Today marks the 50th  anniversary of the passage of the Federal Fair Housing Act (Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act). Signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson a week after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, the landmark legislation prohibits discrimination in the sale or rental of housing based on race, religion, national origin, and sex.

Prior to the passage of the law, Supreme Court decisions like Shelly v. Kraemer (1948) and Jones v. Mayer Co. (1968), made it illegal for landlords to deny tenants or buyers on the basis of race, nevertheless race based housing decisions continued in the United States. Protestors against housing discrimination were subjected to violence and harsh treatment. Controversy also arose when family members of deceased members of the armed forced of African and Hispanic origin were denied housing in white localities.

Mass demonstrations led by MLK and by other civil rights leaders influenced the passage of the Fair Housing Act. In 1966, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led a march in Chicago, known as the Chicago Freedom Movement or Chicago Open Housing Movement, protesting housing segregation.

When originally passed in 1968, the Fair Housing Act prohibited discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, and national origin. Although well intentioned, there were no federal enforcement provisions written into the law, as such the law was later amended to allow for enforcement and added additional protected classes including sex, disability and familial status.

Today, we celebrate this major milestone and reaffirm our country’s commitment to providing equal access to housing without regard to an individual’s race, ethnicity, nationality, sex, handicap or familial status.

 

NOTE: This article is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice. For legal advice please contact an experienced attorney. For information about PKS Law Group, P.C., please our website at www.pks-lawgroup.com  or contact us at info@pks-lawgroup.com

 

March 2018

The PKS Law Group, P.C. was honored to teach three courses on Landlord/Tenant and Fair Housing law for IREM’s Sacramento Restart Program with Women’s Empowerment. IREM’s Restart program is dedicated to bringing housing and employment to disadvantaged individuals caught in the cycle of poverty, substance abuse, and domestic violence. The program specifically offers training, mentoring, and job placement assistance in the field of property management.

The three seminars were taught over a period of a month and included termination of the tenancy, conflict resolution, and fair housing. We are extremely proud of the 2018 Women’s Empowerment graduates and wish them the best of luck in their future endeavors!

To schedule a legal training for your company contact the PKS Law Group. P.C. at info@pks-lawgroup.com. 

October 2017

Puneet Singh, Esq.

On October 15, 2017, Gov. Jerry Brown signed the “Gender Recognition Act” creating a third nonbinary gender for California State identification documents. The law, parts of which will go into effect on September 1, 2018 and on January 1, 2019, provides for the following:

• Ensures that intersex, transgender, and nonbinary people have state-issued identification documents (drivers’ licenses, birth certificates, identity cards, and gender change court orders) that provide full legal recognition of their accurate gender identity.
• Requires the State to provide three equally recognized gender options on state-issued identification documents: female, male, and nonbinary. The State must also provide an efficient and fair process for individuals to amend their gender designation on state-issued identification documents and the identification documents must legally recognize a person’s gender identification.
• Streamlines the legal process for one to change their gender marker. The law deletes the requirement that a person have undergone treatment to seek a court judgment to recognize their change in gender and would permit the individual to attest, under penalty of perjury, that their request is to conform their legal gender to their gender identity. The law also provides for modified procedures to obtain a court order for a change of name to conform to the person’s gender identity and a court judgment to recognize a change in the person’s gender. Lastly, a separate procedure is provided for those under 18 years of age to petition for a court judgment to recognize a change of gender to male, female, or nonbinary.

The new law also defines the terms “intersex”, “binary” and “transgender” and recognizes the frequent discrimination, harassment, and violence faced by these individuals in housing, education, employment, health care and law enforcement.

To access the text of the Gender Discrimination Act (Senate Bill 179) click here:

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB179

NOTE: This article is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice. For legal advice please contact an experienced attorney.