Staff in Charlottesville’s Office of Human Rights will soon have more power to investigate claims of wrongdoing by those who rent property to others in the city.
“It’s been a goal for years and is obviously extremely positive to see get done and hopefully we’ll scare abusive landlords that it is going to be harder for them to get away with discrimination because there is another body to investigate discrimination,” said City Councilor Michael Payne.
City Council has agreed to amendments to the Human Rights Ordinance that would direct its employees in that office to set up a procedure “for receiving and processing individual inquiries that allege an unlawful, discriminatory housing practice within the jurisdiction of the City.”
The amendments bring the city up to compliance with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Fair Housing Assistance Program to allow city investigators to conduct work on behalf of the federal government.
If staff deems a person’s inquiry is valid, then the aggrieved party would be authorized to file an official complaint. In addition, the Human Rights Commission by majority vote could request staff “to file a complaint of an identified systemic, discriminatory housing practice despite there being no named complainant, but factual evidence exists to support a prima facie case of practice to have occurred.”
New language would also authorize investigations to take place under federal code and under oath. If a party being investigated refuses, the Office of Human Rights would ask the City Attorney to petition a court for subpoena power. The ordinance language states clearly that neither the Human Rights Commission nor the Office of Human Rights have the actual power themselves.
Council heard the first reading of the amendments on July 15. To qualify for the workshare, a submission must be made to the U.S. Housing and Urban Development by August 15. The department will make its decision on whether to proceed around October 1.
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