About Bay County, MI

Partial rainbow in the Bay County sky This is called a sky lantern and tests the wind direction

This is one of many rows These big ones go 600 feet in the air!

The eastern Bay City sky and the sun setting in the west

The beginning of the show

Spectacular firework show! Photos taken with my blackberry phone July 30, 2011

Here is another example of a recent Fair Housing Act lawsuit brought by the United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”). I try to post case summaries in order to provide timely updates to real estate professionals about the "dos and don'ts" under the Fair Housing Act, since fair housing is such an important issue.

On Friday, July 19, 2010, the DOJ filed a lawsuit against the owner, management company and former manager of Summerhill Place Apartments (a 268-unit apartment complex located in Renton, Washington) for violating the Fair Housing Act by discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin and familial status in the rental of apartments. Summerhill Place Apartments consists of five separate buildings. Buildings 1-4 each have approximately 55 apartments. Building 5 has approximately 48 apartments.

The lawsuit alleges that the defendants steered Indian tenants away from one of the five buildings at Summerhill Place Apartments, treated tenants from India less favorably than other tenants, and discouraged African-Americans, Hispanics and families with children from living at Summerhill.

According to the lawsuit, two Summerhill Place Apartments employees contacted the King County Office of Civil Rights (“KCOCR”) in 2007, and reported/complained of discriminatory housing practices at Summerhill Place Apartments. The KCOCR then contracted with the Fair Housing Council of Washington (“FHCW”) to conduct testing at Summerhill Place Apartments. On various occasions between April 2007 and June 2008, the FHCW performed testing at Summerhill Place Apartments and provided the results to the KCOCR. Those tests revealed evidence of discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin and familial status including, but not limited to, quoting different rental rates to African-American, Hispanic and Caucasian testers, discouraging African-Americans, Hispanics and families with children from renting at Summerhill Place Apartments and making statements indicating discrimination against African-Americans.

After testing was conducted, the KCOCR referred the matter to HUD. After an investigation, the Secretary of HUD determined that there was reasonable cause to believe that discriminatory housing practices had occurred and issued a charge of discrimination. The defendants elected to have the matters asserted in the HUD charge heard in federal court.

The DOJ's lawsuit alleges that the defendants engaged in discriminatory housing practices against African-Americans, Hispanics, people from India, and families with children at Summerhill Place Apartments, including:

• Instructing staff to not show vacant apartments in Building 5 or newly renovated apartments to Indians, African-Americans and families with children.

• Failing to inform Indians, African-Americans and families with children of available apartments in Building 5 or available renovated apartments, while showing and informing white prospective tenants without children of such apartments.

• Steering Indian prospective tenants into Buildings 1 through 4 and away from Building 5.

• Discouraging Hispanic prospective tenants from renting apartments by asking Hispanic prospective tenants, but not other prospective tenants, about whether they are legal residents of the United States, whether they have a social security number and, on at least one occasion, instructing a prospective tenant and bilingual employee not to speak Spanish to each other.

• Discouraging African-American prospective tenants from renting apartments by telling African-American prospective tenants, but not others, that there are strict rules on tenant conduct and suggesting they will be evicted if they violate them, telling African-American prospective tenants, but not others, that they should not even bother applying unless they have “pristine credit” or “squeaky clean” credit and, on one occasion, telling an African-American prospective tenant to pull up his pants.

• Discouraging prospective tenants with children from renting by falsely telling them that their children would not be allowed to play anywhere on the complex.

• Discriminating against Indian tenants by not replacing their carpet or their broken appliances, while providing such services to other similarly situated tenants, telling one or more Indian tenants that their children cannot play outside and that they should take them to a park to play, telling Indian tenants to “go back to India” if they cannot learn how to work their appliances and making other derogatory comments to such persons about their national origin.

According to the lawsuit, the conduct set forth above constitutes:

• A refusal to rent, a refusal to negotiate for the rental of, and conduct otherwise making unavailable or denying dwellings to persons because of race, color, national origin and familial status, in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 3604(a);

• Discrimination in the terms, conditions, or privileges, of rental of dwellings on the basis of race, color, national origin and familial status, in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 3604(b);

• Statements of preference or limitation on the basis of race, color, national origin and familial status in connection with the rental of dwellings, in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 3604(c); and

• Misrepresentations regarding the availability of units on the basis of race, color, national origin and familial status, in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 3604(d).

The lawsuit seeks monetary damages for those harmed by the defendants’ actions, civil penalties and a court order barring future discrimination. The complaint is an allegation of unlawful conduct. The allegations must still be proven in court.

As every real estate professional should already know, the Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing based on race, sex, color, national origin, disability, religion and familial status.

Source: U.S. Department of Justice and legal complaint and lawsuit documents (portions of used with the express permission of the DOJ)

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To learn more about fair housing issues (along with a variety of other real estate topics), please visit us at www.123ConEd.com. We are the leading online provider of Michigan real estate continuing education. All of our courses are fully approved and properly certified by the State of Michigan, and are offered online.

Copyright © 123 ConEd LLC 2010. All rights reserved.

Why do real estate professionals need to know about radon? Because radon can build to dangerous levels in some homes, which, in turn, can cause lung cancer after prolonged exposure. Many people wait until they are about to sell their home or buy a new one before they decide to learn more about radon. But real estate professionals who are knowledgeable about radon can properly guide home buyers and sellers by educating them about radon and answering related questions during real estate transactions. Radon can be resolved at a relatively low cost and should not stand in the way of the completion of any real estate transaction. By being knowledgeable and providing information, real estate professionals can minimize the potential for liability and avoid delaying or derailing closings because of radon.

Naturally occurring uranium found in the geology of the State is the prevailing source of radon affecting most of Michigan. According to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, one in eight Michigan homes have the potential of having an elevated indoor radon level, and in some counties more than 40% of the homes would be expected to have a problem. Radon is clearly an issue that real estate professionals should become familiar with to provide better service to their clients and avoid potential liability.

Radon was first recognized as an indoor environmental health concern in the mid-1980s. Radon is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, and radioactive gas produced from the natural decay of uranium, which is found in nearly all soils and rock throughout the United States. Radon gas typically moves up through the ground and into homes through cracks in the foundation, gaps and joints in the building materials, and exposures to the soil. The more uranium found beneath a home, the higher the potential for elevated radon levels within the home constructed upon that soil.

Radon gas is a naturally occurring radioactive gas that is invisible and odorless. It forms from the radioactive decay of small amounts of uranium and thorium naturally present in rocks and soils so some radon exists in all rocks and soils. Because radon is a gas, it can easily move through soil and cracks in building slabs or basement walls and concentrate in a building’s indoor air. The U.S. Surgeon General and the EPA recommend that all homes in the United States be tested for radon.

Radon is a Class A carcinogen, which means it is known to cause cancer in humans. Most people do not know that radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States, resulting in approximately 21,000 lung cancer deaths each year. According to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, more than 600 of those are projected to occur in Michigan. Only smoking causes more lung cancers.

Not everyone who breathes radon will develop lung cancer. Your risk is determined by such things as:

• How much radon is in your indoor environment.
• The amount of time you spend in that indoor environment.
• Whether you smoke or ever have smoked.

The only known health effect of radon is an increased risk of lung cancer, and exposure to elevated radon levels does not result in any warning symptoms like headaches, nausea, fatigue, or skin rashes. The only way to know whether you are being exposed to elevated radon levels is to test your home (and other indoor environments).

The good news is that radon problems can be fixed. Radon reduction systems work and they are not too costly. Some radon reduction systems can reduce radon levels in a home by up to 99%. Even very high levels can be reduced to acceptable levels.

The EPA worked with the United States Geological Survey and the state radon programs throughout the country to develop a “Map of Zones” to help identify areas of the United States with the potential for elevated indoor radon levels. Counties were ranked into one of three categories (Zone 1, Zone 2, or Zone 3, with “1” being higher potential and “3” being lower potential) based on indoor radon measurements (i.e., data from the 1987-88 residential radon survey), geology, aerial radioactivity, soil permeability, and foundation type. The following is the Map of Zones for Michigan:

This Map of Zones was developed to assist national, state, and local organizations in targeting their resources for outreach and education, as well as to assist building code officials in deciding whether radon-resistant features should be incorporated into new construction. This map is not intended to be used to determine if a home in a given zone should be tested for radon. Homes with elevated levels of radon have been found in all three zones. All homes should be tested regardless of geographic location. Important points to note:

• All homes should test for radon, regardless of geographic location or zone designation

• There are many thousands of individual homes with elevated radon levels in Zone 2 and 3. Elevated levels can be found in Zone 2 and Zone 3 counties.

• All users of the map should carefully review the map documentation for information on within-county variations in radon potential and supplement the map with locally available information before making any decisions.

• The map is not to be used in lieu of testing during real estate transactions.

Thus, radon is clearly an issue that Michigan real estate professionals should become familiar with to provide service to their clients and avoid potential liability.

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We offer online real estate continuing education to Michigan agents and brokers. We offer numerous different course titles on our easy to use and easy to navigate website (www.123ConEd.com). All of our courses have been approved and certified by the State of Michigan.

Copyright © 123 ConEd LLC 2010. All rights reserved.