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Editable Page
OUR DISCRIMINATION
POLICIES |
BELMONT BROKERAGE & MANAGEMENT, INC. DISCRIMINATION POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
All Employees and Resident Managers are Required
To Read and confirm in writing that they understand and will fully abide by the following:
As an employee or resident manager of Belmont Brokerage & Management,
Inc., you are held to the standard of the Fair Housing Act. It is
Belmont Brokerage & Management, Inc.'s policy to be consistently
fair in the rental of properties to prospective tenants.
The purpose of this summary is to explain to you what discrimination
is, what acts constitute discrimination, and how to avoid discrimination
when renting apartments. This summary constitutes a set of rules
and regulations which Belmont Brokerage & Management, Inc. as
the employer will require you to conform to. Any violation of these
policies will mean immediate termination of your employment.
Please continue reading, and sign where indicated in order to confirm
your reading and understanding of each section. Should you have any
questions, contact your supervisor immediately.
The U.S. 1968 Civil Rights Act titled VIII 42 USC 3601 (as amended)
Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental, lease
or negotiation for real property based on race, color, religion,
sex, national origin, familial status, or handicap. It also prohibit
discrimination in financing, block busting, and steering in relation
to housing opportunities.
WHAT IS DISCRIMINATION?
A landlord may consider a number of different criterion in deciding
whether to select a tenant or not. Some of the criteria a landlord
considers are legal and proper and acceptable while other criteria
are illegal, improper and may not be the reason for denying someone
housing. If an illegal or non-acceptable criterion is the bases
for turning an application down, this is discrimination, and the
landlord is guilty of an unfair or discriminatory practice. In
the case of discrimination, an applicant can file a discrimination
charge and possibly win a very large lawsuit.
WHAT IS A "PROTECTED" CLASS UNDER
THE LAW?
RACE: Person's race or the race of a person with whom one associates.
COLOR: The person's skin color
SEX: The person's sex, including sexual harassment or intimidation.
NATIONAL ORIGIN: The country of ones birth and/or nationality of ones ancestors.
RELIGION: A person's religious beliefs or denominational affiliations.
FAMILIAL STATUS: Individual(s) who will occupy the rental with Children or
who is pregnant.
PHYSICAL DISABILITIES/HANDICAP: A physical or mental impairment that substantially
limits ones major life activities.
OTHER "PROTECTED" CLASSES:
MARITAL STATUS: The status of a person maintaining a household (i.e.), married,
single, divorced, widowed or separated.
AGE: Individuals over the age of eighteen
SOURCE OF INCOME (LAWFUL): A person's legal means of income, including such
subsidized forms as social security, AFDC, unemployment compensation, etc.
In other words, you can't turn somebody down just because their revenues do
not come from gainful employment.
BELMONT BROKERAGE & MANAGEMENT, INC.'S
SPECIFIC POLICIES:
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We do allow a prospective tenant to
look at any rental they wish to look at, even if you feel they
would not be qualified to rent
the property.
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We do not allow Resident Managers, or employees,
to hold themselves out as the person to accept or reject an application.
Their job is
to solicit and help complete all rental applications, help
the prospective
resident in obtaining supporting documents when required. Belmont
Brokerage & Management, Inc.'s credit department will accept
or reject applications.
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We will not refuse to rent to a disabled resident,
or refuse to allow alterations to be made to the property (at their
expense) if
they desire to rent our property.
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We do not refuse to rent to families
with children, have tougher occupancy standards, nor require additional
deposits with children.
We do not refuse to rent to children on upper floors or near a pool
because of alleged safety standards.
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We do not have any references
in our advertising to "adults
only". All rental are available to families with children.
No resident manager or employee is to discourage any families
with children
from applying to rent even though they may be concerned about
damage children may cause. it will be the parents responsibility
for damage
caused by their children or any of their guest or themselves,
no matter the age.
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We do not charge additional fees, charges, or rent
based on an extra number children.
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We do not offer different lease
periods or lease terms to only certain types of groups or residence.
For example, we do not offer
short term periods to only families with children as a trial period.
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We
do not restrict occupancy of a rental as a means of avoiding to rent
to certain groups of people.
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We do not deny housing to animals that
provide needed assistance to a disabled individual.
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We do not forbid
waterbeds, if the resident is able to provide proof of adequate insurance,
and the building load factors are not
exceeded.
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We do not ask any questions dealing with the nature
or severity of any handicap.
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We do not refuse to rent to people with
Acquired Immune Deficiency (AIDS).
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We do not engage in at all a discussion
regarding protected subjects such as age (unless primary applicant
is under age), race, disabilities,
etc. Even if the tenant brings up the subject in reference to
themselves when inquiring about the rental. If the applicant
brings up one of
the "protected" subjects, simply say that such information
is not required from you for renting, or that the rentals are
made available without regards to race, religion, age, sex, etc.
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We no
not reveal any details of a credit report to an applicant for a
rental. Each prospective tenant, if their application is declined,
they will be supplied with the name, address, and phone number
of
the credit reporting agency.
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We can and do ask any applicant if
they are Fair Housing Testers. It is illegal for them to lie to
you and they must answer the question
truthfully.
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We can and do require the showing of an apartment
be done at reasonable times of the day or evening, and that if
there is
a reasonable fear
of your personal security, that the apartment may not be shown
at that time.
EXAMPLES OF DISCRIMINATION VIOLATIONS:
SUBTLE EXAMPLES:
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Stating to prospective
residents, "there are no other children
near by," or "there is no place for your children to
play".
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Not returning phone calls left on your answer machine
because they sound like they were of a different race.
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Making statements
such as: "near church", "adults
or couples preferred", "no students", "or mature
persons".
You tell applicants that it may be a week or longer before you
have an opportunity check their application, while you continue
top accept
more applications.
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Never getting back in touch with applicants at
all.
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Tell prospective applicant that you are not able
to show the property at this time or the property is not available
or ready
yet (when
in fact it is available to show), and can they call back in
a couple of days or in a week or so.
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Charging more rent
for additional children.
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Explain to a prospective tenant that "because
there is not many of your race in the area, you may be uncomfortable
living here".
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Requiring a larger deposit for a family of a
different national origin.
LEGAL REASON FOR DECLINING AN APPLICATION:
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Pets
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Prior evictions
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Poor credit history
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Excessive financial obligations
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Not sufficient or
non-verifiable income
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False information on the application
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Does not complete
process
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Family exceeds "reasonable" occupancy
limits
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Poor
reference/notice (unpaid rent, damages) from past landlord
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Unable
to provide processing fee, required deposit or initial rent
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Unable
to provide positive identification
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Does not complete application
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As an employee or resident manager, your job
is to show the available apartments to prospective tenants. When
a tenant
is interested in
the apartment, you are to give them an application top
complete and a tenant criteria sheet. This criteria sheet answers
many of
the
questions a prospective tenant may have regarding the rental
application process, credit approval criteria, and standards.
Your job is not
to "weed out", "sort out", or in any way hinder
or restrict prospective tenants from applying for an apartment. When
giving an application to a prospective tenant who wishes to rent
the apartment, you may either accept the application with the necessary
deposit and immediately turn it in to Belmont Brokerage & Management,
Inc. for processing, or advise the prospective tenant that they can
deliver the application directly to Belmont Brokerage & Management's
main office for processing.
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Downtown Main Office
647 E. 4th St.
Long Beach, Ca 90802
Office Hours 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Monday-Saturday
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Belmont Heights Rental Office
C/O Out of the Box”
375 Redondo Ave.
Long Beach, Ca 90814
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