Austin group cites 2 more for FHA; 2 settle complaints

Two more Central Texas newspapers have received complaints from the Austin Tenants Council involving the federal Fair Housing Act and two other newspapers have settled their previous ATC complaints.

A company official for the Blanco County News and Johnson City Record Courier contacted TPA after receiving a complaint letter from ATC alleging three housing ads in the newspapers violated the FHA.

Those two cases bring the total number of ATC complaints Texas Press Association has tracked to 10 newspapers, including seven other weeklies and one daily, all in the last four months.

The majority of the cases have been familial status claims involving classified ads that included language stating a certain number of tenants. The Blanco and Johnson City complaints included the phrases “single man or couple,” “no children” and “ideal for a couple.”

Also recently two other newspapers settled with ATC. The Rockdale Reporter and The Liberty Hill Independent both settled with no fine, $1,000 in donated advertising for fair housing issues and training in FHA issues for their staff.

Earlier the Fredericksburg Standard Radio Post and Gatesville Messenger settled for $750 and $1,250 respectively.

These cases should serve as a reminder to all newspapers that FHA complaints can be serious and costly.

FHA makes it illegal “to make, print, or publish, or cause to be made, printed, or published, any notice, statement, or advertisement, with respect to the sale or rental of a dwelling, that indicates any preference, limitation, or discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin, or an intention to make any such preference, limitation, or discrimination.”

All housing ads, especially classifieds, need to be pre-screened before publication for potential discriminatory language. Ads cannot state a preference for a particular type of tenant or buyer. Remember — Describe the Property Not the Person.