[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Rosendale 2-15-1995
by Res. No. S2-95-3. Amendments noted where applicable.]
It is hereby declared by resolution to be the policy of the Town of
Rosendale in the exercise of its authority for the public safety, public health,
and general welfare to assure equal opportunity to all persons to live in
decent housing facilities regardless of race, color, religion, sex or national
origin and, to that end, to prohibit discrimination in housing by any persons.
When used herein, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
Any difference in treatment based upon race, color, religion, sex,
or national origin; or any act that is unlawful under this chapter.
Includes any person, as defined herein, engaged in the business of
lending money or guaranteeing losses.
Any building, mobile home or trailer, 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 thereon of any such building, mobile
home or trailer, structure, or portion thereof or any real property, as defined
herein, used or intended to be used for any of the purposes set forth in this
subsection.
An individual who is engaged in or who performs the business or services
of a mortgage broker as the same are defined by New York State statutes.
The market which is informed of the availability for sale, purchase,
rental or lease of any housing accommodation, whether informed through a real
estate broker or by advertising by publication, signs or by any other advertising
methods directed to the public or any portion thereof, indicating that the
property is available for sale, purchase, rental or lease.
Includes a lessee, sublessee, cotenant, assignee, managing agent
or other person having the right of ownership or possession, or the right
to sell, rent or lease any housing accommodation.
Includes individuals, children, firms, associations, joint ventures,
partnerships, estates, trusts, business trusts, syndicates, fiduciaries, corporations
and all other groups or combinations.
Includes any individual, qualified by law, who, for a fee, commission,
salary or for other valuable consideration, or who with the intention or expectation
of receiving or collecting same, lists, sells, purchases, rents, or leases
any housing accommodations, including options thereupon, or who negotiates
or attempts to negotiate such activities; or who advertises or holds himself
out as engaged in such activities; or who negotiates or attempts to negotiate
a loan, secured by a mortgage or other encumbrance, upon transfer of any housing
accommodation; or who is engaged in the business of charging an advance fee
or contracting for collection of a fee in connection with a contract whereby
he undertakes to promote the sale, purchase, rental or lease of any housing
accommodation through its listing in a publication issued primarily for such
purpose; or an individual employed by or acting on behalf of any of these.
Includes buildings, structures, lands, tenements, leaseholds, cooperatives
and condominiums.
In connection with any of the transactions set forth in this section
which affect any housing accommodation on the open market, or in connection
with any public sale, purchase, rental or lease of any housing accommodation,
it shall be unlawful within the Town of Rosendale for a person, owner, financial
institution, real estate broker or real estate salesperson, or any representative
of the above, to:
A.
Refuse to sell, purchase, rent or lease, or deny to or withhold,
any housing accommodation from a person because of his race, color, religion,
ancestry, national origin, sex or place or birth; or
B.
Discriminate against a person in the terms, conditions or privileges
of the sale, purchase, rental or lease of any housing accommodation, or in
the furnishing of facilities or services in connection therewith; or
C.
Refuse to receive or transmit a bona fide offer to sell, purchase,
rent or lease any housing accommodation from or to a person because of his
race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, sex or place of birth; or
D.
Refuse to negotiate for the sale, purchase, rental or lease of
any housing accommodation to a person because of his race, color, religion,
ancestry, national origin, sex or place of birth; or
E.
Represent to a person that any housing accommodation is not available
for inspection, sale, purchase, rental or lease when in fact it is so available,
or to refuse to permit a person to inspect any housing accommodation, because
of his race, color, religion, or national origin, sex or place of birth; or
F.
Make, publish, print, circulate, post, mail, or cause to be made,
published, printed, circulated, posted or mailed, any notice, statement or
advertisement, or to announce a policy, or to sign or to use a form of application
for the sale, purchase, rental, lease or financing of any housing accommodation,
or to make a record of inquiry in connection with the prospective sale, purchase,
rental, lease or financing of any housing accommodation, or to make a record
of inquiry in connection with the prospective sale, purchase, rental, lease
or financing of any housing accommodation, which indicates any discrimination
or any intent to make a discrimination; or
G.
Offer, solicit, accept or use a listing of any housing accommodation
for sale, purchase, rental or lease with the understanding that a person may
be subjected to discrimination in connection with such sale, purchase, rental
or lease, or in the furnishing of facilities or services in connection therewith;
or
H.
Induce directly or indirectly, or attempt to induce directly
or indirectly, the sale, purchase, rental or lease, or the listing for any
of the above, of any housing accommodation by representing that the presence
of persons of any particular race, color, religion, sex or national origin
or place of birth in the area to be affected by such sale, purchase, rental
or lease will or may result in either:
I.
Make any misrepresentations concerning the listing for sale,
purchase, rental or lease, or the anticipated listing for any of the above,
or the sale, purchase, rental or lease of any housing accommodation in any
area in the Town of Rosendale for the purpose of inducing or attempting to
induce any such listing or any of the above transactions; or
J.
Engage in, or hire to be done, or to conspire with others to
commit acts or activities of any nature, the purpose of which is to coerce,
cause panic, incite unrest or create or play upon fear, with the purpose of
either discouraging or inducing, or attempting to induce, the sale, purchase,
rental or lease, or the listing for any of the above, of any housing accommodation;
or
K.
Retaliate or discriminate in any manner against a person because
he has opposed a practice declared unlawful by this chapter, or because he
has filed a complaint, testified, assisted or participated in any manner in
any investigation, proceeding, hearing or conference under this chapter; or
L.
Aid, abet, incite, compel or coerce any person to engage in any
of the practices prohibited by this chapter; or to obstruct or prevent any
person from complying with the provisions of this chapter, or any order issued
thereunder; or
M.
By canvassing, commit any unlawful practices prohibited by this
chapter; or
N.
Otherwise deny or withhold any housing accommodation from a person
because of his race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, sex or place
of birth; or
O.
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 loans or other financial
assistance, because of the race, 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; or
P.
Deny any qualified person access to or membership or participation
in any multilisting service, 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 their terms or conditions of such access,
membership, or participation, on account of race, color, religion, sex, or
national origin.
This chapter shall not apply to:
A.
A religious organization, association, or society or any nonprofit
institution or organization operating, supervised, or controlled by or in
conjunction with a religious organization, association, or society, which
limits the sale, rental, or occupancy of dwellings which it owns or operates
for other than commercial purpose to persons of the same religion, or which
gives preference to such persons, unless membership in such a religion is
restricted on account of race, color, sex or national origin.
B.
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, and which limits the rental or occupancy
of such lodgings to its members or gives preference to its members.
C.
Any single-family house sold or rented by an owner, provided
that such private individual owner 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 most 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 served on his behalf, under any express
or voluntary agreement, title to or 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:
(1)
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 salesperson,
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,
salesperson, or person; and
(2)
Without the publication, posting or mailing, after notice, of any advertisement or written notice in violation of the provisions of 42 United States Code § 3604(c) or of § 36A-3 of this chapter; but nothing in this provision shall prohibit the use of attorney, escrow agents, abstractor, title companies, and other such professional assistance as necessary to perfect or transfer the title; or
D.
Rooms or units in dwelling 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.
Any person aggrieved by an unlawful practice prohibited by this chapter
may file a complaint with the Town's Fair Housing Officer within 30 days after
the aggrieved person becomes aware of the alleged unlawful practice, and in
no event more than 60 days after the alleged unlawful practice occurred. The
Town's Fair Housing Officer shall investigate each complaint and attempt to
resolve each complaint. Failure to achieve a resolution acceptable to both
parties and compliance with this chapter shall cause the Town's Fair Housing
Officer to forward the complaint and his or her findings to appropriate state
and federal officials.
Nothing herein contained shall prevent any person from exercising any
right or seeking any remedy to which he might otherwise be entitled or from
filing his or her complaint with any appropriate governmental agency.
Any person violating any provision of this chapter shall, upon conviction
thereof, be punished as provided by law.
