1. Ben Watson, Unit Director, NEOC
What is Fair Housing?
Ben Watson, Unit Director, NEOC

2. Introduction Ben Watson
Unit Director – Housing Investigations and Education/Outreach
Omaha Office at 1313 Farnam St.

3. What is Fair Housing?
The Protected Classes
Common Fair Housing Issues (types of Complaints)
Intro to Disability Accommodations
Overview of NEOC Housing Investigations

4. Treating somebody differently based on their protected class
Illegal Discrimination
People are born to be free, and equal in dignity and rights. Treating a person unfairly because they are in a protected class, robs them of their inherent right.
Treating somebody differently based on their protected class

5. Protected classes under the
Fair Housing Act
Race
Color
Sex
Religion
National Origin
Disability
Family Status
Retaliation

6. Common Issues in Fair Housing
Harassment Sexual Race Religious Other

8. Common Issues in Fair Housing
Terms & Conditions Repairs Forced Accommodations Different Rent Amounts

9. Common Issues in Fair Housing
Refusing to Rent or Deal Protected Class Based After Accommodation Request Criminal History

10. Common Issues in Fair Housing
Retaliation Sudden Rule Enforcement Eviction Stopping Repairs

11. Common Issues in Fair Housing
Reasonable Accommodations Animals Parking Moving

12. Common Issues in Fair Housing
“Benevolent Discrimination”
Children + Highways
Children + Rooms
Children + Lead Paint
Forced Accommodations
Overly Helpful (Disability)

13. Reasonable Accommodations Introduction
The Basics

14. What is a Reasonable Accommodation?
Exception in the rules, policies, practices, or services necessary to afford a person with a disability equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling.

15. What is Reasonable?
Does not pose a *financial and administrative hardship (undue burden)
Does not create a *safety/health threat or threat to property. Must be a direct threat.
Is *not disruptive to the peaceful enjoyment of other tenants
Does not impose a fundamental alteration in the nature of the housing provider’s program.

16. An accommodation request has been made… now what?
Your main obligation is to enter into the interactive process.
If you stop the interactive process, you are considered to be making a final decision. If your final step was incorrect, then at this point you have potentially violated the law.
“A failure to reach an agreement [through the interactive process] is in effect a decision by the provider to not grant the requested accommodation.” –HUD Guidance on RAs
Can’t stay in the interactive process forever as a way to delay a decision. Must make efforts to respond in a reasonable amount of time.
“A provider has an obligation to provide prompt responses delay in responding may be deemed to be a failure to provide a reasonable accommodation.” –HUD Guidance on RAs

17. An accommodation request has been made… now what?
What can a tenant be asked to verify?
1. Does the person have a disability?
2. Is the accommodation necessary to alleviate a symptoms of that disability?
If either of those is obvious/apparent/known, you cannot ask that particular question or ask for documentation.

18. NEOC Investigative Process

19. The Investigative Process
I. The Complaint and Summary of Allegations
II. Serve Letters and Position Statement
III. Interviews and Evidence Gathering
IV. Pre-Determination Interviews
V. Case Review and Decision
VI. After

20. Complaint Procedure: Order of Events
Complainant contacts the NEOC and schedules an appointment, sometimes for that same day.
On the day of their appointment, the Complainant meets or telephones with an Intake Investigator who takes a detailed accounting of what the person alleges occurred.
The intake investigator does background research into the housing provider, the owner, the size, and other details to check jurisdictional requirements.
A Complaint summarizing the allegations is then mailed to the Complainant to sign and have notarized.

21. Complaint Procedure: Timeliness
Failure to file a charge in a timely manner will result in the Commission not having jurisdiction to investigate the charge.
From the last date of any alleged harm, the time limit for filing a charge is “One Year”

22. Complaint Procedure: Exemptions
Single-family homes rented without use of a real estate agent or advertising. Owner must own no more than three homes. FEDERAL ONLY
“Mr. Murphy”: if you have a property with no more than four units and you live in one of those units. STATE & FEDERAL
Others: Private club housing; Housing for older people; religious organizations

23. Serve Letters – Official Notification
Once the NEOC receives back the signed and notarized Complaint from Complainant, the charge of discrimination is considered “Filed”.
At that point, we will send a series of questions and document requests to the Respondents.
This is accompanied by a letter that notifies the Respondents that a complaint has been filed against them, and gives some basic information and the contact info for the NEOC.
We are required by statute to notify you after a Complaint has been filed. So there are no “secret investigations.”

24. Sample Serve Questions
Provide the correct name, position, title, race and color for individuals referenced in Complainant's charge of discrimination.
Explain the Respondent application process.
For what reason was the Complainant not rented an apartment?
Provide a listing of all applicants for any unit at the subject property from April 2017, through March Identify by name, date of application, if selected for tenancy, and race and color, if known.
Who was selected for the subject property available apartment on or about April 12, 2017 and explain why this tenant was selected. Provide the name, date of application, date of selection, and race and color.
Provide a summary of the alleged conversation between the Complainant and a Respondent leasing agent on April 12, 2017.

25. Sample Document requests
These are always requests for documents that you have in the normal course of business.
Copy of Complainant’s application materials for the subject property.
Copy of any s or other communication between Respondent and/or Respondent’s agents that mention or are in regards to Complainant or Complainant’s application, for the period of March through June, 2017.
Copy of Respondent’s fair housing policy, reasonable accommodation policy, parking policy, policy regarding entry of units by maintenance personnel, and any policies regarding late payment of rent.
Copy of Respondent’s form(s) used to process or consider Reasonable Accommodation requests.

26. Your Position Statement
Respondent’s response to the Serve Questions should be in the form of a “Position Statement.” This can be written by your own personnel, or by an attorney you hire. It should be in narrative form and tell the story from Respondent’s perspective. Feel free to provide all information you believe is relevant, as well as any evidence (documents) that you believe support your defenses. Be sure that any answers to specific questions asked by the NEOC are included in the Position Statement. When you send in the position statement, you should send in the documents that the NEOC requested as well. Time period: 10 days. You can request a reasonable extension by contacting the investigator.

27. Mediation
During the investigation, the investigator will contact all parties and inquire about any desire to conciliate/settle.
These discussions are confidential, in that any information divulged cannot be used in the actual investigation. The investigator is careful to draw a distinction between when discussions pertain to the investigation or conciliation attempts.
If the parties can “come together,” then an agreement is drawn up three ways between the parties and the NEOC, and the complaint is withdrawn.
These negotiations are not an in-person mediation, but instead are communications by or phone or in-person that go through the investigator back and forth with the parties.

28. The Investigation: Interviews
Rebuttal Interview
Preliminary Summary
Supervisor Review
Respondent and Witness interviews
Respondent interview will usually be with the owner, or a property manager or other supervisor-level person who has best knowledge of the alleged incident. This interview will take place with the attorney present, if you are using one, but the interviewee needs to do the speaking, not the attorney. We may need to speak to multiple employees at Respondent, or multiple Respondents.
5. Additional evidence requests

29. Pre-Determination / Exit
Once the investigator feels the evidentiary file is completed, you will receive a letter that states you have a certain time limit to present any additional evidence, as well as a date to contact the investigator by if you want to do a Pre-Determination Interview. A Pre-Determination Interview is where the evidence is reviewed with a party so they know the final contents of the case file, and can then give any input on it and submit any final evidence.

30. Recording (video or audio)
Evidence used to prove or disprove discrimination – “more likely than not”
Direct Evidence
Recording (video or audio)
Letter
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31. Different Treatment When similarly situated individuals
Evidence used to prove or disprove discrimination – “more likely than not”
Different Treatment
When similarly situated individuals
are treated differently because of their protected class
Circumstantial Evidence
Comparator Evidence
Tester Evidence

32. Disparate Impact policy or practice Statistical Evidence
Evidence used to prove or disprove discrimination – “more likely than not”
Disparate Impact
When a facially neutral
policy or practice
affects a larger share of one group and
cannot be justified as a
business necessity.
Statistical Evidence

33. The Decision and Notification
Housing cases are submitted to the Commission, which meets (usually) every third Friday of the month. They will review the case and then take a vote at this public meeting. Party attendance at this meeting is optional, but if you attend you will have a chance to briefly speak (two minutes) and may be asked questions by the Commission. Both sides are offered this optional opportunity.
Once a decision has been made you will be provided a Letter of Determination, which states the decision of the Commission.

34. Reasonable Cause decision
If the decision is Reasonable Cause, meaning that more likely than not discrimination did occur according to the evidence gathered, the case will move forward.
Note: at this point the NEOC is no longer neutral, as the Commission has taken a position.
Conciliation/mediation will be attempted again.
If that fails, the case will move forward into a public hearing or court. If dual filed, the Complainant could also file in federal court.

35. How to help an Investigation be Smooth and Painless
Complainant: only file Complaints based on your honest belief.
Respondent: submit a complete and thorough position statement.
Answer all questions and document requests.
Have a designated contact person / representative (attorney or otherwise) who will be available for communications with NEOC staff.
Avoid character assassinations. Random character evidence is not considered.
Don’t bury us in paperwork. Provide only what was asked for and what you think is needed, not extra stuff.
Make available people for interviews who are requested.
Consider allowing recording of interviews… they are to protect you.

36. Respondents: Winning when there is a Complaint
Document everything
Respond promptly and fully
Do not retaliate
Focus more on the facts
Give us relevant info about an tenant’s bad behavior, but don’t give us irrelevant character info.

37. “getting a case dismissed early”
There really isn’t a way to do this.
Under the Nebraska law, everybody has a right to have their allegations investigated, assuming they are jurisdictional.
Every complaint of discrimination receives a full investigation of the allegations as they were presented to us. If Complainant lacks evidence, then the investigation will be short, but it will not be dismissed outright… there will be a determination.
Jurisdiction is the only reason a case is dismissed without a full and complete investigation: if the last date of harm was 380 days ago, or the apartment complex in question is in Iowa, etc.

38. Questions?
Ben Watson
Unit Director – Housing Investigations and Education/Outreach
Omaha Office at 1313 Farnam St.