Background. On April 4, 2016, the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) issued its “Office of General Counsel Guidance on Application of Fair Housing Act Standards to the Use of Criminal Records by Providers of Housing and Real Estate-Related Transactions” (hereinafter, the “Memo”). The full text of the 10-page Memo can be found here. Not surprisingly, it follows the June 25, 2015 ruling by the U. S. Supreme Court, in the Texas Dept. of Housing vs. Inclusive Communities case, which upheld the much-debated concept of “disparate impact” under the Fair Housing Act, as amended (the Act”).  

Oregon landlord-tenant law is complicated.  And mistakes in understanding the law frequently work against landlords.  The basic rule-of-thumb to remember is that the written document which defines the landlord-tenant relationship must be complete and must be followed.  While Oregon law does contain some restrictions upon what landlords can put into their rental agreements,[1] generally, they are far better off commencing the rental relationship with a strong, clear and fair written document.   MHCO has gone to great lengths in making sure that its forms meet these criteria.  What follows is a list of ten tips and traps to remember when using the MHCO Rental Agreement form.

The Oregon Environmental Quality Commission has unanimously approved rules that beef up asbestos surveying requirements for owners of residential buildings or other persons proposing to demolish a residence in Oregon. The rules went into effect Jan. 1, 2016.

The Department of Justice has announced a settlement of a case involving an Indiana manufactured home community for violations of the federal Fair Housing Act. The $130,000 fine settles a federal lawsuit filed in May 2015, wherein the owner of a 173-lot manufactured home community in Crown Point, Indiana, was alleged to have violated the Fair Housing Act by refusing to allow families with children to live at the community.

"The Fair Housing Act guarantees families with children the right to choose a home without facing unlawful barriers of discrimination," said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division.  "The Justice Department will continue its vigorous enforcement of the Fair Housing Act to ensure that equal access to housing - a bedrock of the American dream - remains a reality for all families in our country."

The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, familial status, national origin and disability. 

From Chicago Tribune (3-23-26):

Crown Point mobile home park accused of violating federal law by not allowing children to live there has agreed to stop its ban and to pay $130,000.

Gentle Manor Estates, at 1350 E. North St., reached a consent decree agreement with the federal government to settle a lawsuit filed in May against the mobile home park's policy of not renting homes to families with children.

According to court records, the U.S. Department of Justice had two "testers" call Gentle Manor in September 2014 to see if it would lease homes to those with children. When a woman called saying she, her husband and their child wanted to lease a home, Gentle Manor told her they didn't allow anyone younger than 40 to live there, including her child, records show.

Another tester, a man who said he would live by himself and was older than 40, was told he could lease a home.