Fair Housing

Michigan is now the 23rd state with a law that bars racial discrimination to include discrimination based on hair texture and hairstyles such as braids, locks and twists. Senate Bill 90, also known as the Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair or CROWN Act updates the definition of race in the state’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act to…

On March 16, 2023, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed Public Act 6 of 2023, enacting Senate Bill 4 of the 2023-2024 legislative session and amending the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and/or gender identify or expression. The Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act (“ELCRA” or the “Act”), MCL 37.2101, et seq., prohibits discriminatory practices, policies, and customs based on…

The Fair Housing Act, 42 USC 3601 et seq. (“FHA”), prohibits discrimination in housing based on an individual’s race, color, religion, sex, familial status, or national origin. Persons protected by the Fair Housing Act based on their familial status include: Someone who is younger than 18 years old and lives with either a parent, a person who has legal custody…

School’s out for the summer! For many condominium and homeowners associations with families, the long summer days mean more families and children utilizing recreational facilities and common areas, such as clubhouses and swimming pools. Concerned about the safety of children who use these areas, condominium and homeowners associations may create and enforce rules and regulations designed to protect the children…

The Fair Housing Amendments Act (FHAA) require condominium associations to make reasonable accommodations to disabled co-owners under certain circumstances.  However, condominium associations should keep in mind that co-owners are not entitled to every accommodation that is requested.  Rather, co-owners are only entitled to accommodations that are necessary to ameliorate the effects of a disability as was the case in Phillips…