropriate United States District Court not
later than two years after the occurrence or termination of the alleged discriminatory
housing practice and states that the computation of said two-year period excludes
any time during which this administrative proceeding is pending and includes
the time period during which an action arising from a breach of conciliation
agreement under § 814(b)(2) of the Fair Housing Act is pending.
(5)
Advise the aggrieved person and the respondent that retaliation
against any person because he or she made a complaint or testified, assisted
or participated in an investigation or conciliation under this article is
a discriminatory housing practice that is prohibited under this article and
§ 818 of the Fair Housing Act.
I.
The Town Supervisor or his/her designated agent is hereby
designated to be the administrative enforcement officer of this article, and
the following powers and duties are hereby delegated to him/her:
(1)
To investigate the allegations of any complaint, including
the power to issue subpoenas in connection with such investigation, and complete
the investigation in not more than 100 days after receipt of the complaint,
unless it is impracticable to do so, in which event, he/she shall notify the
complainant and the respondent in writing of the reasons therefor.
(2)
Following completion of the investigation, to issue a
final investigative report, which may be amended at any time if additional
evidence is discovered, containing at least the following:
(3)
To conciliate the matters set forth in any complaint
and approve any conciliation agreement arising out of such conciliation efforts.
(4)
To make a final administrative disposition of a complaint,
after providing the complainant and the respondent with a copy of the final
investigative report and thereafter affording the complainant and the respondent
of the right to be heard and present evidence in connection with the complaint
and/or said final investigative report, within one year of the date of receipt
of a compliant, unless it is impracticable to do so, in which event, he/she
shall notify the complainant and the respondent in writing of the reasons
therefor.
J.
In making a final administrative disposition, or in approving
any conciliation agreement, the Fair Housing Office shall have the power and
authority to grant to the prevailing party actual damages, injunctive or other
equitable relief and/or to assess a civil penalty not in excess of $1,000.
K.
Any approved conciliation agreement shall be made public
unless the complainant and respondent otherwise agree and the Fair Housing
Officer determines that disclosure is not required in order to further the
purpose of this article.
L.
A final administrative disposition shall be subject to
judicial review by a proceeding commenced pursuant to Article 78 of the New
York Civil Practice Law and Rules and venue in Washington County Supreme Court,
provided that such proceeding is commenced within 30 days of the receipt of
such final administrative disposition by the person commencing such proceeding.
A.
Amendment. The Town Board may, on its own initiative
or petition, amend, supplement or repeal the provisions of this article in
conformity with applicable law after public notice and hearing.
B.
Interpretation. In their interpretation and application,
the provisions of this article 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 article are at variance with the requirements
of any other lawfully adopted rules, regulations or ordinances, the most restrictive,
or that imposing the highest standards, shall govern.
