Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity
NONDISCRIMINATION
Federal, state, and local laws require the Warren Housing Commission (WHC) to treat all applicants and residents equally, providing the same quality of service, regardless of race, color, religion, national origin or ethnic background, sex (including gender identity and sexual orientation), familial status, mental or physical disabilities, height, weight, or marital status.
WHC will comply with all federal, state, and local nondiscrimination laws, and with rules and regulations governing fair housing and equal opportunity in housing and employment.
PROTECTED CLASSES
The Fair Housing Act of 1968 prohibits discrimination and protects seven (7) protected classes:
- Race
- Color
- Religion
- National Origin or Ethnic Background
- Sex (including gender, pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity).
- Familial Status
- Mental or Physical Disability
The Elliot-Larsen Civil Rights Act of 1979 additionally protects:
- Height
- Weight
- Marital Status
NON-DISCRIMINATION
With respect to any housing accommodations, facilities, services, or other benefit, the WHC Board Members, WHC staff, and persons exercising governance over the WHCC agree to refrain from any acts, which, on the grounds of race, color, creed, sex (including gender identity and sexual orientation), disability, familial status, or national origin such as to:
- Deny a person such benefits;
- Provide benefits to a person which are different from those provided to others;
- Subject a person to segregation or separate treatment in any matter related to such benefits;
- Provide a preference for such benefits to any person, except as provided by this plan;
- Restrict a person’s access, in any way, to such benefits or enjoyment of any advantage or privilege enjoyed by other in connection with such benefits;
- Treat a person differently from others in determining whether he/she satisfies any occupancy, admission, enrollment, eligibility, membership, or other requirement or condition which the person must meet;
- Deny a person an opportunity to participate in the program or activity through the use of biased preference criteria, or otherwise afford the person a different opportunity to participate from that afforded others.
REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION
The WHC is committed to ensuring that its policies and procedures do not deny individuals with disabilities the opportunity to participate in, or benefit from, not otherwise discriminate against individuals with disabilities, on the basis of disability, in connection with the operations of WHC’s programs, services, and activities. Therefore, if an individual with a disability requires a reasonable accommodation such as an accessible feature or modification to WHC policy, WHC will provide such reasonable accommodation unless doing so would result in fundamental alteration in the nature of the program, an undue financial or administrative burden, or a direct threat.
A reasonable accommodation is a change, modification, alteration, or adaption in policy, procedure, practice, program, or facility that provides a qualified individual with a disability the opportunity to participate in, or benefit from, a program (housing or non-housing) or activity, to the external practical.
An applicant with a disability may request a reasonable accommodation at any time during the applications process. A resident with a disability may request a reasonable accommodation at any time. Individuals may submit their reasonable accommodation request in writing, orally, or by other equally effective means of communication.
An individual with a disability is defined by the Americans with Disability (ADA) as a person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a person who has a history or record of such impairment, or a person who is perceived by others as having such an impairment.
