Housing discrimination complaint filed against StarkMHAR
An Akron-based organization has filed a housing discrimination complaint against Stark County Mental Health and Addiction Recovery, accusing the agency of violating the Fair Housing Act.
The Fair Housing Advocates Association filed an administrative housing discrimination complaint with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission. It alleges that StarkMHAR engaged in disability discrimination when the agency rejected a reasonable accommodation request, made on behalf of a Stark County woman who is disabled, to continue funding the Housing Assistance Program, which provides housing vouchers to disabled individuals.
A reasonable accommodation is a modification to "ensure to persons with disabilities the enjoyment or exercise on an equal basis with others of all human rights and fundamental freedoms," according to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
In rejecting the request, StarkMHAR said it is not subject to fair housing law requirements as a funder of housing and that it should have gone to ICAN Housing Inc., which administers the Housing Assistance Program, according to the complaint.
"The Fair Housing Act covers all types of housing-related residential transactions," Fair Housing Advocates Association Executive Director Vincent Curry said. "If you take their position, then homeowners insurance would not be covered by the Fair Housing Act or those providers, but they are. Banks are covered by fair housing and fair lending laws, even though they don't actually own housing."
The organization also accuses StarkMHAR of retaliation for terminating funding assistance to the Housing Assistance Program. Curry said the program was paid for through a 10-year tax levy. It was initially advertised as a two-year housing program, he said, but that it has continued for the past five years.
"(The program) was not put on the chopping block for terminating of the funding until after an accommodation request was made," he said.
Curry said it's important that the funding continue as it is critical to helping disabled tenants maintain their housing.
"People with disabilities have unique disabilities that many times would cause a private landlord not to want to rent to them," Curry said. "They would not pass a private landlord's screening. So it's very important that these folks be able to, at least for the next five years, stay in this program and get the funding they've gotten for the last five years."
Stark County Assistant Prosecutor Aaron Violand, who represents the county agency, declined to comment, citing the ongoing investigation.
The complaint was filed in November. The Ohio Civil Rights Commission has one year to complete its investigation. Both parties will have the option to appeal the commission's findings.
The commission also offers voluntary mediation. If both parties decide to participate in the process and are able to resolve the issues, then the case will be closed and no further action will take place.
Reach Paige at 330-580-8577, pmbennett@gannett.com or on Twitter @paigembenn.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Fair Housing Advocates Association files complaint against StarkMHAR
