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Fair housing is an issue of growing concern in Burlington. The City's
population is increasingly diverse, and regional market conditions have had an
increasingly significant effect on fair housing choice both within the City and
within the surrounding region.
The City of Burlington's recently published
Analysis of Impediments to
Fair Housing Choice
 identifies the
key housing barriers facing people who are in protected classes. To
view and/or print this document, you will need
Adobe
Acrobat Reader. If you do not have a current copy of this free
software, you can download
it now.
Previous studies have shown significant discrimination in both housing sales
and rental opportunities.
“Fair housing” is a term that comes from Title VIII of the federal Civil
Rights Act of 1968, known as the “Fair Housing Act.” The Fair Housing Act
provides substantial remedies to many persons who are the victims of housing
discrimination. The Fair Housing Act, as subsequently amended, prohibits
discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of dwellings, and in other
housing-related transactions, based on race, color, national origin, religion,
sex, familial status (including children under the age of 18 living with parents
of legal custodians, pregnant women, and people securing custody of children
under the age of 18), and handicap (disability). In addition, Vermont provides
even greater protection, adding the protected categories of sexual orientation,
age, marital status, and receipt of public assistance.
Taken together, these state and federal legal protections prohibit unequal or
unfair treatment in housing advertisement, rental of housing, housing sales,
financing and insuring of housing or in terms or conditions contained in lease
agreements or rules - written or verbal.
CCTV Productions has produced a video for the CVOEO Fair
Housing project, and it will be used in trainings around the state for
municipal leaders. It describes the connection between fair housing and
affordable housing. Municipalities have a responsibility to promote fair
housing and adopting planning and zoning rules that allow for the creation
of affordable housing is one way to meet those responsibilities. The video
profiles projects in Middlebury and Tinmouth and features discussion of
Burlington's efforts to promote fair and affordable housing. For more
information, contact the CVOEO Fair Housing Project at 800-278-7971. Visit
http://www.cctv.org/watch-tv/programs/planning-tools-further-fair-housing-your-community
to view the video.
Page last updated
June 08, 2010 |
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