FAIR HOUSING COUNCIL OF OREGON
The Fair Housing Council of Oregon (FHCO) is a statewide civil rights organization whose mission is to eliminate housing discrimination through enforcement and education. We are a non profit corporation and not a governmental agency.
Fair Housing is a set of federal, state, and local laws which protect people from illegal housing discrimination. Federal law prohibits housing discrimination based on a person's race,color,national origin, religion, sex, familial status (children in the household under age 18, anticipated presence of children through adoption, pregnancy etc., or physical or mental disability.
State law covers marital status, source of income, and local ordinances in Portland, Corvallis, Eugene, Salem and Multnomah County protect age, sexual orientation and gender identity.
Many types of housing transactions are protected. Examples include:
Program staff receive and screen complaints of housing
discrimination over a state-wide, toll-free hotline and whenever possible
test allegations of fair housing violations. "Testing" is a proven method
for investigating fair housing complaints. In a typical test, individuals
who are closely matched except for the variable being tested are sent to
a housing provider to request the same service originally desired by the
complaining party. Differences in treatment can provide enough evidence
to successfully resolve a housing discrimination complaint in the courts
or administrative systems.
FHCO staff refers complainants to the appropriate resource. We refer complainants to private attorneys, legal aid offices if the complainant is income qualified, the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and the Civil Rights Division of the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries. FHCO provides technical assistance and serves as a resource to its pool of attorneys who accept fair housing referrals.
FHCO is available to educate the general public, housing providers, agency staff, and attorneys about fair housing.
Since 1997 the FHCO has presented a Statewide Annual
Educational Event usually held in April, which is Fair Housing Month.
