Chapter 356

2012 -- S 2052 SUBSTITUTE B

Enacted 06/20/12

 

A N A C T

RELATING TO PROPERTY - RHODE ISLAND FAIR HOUSING PRACTICES ACT

          

     Introduced By: Senators Tassoni, Lynch, Jabour, Doyle, and DeVall

     Date Introduced: January 11, 2012

 

It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

 

     SECTION 1. Title 34 of the General Laws entitled "Property" is hereby amended by

adding thereto the following chapter:

 

CHAPTER 37.1

HOMELESS BILL OF RIGHTS

 

     34-37.1-1. Short title. This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Homeless

Bill of Rights.”

 

     34-37.1-2. Legislative intent. (1) At the present time, many persons have been

rendered homeless as a result of economic hardship, a severe shortage of safe, affordable housing,

and a shrinking social safety net.

     (2) Article 1, Section 2 of the Rhode Island State Constitution states in part, that “All free

governments are instituted for the protection, safety, and happiness of the people. All laws,

therefore, should be made for the good of the whole; and the burdens of the state ought to be

fairly distributed among its citizens. No person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property

without due process of law, nor shall any person be denied equal protection of the laws.”

     (3) Concordant with this fundamental belief, no person should suffer unnecessarily or be

subject to unfair discrimination based on his or her homeless status. It is the intent of this chapter

to ameliorate the adverse effects visited upon individuals and our communities when the state’s

residents lack a home.

 

     34-37.1-3. Bill of Rights. No person’s rights, privileges, or access to public services

may be denied or abridged solely because he or she is homeless. Such a person shall be granted

the same rights and privileges as any other resident of this state. A person experiencing

homelessness:

     (1) Has the right to use and move freely in public spaces, including, but not limited to,

public sidewalks, public parks, public transportation and public buildings, in the same manner as

any other person, and without discrimination on the basis of his or her housing status;

     (2) Has the right to equal treatment by all state and municipal agencies, without

discrimination on the basis of housing status;

     (3) Has the right not to face discrimination while seeking or maintaining employment due

to his or her lack of permanent mailing address, or his or her mailing address being that of a

shelter or social service provider;

     (4) Has the right to emergency medical care free from discrimination based on his or her

housing status;

     (5) Has the right to vote, register to vote, and receive documentation necessary to prove

identity for voting without discrimination due to his or her housing status;

     (6) Has the right to protection from disclosure of his or her records and information

provided to homeless shelters and service providers to state, municipal and private entities

without appropriate legal authority; and the right to confidentiality of personal records and

information in accordance with all limitations on disclosure established by the Federal Homeless

Management Information Systems, the Federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability

Act, and the Federal Violence Against Women Act; and

     (7) Has the right to a reasonable expectation of privacy in his or her personal property to

the same extent as personal property in a permanent residence.

 

     34-37.1-4. Damages and attorneys’ fees. In any civil action alleging a violation of this

chapter, the court may award appropriate injunctive and declaratory relief, actual damages, and

reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs to a prevailing plaintiff.

 

     34-37.1-5. Definitions. For purposes of this chapter, “housing status” shall have the

same meaning as that contained in section 34-37-3.

 

     SECTION 2. Sections 34-37-1 and 34-37-3 of the General Laws in Chapter 34-37

entitled "Rhode Island Fair Housing Practices Act" are hereby amended to read as follows:

 

     34-37-1. Finding and declaration of policy. -- (a) In the State of Rhode Island and

Providence Plantations, hereinafter referred to as the state, many people are denied equal

opportunity in obtaining housing accommodations and are forced to live in circumscribed areas

because of discriminatory housing practices based upon race, color, religion, sex, sexual

orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, country of ancestral origin, disability,

age, familial status, or on the basis that a tenant or applicant, or a member of the household, is or

has been, or is threatened with being, the victim of domestic abuse, or that the tenant or applicant

has obtained, or sought, or is seeking, relief from any court in the form of a restraining order for

protection from domestic abuse. These practices tend unjustly to condemn large groups of

inhabitants to dwell in segregated districts or under depressed living conditions in crowded,

unsanitary, substandard, and unhealthful accommodations. These conditions breed intergroup

tension as well as vice, disease, juvenile delinquency, and crime; increase the fire hazard;

endanger the public health; jeopardize the public safety, general welfare and good order of the

entire state; and impose substantial burdens on the public revenues for the abatement and relief of

conditions so created. These discriminatory and segregative housing practices are inimical to and

subvert the basic principles upon which the colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations

was founded and upon which the state and the United States were later established.

Discrimination and segregation in housing tend to result in segregation in our public schools and

other public facilities, which is contrary to the policy of the state and the constitution of the

United States. Further, discrimination and segregation in housing adversely affect urban renewal

programs and the growth, progress, and prosperity of the state. In order to aid in the correction of

these evils, it is necessary to safeguard the right of all individuals to equal opportunity in

obtaining housing accommodations free of discrimination.

      (b) It is hereby declared to be the policy of the state to assure to all individuals regardless

of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status,

country of ancestral origin, or disability, age, familial status, housing status, or those tenants or

applicants, or members of a household, who are, or have been, or are threatened with being, the

victims of domestic abuse, or those tenants or applicants who have obtained, or sought, or are

seeking, relief from any court in the form of a restraining order for protection from domestic

abuse, equal opportunity to live in decent, safe, sanitary, and healthful accommodations anywhere

within the state in order that the peace, health, safety, and general welfare of all the inhabitants of

the state may be protected and insured.

      (c) The practice of discrimination in rental housing based on the potential or actual

tenancy of a person with a minor child, or on the basis that a tenant or applicant, or a member of

the household, is or has been or is threatened with being, the victim of domestic abuse, or that the

tenant or applicant has obtained, or sought, or is seeking, relief from any court in the form of a

restraining order for protection from domestic abuse is declared to be against public policy.

      (d) This chapter shall be deemed an exercise of the police power of the state for the

protection of the public welfare, prosperity, health, and peace of the people of the state.

      (e) Nothing in this section shall prevent a landlord from proceeding with eviction action

against a tenant who fails to comply with section 34-18-24(7).

 

     34-37-3. Definitions. -- When used in this chapter:

      (1) "Age" means anyone over the age of eighteen (18).

      (2) "Commission" means the Rhode Island commission for human rights created by

section 28-5-8.

      (3) "Disability" means a disability as defined in section 42-87-1.

      Provided further that the term "disability" does not include current, illegal use of or

addiction to a controlled substance, as defined in 21 U.S.C. section 802.

      (4) "Discriminate" includes segregate, separate, or otherwise differentiate between or

among individuals because of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or

expression, marital status, country of ancestral origin, disability, age, housing status, or familial

status or because of the race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression,

marital status, country of ancestral origin, disability, age, housing status, or familial status of any

person with whom they are or may wish to be associated.

      (5) The term "domestic abuse" for the purposes of this chapter shall have the same

meaning as that set forth in section 15-15-1, and include all forms of domestic violence as set

forth in section 12-29-2, except that the domestic abuse need not involve a minor or parties with

minor children.

      (6) (i) "Familial status" means one or more individuals who have not attained the age of

eighteen (18) years being domiciled with:

      (A) A parent or another person having legal custody of the individual or individuals; or

      (B) The designee of the parent or other person having the custody, with the written

permission of the parent or other person provided that if the individual is not a relative or legal

dependent of the designee, that the individual shall have been domiciled with the designee for at

least six (6) months.

      (ii) The protections afforded against discrimination on the basis of familial status shall

apply to any person who is pregnant or is in the process of securing legal custody of any

individual who has not attained the age of eighteen (18) years.

      (7) The terms, as used regarding persons with disabilities, "auxiliary aids and services,"

"reasonable accommodation," and "reasonable modifications" have the same meaning as those

terms are defined in section 42-87-1.1.

      (8) The term "gender identity or expression" includes a person's actual or perceived

gender, as well as a person's gender identity, gender-related self image, gender-related

appearance, or gender-related expression; whether or not that gender identity, gender-related self

image, gender-related appearance, or gender-related expression is different from that traditionally

associated with the person's sex at birth.

      (9) "Housing accommodation" includes any building or structure or portion of any

building or structure, or any parcel of land, developed or undeveloped, which is occupied or is

intended, designed, or arranged to be occupied, or to be developed for occupancy, as the home or

residence of one or more persons.

      (10) "Otherwise qualified" includes any person with a disability who with respect to the

rental of property, personally or with assistance arranged by the person with a disability, is

capable of performing all the responsibilities of a tenant as contained in section 34-18-24.

      (11) "Owner" includes any person having the right to sell, rent, lease, or manage a

housing accommodation.

      (12) "Person" includes one or more individuals, partnerships, associations, organizations,

corporations, labor organizations, mutual companies, joint stock companies, trusts, receivers,

legal representatives, trustees, other fiduciaries, or real estate brokers or real estate salespersons

as defined in chapter 20.5 of title 5.

      (13) "Senior citizen" means a person sixty-two (62) years of age or older.

      (14) The term "sexual orientation" means having or being perceived as having an

orientation for heterosexuality, bisexuality, or homosexuality. This definition is intended to

describe the status of persons and does not render lawful any conduct prohibited by the criminal

laws of this state nor impose any duty on a religious organization. This definition does not confer

legislative approval of said status, but is intended to assure the basic human rights of persons to

hold and convey property and to give and obtain credit, regardless of such status.

      (15) The term "victim" means a family or household member and all other persons

contained within the definition of those terms as defined in section 12-29-2.

     (16) The term “housing status” means the status of having or not having a fixed or regular

residence, including the status of living on the streets or in a homeless shelter or similar

temporary residence.

     

     SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage.

     

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LC00059/SUB B

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