Fair Housing

Title VIII of the 1968 Civil Rights Act, also known as the federal Fair Housing Act, made it illegal to discriminate in the buying, selling or renting of housing because of a person’s race, color, religion or national origin. Sex was added as a protected class in the 1970s. 

In 1988, the Fair Housing Amendments Act added familial status and disability to the list, making a total of seven federally protected classes. Federal fair housing statutes are largely covered by three pieces of legislation:

  • The Fair Housing Act
  • The Housing Amendments Act
  • The Americans with Disabilities Act 

State or local government may enact fair housing laws that extend protection to other groups as well. For example, the North Carolina Fair Housing Act includes the following protected classes: race, religion, sex, national origin, handicapping condition, familial status, or “except as otherwise provided by law, the fact that a development or proposed development contains affordable housing units for families or individuals with incomes below 80% of area median income.”

Fair Housing Complaints

The Division also receives fair housing complaints from individuals who feel they have been discriminated against based on their national origin, sex, handicap or familial status in their search for housing.

The planners in this division promote affordable housing programs through disposition of urban renewal lands and partnerships with local non-profit developers such as Brick Capital Community Development Corporation, Sanford Affordable Housing Development Corporation, and Sanford Area Habitat for Humanity.

Fair Housing Flyer