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Summer 2014
Fair Housing Council of Oregon Update
As we head into summer, the staff of the Fair Housing Council is looking forward to new opportunities in the 2014 fiscal year. We closed out four major HUD grants in March and started two new ones. There were staff transitions as grant funding ended and people moved on. We are also working closely with state agencies, cities and counties to begin new grants with a range of educational and enforcement activities throughout the state.
Fair Housing Month in April featured a variety of events in different areas of the state including a Rental Rights Roundup in Medford, that included presentations and resource tables by community-based housing organizations; educational events at Southern Oregon University and Marylhurst University; a seminar for housing providers in Southern Oregon with national fair housing expert Nadine Green; an educational event at Duniway School in southeast Portland and a celebration at the Oregon Jewish Museum in Portland that featured musical performances and the debut of our new "Anywhere but Here" traveling display.
We are gearing up for the first of five circuit rides throughout the state, where we will be meeting with jurisdictions, housing providers, housing consumers and advocates to raise a awareness about fair housing rights and the responsibility of cities and counties to affirmatively further fair housing. Our first trip is to Eastern Oregon in mid-July. We will be visiting Ontario, Nyssa, La Grande and Pendleton. Besides meeting with city and county staff, we will be training housing authorities, rental owners associations, community action agencies and other social service providers. We will also be continuing our research on the history of discrimination, segregation and displacement in Eastern Oregon. Our next trips will be to Klamath, Lake, Dechutes, Jefferson Crook, Lincoln and Tillamook Counties.
Our outreach efforts have expanded to include a new partnership with the Mexican Consulate, and we have been at recent Consulate events in both Medford and The Dalles. We have also collaborated with with the Community Alliance of Tenants to assist with resource fairs in East Portland and with PCUN (Piñeros y Campesiños Unidos del Noroeste) to educate their members in the Woodburn area and develop a Spanish-language radio program in Salem.
Meanwhile, back in Portland... we have had an incredible level of interest in our historic bus tours, and have been working to accommodate as many organizations requesting tours as possible. Thanks to the efforts of Allan Lazo and Sally Leisure, we've expanded our capacity to provide more tours than in previous years. Thank you Allan and Sally!
Look for our new Fair Housing Public Service Announcements in movie theaters in the Portland Metropolitan area this summer!
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Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers now included as Protected Class
Housing Choice Vouchers are now included in the definition of income for source of income discrimination under a new Oregon State Law. Landlord screening criteria applies to applicants with vouchers the same as all applicants, and the value of the Housing Choice Voucher must be taken into account when considering the applicant’s income. Starting this month, it is now illegal to refuse to rent to Section 8 voucher holders. Landlords are free to use the same criteria used with all other applicants.
The Oregon Administrative Rules have just been signed to establish a State funded and administered Landlord Guaranty Program, which will be available to all landlords renting to a voucher holder. Landlords participating in the program may make a claim on the guaranty fund:
- Must obtain a judgment against tenant
- Claims must be between $500 and $5,000
- Any claim must be submitted to the State within one year of obtaining the judgment
- Tenants will be required by the State of Oregon to repay the Guaranty Fund.
The new law also requires local housing authorities:
- Ensure timely Housing Quality Standards (HQS) inspections;
- Accept lease term options matching what is standard and customary for the dwelling unit involved; and,
- Establish process for landlords to provide regular input.
The law also requires the establishment of a statewide advisory committee made up of local housing authorities, landlord advocates, and tenant advocates. Advisory committee members will be named in July.
There will be FAQs about this new protected class on the FHCO website this month. Look for them at www.fhco.org
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The Fair Housing Council has a new look with its new logo. Thanks to FHCO staffer Dustin Ellett for coming up with the vision.
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Mexican Consulate Partnership
Elizabeth Gray, Intake Specialist, and Louise Dix, Education and Outreach Specialist, spent May 17 & 18 at the Mexican Consulate in Medford and June 27 at The Dalles. More than 200 people were exposed to fair housing at the Medford consulate event and approximately 80 at the one in The Dalles. This is a new partnership for FHCO helping us to do more effective outreach to distinct populations.
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Fair Housing Month 2014
Fair Housing Month Reception
FHCO celebrated National Fair Housing Month at a special event April 10th at the Oregon Jewish Museum. The new historical display, Anywhere But Here, was unveiled at the event. Marilyn Keller and Company, featuring FHCO's John Gainer, and Portland Taiko performed. Stories from real life fair housing situations were shared. The story tellers in the photos below included Eddie Passadore, FHCO Board member, and Betty Dominguez, Home Forward. Other story tellers included Jane Ferguson, community volunteer; Puanani Lalakey, Volunteers of America Homefree; and Michael Griggs, community volunteer. FHCO Executive Director Pegge McGuire and Project Specialist Rebecca Wetherby are shown at the reception holding a card with the theme for this year's poster contest, Everyone is Welcome in My Neighborhood.
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