HomeMy WebLinkAbout1989-58 - Fair HousingBILL NO.O~'~S
ORDINANCE N0. ~~"~~
AN ORDINANCE PROVIDING FAIR HOUSING FOR THE CITY OF
RIVERSIDE, MISSOURI, DEFINING DISCRIMINATORY HOUSING PRACTICES,
AND CREATING A FAIR HOUSING COMMITTEE, PROVIDING PENALTIES FOR
THE VIOLATION THEREOF, AND REPEALING ORDINANCE N0. 87-46.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN OF THE CITY OF
RIVERSIDE AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION l: Ordinance No. 87-46, codified as Section 6.17
of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Riverside, is hereby
repealed and the following ordinance, to be codified as the new
Section 6.17 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Riverside
is hereby enacted:
SECTION 1. DECLARATION OF POLICY. The Board of
Aldermen of the City of Riverside, Missouri hereby
declares it to be the public policy of the City to
eliminate discrimination and safeguard the right of
arty person to sell, purchase, lease, rent or obtain
real property without regard to race, sex, color,
religion, national origin, ancestry, handicap, marital
status and without regard to whether a family has
children. This ordinance shall be deemed an exercise
of the police powers of the City of Riverside,
T~lissouri, for the protection of the public welfare,
prosperity, health and peace of the people of
Riverside.
SECTION 2. DEFINITIONS. For the purpose of this
ordinance, the following definitions shall apply
unless the context explicitly indicates otherwise:
A. PERSON includes one or more individuals,
corporations, partnerships, associations, labor
organizations, legal representatives, mutual
companies, joint-stock companies, trusts,
unincorporated organizations, trustees, trustees in
bankruptcy, receivers and fiduciaries.
B. DISCRIMINATE shall mean distinctions in
treatment because of race, sex, color, religion,
national origin, ancestry, handicap, marital status or
whether a family has children.
C. DWELLING means any building, structure or
portion thereof which is occupied as, or designed or
intended for occupancy as a residence by one (1) or
more families, and any vacant land which is offered
for sale or lease for the construction or location
thereof of any building, structure or portion thereof.
D. TO RENT includes to lease, to sublease, to
let and otherwise to grant for consideration the right
to occupy premises not owned by the occupant.
E. FAMILY for purposes of this ordinance shall
include a single individual.
SECTION 3. It shall be discriminatory practice
within the corporate limits of Riverside, Missouri:
A. To refuse to sell or rent after the making of
a bona fide offer which meets the terms and conditions
of the sale or rental, or to refuse to negotiate for
the sale or rental of property offered for sale or
rental, or otherwise make unavailable or deny a
dwelling to any person because of race, color,
religion, national origin, sex, handicap or marital
status.
B. To discriminate against any person in the
terms, conditions or privileges of sale or rental of a
dwelling, or in the provision of services or
facilities in connection therewith, because of race,
color, religion, national origin, sex, handicap, or
marital status.
C. 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 or limitation
based on race, color, religion, national origin, .sex,
handicap or marital status or that indicates an
intention to make any such preference, limitation or
discrimination.
D. To represent to any person because of race,
color, religion, national origin, sex, handicap or
marital status that any dwelling is not available for
inspection, sale or rental when such dwelling is in
fact so available.
E. To induce or attempt to induce any person to
sell or rent any dwelling by representations regarding
the entry or prospective entry into the neighborhood
of a person or persons of a particular race, color,
religion, national origin, sex, handicap or marital
status.
F. For a person in the business of insuring
against hazards to refuse to enter into, or
discriminate in the terms, conditions or privileges
of, a contract of insurance against hazards to a
dwelling because of the race, color, religion,
national origin, sex, handicap or marital status of
persons owning or residing in or near the dwelling.
G. To discriminate in the sale or rental of
housing because a family has children, except that it
shall not be deemed a discriminatory practice to
refuse to sell or rent a dwelling to a family with
children if the dwelling is a program or project
wherein the dwelling or dwellings are offered only to
senior citizens or retired persons.
SECTION 4: Any ne~v multi-family dwellings with
four (4) or more units constructed within the City of
Riverside shall be designed so that at least one (1)
unit is accessible to and usable by persons in
wheelchairs.
SECTION 5: DISCRIMINATION IN THE FINANCING OF A
HOUSE. It shall be unlawful for any bank, building
and loan association, insurance company or other
corporation, association, firm or enterprise whose
business consists in whole or in part in the making of
commercial real estate loans, to deny a loan to a
person applying therefor for the purpose of_
purchasing, constructing, repairing, or maintaining a
dwelling, or to discriminate against him in the
affixing of the amount or conditions of such loan,
because of the race, sex, color, religion, national
origin or handicap of such person or of any person
associated with him in connection with such financing.
SECTION 6. EXEMPTIONS. The provisions of this
ordinance shall not apply to the following:
A. A rental or leasing of a dwelling unit in a
building which contains housing accommodations for not
more than two (2) families living independently of
each other, if the owner or members of his family
reside in such dwelling unit.
B. Any single family Yrouse sold or rented by an
owner provided that such house is sold or rented:
1. Without the use of sales or rental
facilities or services of real estate brokers,
agents, salesmen or persons in the business of
selling or renting dwellings, and
2. Without the publication, posting or
mailing of any advertisement in violation of
Section 3(C) of this ordinance.
Provided however, nothing in this provision shall
prohibit the use of attorneys, escrow agents,
abstracters, title companies, and other professional
assistance as necessary to perfect or transfer the
title, and any such private individual owner does not
own any interest in, nor is there owned or reserved on
his behalf, under any express or voluntary agreement,
title to or any right to all or a portion of the
proceeds from the sale or rental of more than three
(3) such single family houses at any one time.
For the purposes of this subsection, a person
shall be in the business of selling or renting a
dwelling if he has, within the preceding twelve (12)
months, participated as principal in three (3) or more
transactions involving the sale or rental of any
dwelling or any interest therein, or he has, within
the preceding twelve (12) months, participated as
agent, other than in the sale of his own personal
residence in providing sales or rental facilities or
sales and rental services in two (2) or more
transactions involving the sale or rental of any
dwelling or any interest therein, or he is the owner
of any dwelling designed or intended for occupancy by
or occupied by five (5) or more families.
SECTION 7: ADMINISTRATION.
A. There is hereby created a fair housing
committee whose membership shall consist of five (5)
members, who shall be appointed by the Mayor of the
City with the approval of the Board of Aldermen.
B. Every complaint of a violation of this
ordinance shall be referred to the fair housing
committee. The fair housing committee shall forthwith
notify the person against whom the complaint is made.
The identity of the complainant shall be made known to
the person against whom the complaint is made at
that time. If the fair housing committee, after
investigation, finds there is no merit to the
complaint, the same shall be dismissed. If the fair
housing committee finds that there is merit in the
complaint, then and in that event, the fair housing
r_ommittee will endeavor to eliminate the alleged
discriminatory practice by conference and conciliation.
C. If the fair housing committee is unable to
eliminate the alleged discriminatory practice by
conference and conciliation, then and in that event,
the fair housing committee shall forward the complaint
to the City Attorney for handling. The final
determination of whether or not to prosecute on the
complaint shall be left to the City Attorney.
SECTION 8: ENFORCEMENT AND PENALTY.
A. Any person convicted of a violation of this
ordinance shall be punished by a fine not exceeding
Five Hundred Dollars (500.00) or imprisonment in the
appropriate jail of not more than ninety (90) days or
both such fine and imprisonment.
B. The City Attorney, instead of filing a
complaint in the Riverside Municipal Court, may, as an
alternative remedy, seek to have the alleged
discriminatory practice abated by an action for an
injunction to be maintained in the Circuit Court of
Platte County, Missouri.
SECTION 9: SEVERABILITY. If any section,
subsection, paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase of
these standards shall be declared invalid for any
reason whatsoever, such decision shall not affect the
remaining portions of this ordinance which shall
continue in full force and effect. To this end, the
provisions of this ordinance are hereby declared to be
severable.
SECTION 10: SAVINGS CLAUSE. This ordinance
shall not affect violations of any other ordinance,
code or regulation of the City of Riverside existing
prior to the effective date hereof. Any such
violation shall be governed and shall continue to be
punishable to the full extent of the law under
provisions of those ordinances, codes or regulations
in effect at the time the violation was r_ommitted.
SECTION 2: The City Clerk is hereby directed to make the
appropriate changes to the Code of Ordinances of the City of
kiverside.
PASSED THIS ~~~ DAY OF , 1989.
MAY R
ATTEST:
J
CITY CLERK ~'
APPROVED 'PHIS ~~J ,C~tc~ DAY OF ~ , 1989.
~ -~~ 4
MAYOR