[CIVIL. REG.,032996,0800]
Housing Tests
(Iowa Civil Rights Commission; 03/29/96; 0800)
IOWA CIVIL RIGHTS COMMISSION CONDUCTS
HOUSING TESTS IN WEBSTER CITY
On February 7 and 9, 1996,
the Iowa Civil Rights Commission (ICRC) conducted 12 housing tests in Webster
City, Iowa and found no violations of federal and state anti-discrimination
laws. Everyone tested in Webster City passed, including a landlord who was
tested twice.
In response to an ad in the local newspaper, ICRC testers called the landlord
to arrange a viewing of her one bedroom upstairs apartment. Each of the
"race" testers made appointments to see the unit. The landlord
treated the two testers, one African American and the other White, equally
well. Both were shown the apartment and both were given the same information
about rent, deposit, lease, and availability.
The landlord clearly passed the race test, but she said something during
each of the on- site testers' visits which prompted the testing coordinator
to plan a second or follow-up "familial status" test. The landlord
asked the first on-site race tester, "Do you have a family?" She
asked the second, "Do you have children?" Because neither tester
posed as an applicant with children, the landlord did not have to respond
when the testers answered, "No." After the race test was completed,
each of the testers reported to the testing coordinator that the apartment
had two extra rooms which could be used as bedrooms. The testing coordinator
was concerned that the landlord may be calling the unit a one bedroom when
it was really a two or three bedroom in order to discourage families with
children from inquiring or making application.
During the follow-up familial status telephone test a week later, the landlord
not only didn't discourage the tester family with children but actually
encouraged them to make application. She asked the "familial status"
tester, "Do you have children?" When the tester answered, "Yes,
two daughters, 3 and 5," the landlord volunteered to say that an elementary
school was only four to five blocks away and that the apartment had a fenced-in backyard for the little ones to
play in. In the follow-up test, the landlord appeared to welcome families
with children; she expressed no discriminatory intent.
Under the "Iowa Civil Rights
Act," a landlord cannot refuse to rent to persons because of race,
sex, national origin, disability, religion, or familial status (the presence
of persons under age 18 in the household). Also under the Act, landlords
cannot discourage persons from making application or considering their rental
property because of one of those protected personal characteristics.
Under the current testing program
funded by the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the ICRC
is testing landlords and realtors in 51 Iowa communities to determine whether
applicants for rental units are treated differently because of race, disability,
or familial status.
Since February 15, 1995, the ICRC
has conducted 767 tests of landlords and realtors in 41 communities and
found 120 possible violations of fair housing laws.
The ICRC's purpose in testing is to
educate and reform. Everyone who is tested is contacted and informed about
the test and the test results. Persons who pass the tests are thanked for
following the law and persons who do not pass are either counseled regarding
the law or served with a complaint, depending on the seriousness of the
violation.
The ICRC has recently published a
new, 16-page Fair Housing Guide which is free upon request. For a copy,
contact the ICRC's public education officer, Carol Leach, at 515-281-8354.