AN ORDINANCE amending sections of Chapter 5.80 of the Olympia Municipal Code relating to unfair housing practices.

 

 

THE OLYMPIA CITY COUNCIL ORDAINS AS FOLLOWS:

Section 1. That Section 5.80.010 of the Olympia Municipal Code and ordinances pertaining thereto are hereby amended to read as follows:

5.80.010 Declaration of policy. It is declared to be the policy of the city in the exercise of its police power for the public safety. public health, and general welfare, for the maintenance of business and good government ((and for the promotion of the city’s trade, commerce, and manufacturing)), and to assure equal opportunity to all persons to live in decent housing facilities regardless of race, color, religion, ancestry, ((or)) national origin, gender, familial status, the presence of any sensory, mental, or physical disability, the use of a trained guide dog or service animal by a disabled person, marital status, sexual orientation, or sender identity, or the perception thereof, and to that end to prohibit discrimination in housing by any person. including real estate brokers, ((real estate salesmen and agents)) associate brokers, salespersons, owners of real property and ((lending institutions)) lenders to forward the cause of ((brother)) community, and to secure a reduction of tensions and discriminations because of race, color, religion ((or)) national origin, gender. familial status, the presence of any sensory, mental, or physical disability, the use of a trained guide dog or service animal by a disabled person, marital status. sexual orientation. or gender identity or the perception thereof.

Section 2. That Section 5.80.020 of the Olympia Municipal Code and ordinances pertaining thereto are hereby amended to read as follows:

1. Definitions. Definitions as used in this chapter, unless additional meaning clearly appears from the context, shall have the meanings ascribed herein:

A. "Commission" means the ((Thurston County human rights commission established

by Chapter 2.48)) Washington State Human Rights Commission

B. "Dwelling" includes any building containing one or more dwelling units.

C. "Dwelling unit" includes a suite of rooms for occupancy by one family containing space for living, sleeping, and preparation of food, and containing toilet and bathing facilities.

 

D. "Familial Status" means one or more individuals who have not attained the age of 18 years being domiciled with: 1) a parent or another person having legal custody of such individual or individuals: or 2) the designee of such parent or other person having such custody, with the written permission of such parent or other person. The protections afforded against discrimination on the basis of familial status shall apply to any person who is pregnant or is in the process of securing legal custody of any individual who has not attained the age of 18 years.

E. "Gender Identity" includes the status of being transsexual, transvestite, or transgender.

F. "Housing accommodations" includes any dwelling, or dwelling unit, rooming unit, rooming house, lot or parcel of land in the city which is used, intended to be used9 or arranged or designed to be used as, or improved with, a residential structure for one or more human beings.

G. "Lender" includes any bank, insurance company, savings or building and loan association, credit union, trust company, mortgage company, or other person engaged wholly or partly in the business of lending money for the financing or acquisition, construction, repair, or maintenance of a housing accommodation.

H. "Occupant" includes any person who has established residence or has the right to occupancy in a housing accommodation.

I. "Owners" include persons who own, lease, sublease, rent, operate, manage, have charge of, control, or have the right of ownership, possession, management, charge, or control of the housing accommodation, on their own behalf or on behalf of another.

J. "Person" includes one or more individuals, partnerships, or other organizations, trade or professional associations, corporations, legal representatives, trustees, trustees in bankruptcy, and receivers.

K. "Person aggrieved" means any person against whom any alleged unfair housing practice has been committed.

L. "Prospective borrower" includes any person who seeks to borrow money to finance the acquisition, construction, repair, or maintenance of a housing accommodation.

M. "Prospective occupant" includes any person who seeks to purchase, lease, sublease or rent a housing accommodation.

N. "Real estate ((agent)) broker, associate broker, ((salesman)) salesperson, or employee" includes any person employed by or associated with a real estate broker to perform or assist in the performance of any or all of the functions of a real estate broker.

O. "Real estate broker" includes any person who for a fee, commission, or other valuable consideration, lists for sale, sells, purchases. exchanges, leases or subleases, rents, or negotiates or offers or attempts to negotiate the sale, purchase, exchange, lease, sublease or rental of a housing accommodation of another, or holds himself or herself out as engaged in the business of selling, purchasing, exchanging, listing, leasing, subleasing, or renting a housing accommodation of another, or collects the rental for the rise of a housing accommodation of another.

((N)), "Respondent" means any person who is alleged to have committed an unfair housing practice.))

((O)) P. "Rooming unit" includes one or more rooms within a dwelling unit or rooming house containing space for living and sleeping.

((P)) Q. "Unfair housing practice" means any act prohibited by this chapter.

Section 3. That Section 5.80.040 of the Olympia Municipal Code and ordinances pertaining thereto are hereby amended to read as follows:

5.80.040 Prohibited practices designated. A. No owner, lessee, sublessee, assignee, real estate broker, ((real-estate salesman)) associate broker, salesperson, or employee, managing agent of, or other person having the right to sell, rent, lease, sublease, assign, transfer, or otherwise dispose of a housing accommodation shall refuse to sell, rent, lease, sublease, assign. transfer, or otherwise deny to. or withhold from any person or group of persons such housing accommodations, or segregate the use thereof, or represent that such housing accommodations are not available for inspection, when in fact they are so available, or expel or evict an occupant from a housing accommodation because of the race, color, religion, ancestry or national origin, gender, familial status, the presence of any sensory, mental or physical disability, the use of a trained guide dog or service animal by a disabled person, marital status, sexual orientation, or gender identity, or the perception thereof of such person or person, or discriminate against or segregate any person because of his/her race, color, religion, ancestry, ((or)) national origin, gender, familial status, the presence of any sensory, mental, or physical disability, the use of a trained guide dog or service animal by a disabled person, marital status, sexual orientation, or gender identity, or the perception thereof, in the terms, conditions, or privileges of the sale, rental, lease, sublease, assignment, transfer, or other disposition of any such housing accommodations or in the furnishing of facilities or services in connection therewith.

B. A real estate broker, ((agent, salesman)) salesperson. associate broker, or employee shall not, because of race, color, religion, ancestry, ((or)) national origin, gender, familial status, the presence of any sensory, mental, or physical disability, the use off a trained guide dog or service dog by a disabled person, marital status, sexual orientation, or gender identity, or the perception thereof, of an occupant, purchaser, prospective occupant, or prospective purchaser:

1. Refuse or intentionally fail to 1ist, or discriminate in listing a housing accommodation for sale, rent, lease, or sublease;

2. Refuse or intentionally fail to show to a prospective occupant the housing accommodation listed for sale, rental, lease, or sublease;

3. Refuse or intentionally fail to accept and/or transmit to an owner any reasonable offer to purchase, lease, rent or sublease a housing accommodation;

4. Otherwise discriminate against an occupant, prospective occupant, purchaser, or prospective purchaser of a housing accommodation.

C. No person((, bank, banking organization, mortgage company, insurance company, or other financial institution)) or lender, or any agent or employee thereof, to whom application is made for financial assistance for the purchase, refinancing, lease, acquisition, construction, rehabilitation, repair, or maintenance of any housing accommodation shall:

1. Discriminate against any person or group of persons because of race, color, religion, ancestry, ((or)) national origin, gender, familial status, the presence of any sensory. mental, or physical disability, the use of a trained guide dog or service animal by a disabled person. marital status, sexual orientation, or sender identity, or the perception thereof of such person or group of persons or of the prospective occupants or tenants of such real property in the granting, withholding, extending, modifying, or renewing, or in the rates, terms, conditions, or privileges of, any such financial assistance or in the extension of services in connection therewith; or

2. Use any form of application for such financial assistance, or make any record of inquiry in connection with applications for such financial assistance which expresses, directly or indirectly, any limitation, specification, or discrimination, on the ground of race, color, religion, ancestry, ((or)) national origin, gender, familial status, the presence of any sensory, mental, or physical disability, the use of a trained guide dog or service animal by disabled person, marital status, sexual orientation, or gender identity.

D. An owner, person, real estate broker, ((agent, salesman)) associate broker, salesperson, or employee, or lender shall not:

1. Require any information, make, or keep any record, or use any form of application containing questions or entries concerning race, color, religion, ancestry, ((or)) national origin, gender, familial status, the presence of any sensory, mental, physical disability, the use of a trained guide dog or service animal by a disabled person, marital status, sexual orientation, or gender identity, or the perception thereof, in connection with the sale, rental, lease, or sublease of any housing accommodation;

2. Publish, circulate, issue, or display, or cause to be published, circulated, issued, or displayed, any communication, notice, advertisement, or sign of any kind relating to the sale, rental, lease, sublease, assignment, transfer, or listing of a housing accotnxnod.ation or accommodations which indicate any preference, limitation, specification, or discrimination based on race, color, religion, ancestry, ((or)) national origin, gender, familial status, the presence of any sensory, mental. or physical disability, the use of a trained guide dog or service animal by a disabled person, marital status, sexual orientation, or gender identity;

3. Aid, abet, incite, compel, or coerce the doing of any act defined in this chapter as an unfair housing practice; or obstruct or discriminate against a person in any manner because the person has complied or proposes to comply with the provisions of this chapter or has filed a complaint, testified, or assisted in any proceeding under this chapter. or any order issued thereunder, or attempt, either directly or indirectly, to commit any act defined in this chapter to be an unfair housing practice or apply any economic sanctions or deny any membership privileges because of compliance with the provisions of this chapter.

 

Section 4. That Section 5.80.050, Human Rights Commission Created, of the Olympia Municipal Code and ordinances pertaining thereto are hereby repealed.

 

Section 5. That Section 180.060 of the Olympia Municipal Code and ordinances pertaining thereto are hereby amended to read as follows:

5.80.060 Enforcement. All complaints or allegations of violations of this chapter shall first be referred for formal action to the commission for cases within the commission’s jurisdiction, and in all other cases to a neutral third party mediation, before formal charges are brought under this ordinance ((for such assistance as may be rendered by the commission; provided, however, that the referral of complaints or allegations to the commission shall not be deemed to be a waiver of the city’s right or obligation to prosecute an alleged violation in pursuant of the terms of this chapter)). The city prosecutor may decline or deter prosecution under this ordinance if an alleged victim fails to reasonably participate in mediation.

 

Section 6. That Section 5.80.070 of the Olympia Municipal Code and ordinances pertaining thereto are hereby amended to read as follows:

5.80.070 Exemptions and interpretation. Noting in this chapter shall:

A. Apply to the renting, subrenting, leasing or subleasing of single-family dwellings wherein the owners or persons entitled to possession thereof normally maintain, or intend to maintain, their residences, homes or abodes;

 

B. Be interpreted to prohibit any person from making a choice from among prospective purchasers or tenants of property on the basis of factors other than race, color, religion, ancestry, ((or)) national origin, gender, familial status, the presence of any sensorv, mental, or physical disability, the use of a trained guide dog or service dog by a disabled person, marital status, sexual orientation, or gender identity, or the perception thereof.

C. Make it an unfair practice or a denial of civil rights for any public or private educational institution to separate the sexes or give preference to or limit use of dormitories. residence halls, or other student housing to persons of one sex or to make distinctions on the basis of martial or familial status.

D. Apply the provisions of this chapter prohibiting discrimination based on familial status to housing for older persons as defined by the Federal Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988, 42 USC Section 3607(B((1) through (3) as amended by the Housing for Older Persons Act of 1995, P.L. 104-76, as enacted on December 284 1995.

E. Require structural changes, modifications, or additions so make facilities accessible to a disabled person except as otherwise required by law. However, such exception shall not permit discrimination based on the presence of any sensory, mental, or physical disability or the use of a trained guide dog or service dog by a blind, deaf, or physically disabled person under the conditions or for the reasons set forth in RCW 49.60.222(2) as the same exists or may hereafter be amended.

 

Section 7. That Section 5.80.080 of the Olympia Municipal Code and ordinances pertaining thereto are hereby amended to read as follows:

5.80.080 Penalty for violation. Any person who violates any section of this chapter which constitutes his/her first violation of said section shall be deemed to have committed a misdemeanor, and if found guilty shall be subject to a fine not to exceed five hundred dollars, but shall not be subject to any imprisonment therefor; provided, however, that if such violation constitutes a second or subsequent violation of said section of this chapter, that person shall, if found guilty, be subject to a fine not to exceed five hundred dollars, or to imprisonment not to exceed ninety days, or to both such fine and imprisonment.

 

Section 8. That Chapter 2.48, Thurston County Human Rights Commission enabling ordinance, and ordinances pertaining thereto are hereby repealed.

 

Section 9. If any provision of this ordinance or its application to any is held invalid, the remainder of this ordinance, or application of the persons or circumstances, shall be unaffected.

ATTEST:

___________________________

CITY CLERK

APPROVED AS TO FORM:

___________________

CITY ATTORNEY

Passed: [2-25-97]
Approved: [2-25-97]
Published: [3-11-97]