Laserfiche WebLink
Actions to Address Impediments to Fair Housing Choice <br />During the 2016-2017 report period the City of Santa Ana took the following actions (on its own or in <br />cooperation with regional partners and the Fair Housing Council of Orange County (FHCOC)) to overcome <br />impediments to fair housing choice identified in the regional Al: <br />• Fair Housing Community Education — During 2016-17, the FHCOC regionally conducted or participated in <br />151 education and/or outreach activities, reaching a culturally and ethnically diverse audience, in which <br />they made participants aware of fair housing laws and counseling services (including services to help <br />households improve their readiness for a home purchase). Fifty-nine of these activities took place in the <br />city of Santa Ana. Regionally, over 4,700 people were served by these activities. Through its various <br />regional outreach efforts FHCOC distributed over 37,250 pieces of literature on fair housing, its services <br />and other housing -related topics, in either English, Spanish or Vietnamese. Additionally, throughout <br />Orange County FHCOC held 8 training sessions for rental property owners/managers, with 3 occurring in <br />Santa Ana, including 1 presented in Spanish. FHCOC presented 2 fair housing seminars for housing <br />providers in cooperation with the Apartment Association of Orange County (AAOC), at AAOC's Santa Ana <br />office. Twenty-seven general fair housing workshops intended for attendance by both housing consumers <br />and providers were held throughout Orange County, with 13 occufrring Santa Ana. <br />• Fair Housing Enforcement — On a regional basis, <br />discrimination and opened 63 cases where the al <br />further investigation and/or action. Thirty-one (31 <br />involved housing in the City of Santa Ana. On a rel <br />site, systemic tests for discriminatory rental housing -G <br />• Housing Dispute Evaluation & Resolution — On <br />assisting 1,741 unduplicated household as ddres <br />unduplicated households, involving 2,559 issues <br />staff rbdelved 119 allegations of housing <br />�emed sufficiently meritorious to warrant <br />is arose from Santa Ana, and 17 cases <br />s, FHCOC also conducted 104 paired, on - <br />4th 9 occurring in Santa Ana. <br />ional.6asis, activities provided by FHCOC included <br />145 issues, disputes and/or inquires. Of these, 823 <br />from Santa Ana. <br />• Reasonable Accommodations On`a`regional basis, 12 inquiries regarding reasonable accommodations <br />and modifications were receive -by,FHGO ethat resulted in casework beyond basic counseling. Three of <br />the inquiries arose fromiSanta Anawith .,all proceeding to accommodation requests, which were all <br />granted. Overall, 4 clients requested and received a reasonable accommodation, while a fifth request <br />ended when the client ch o a not to proceed. One more recent client's accommodation request, received in <br />June, 2017, was effectively denie '. OC will be assisting the denied client in filing an administrative <br />housing discrimination complaint with the Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO) Office of the U.S. <br />Department of Housing and Urban Development. <br />• Web -based Outreach — FHCOC's website currently has an on-line housing discrimination complaint - <br />reporting tool that generates an email to FHCOC. It is also used for other, non-discrimination, housing - <br />related issues. <br />• Monitoring On-line Advertising — Orange County rentals listed on Craigslist were monitored by FHCOC for <br />discriminatory content (as permitted by staffing limitations). Discriminatory advertisements were flagged <br />and FHCOC responded to these ads in order to inform the poster of possible discriminatory content. <br />FHCOC also brought these ads to the attention of Craigslist to hasten their removal. In some cases, the ad <br />was referred to FHCOC's investigators for possible enforcement action. Other on-line rental sites (e.g., OC <br />Register, LA Times, Westside Rentals, etc.) were sporadically monitored; however, the lack of an efficient <br />19D-145 <br />