Help Filing A Fair Housing Complaint
If you believe you were a victim of housing discrimination, you have a right to file a housing discrimination complaint with the Pathways to Success Office. If you want to speak with our Fair Housing Facilitator: call 302-858-4861 or email fairhousing@pathways-2-success.org.
If you believe your rights have been violated, we encourage you to submit a complaint form.
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Types of Complaints Investigated by Fair Housing Equal Opportunity
Common Questions
Q: How Long Do I Have to File a Fair Housing Complaint?
If you are filing through HUD, then Fair housing complaints must be filed within one year of the time the last discriminatory offense took place. If you are filing a complaint with your local court jurisdiction, then local laws apply and the time to file a complaint may vary. The Delaware Division of Human Relations requires that you complete their Equal Accommodations (EA) Intake Questionnaire within 90 days of the alleged offense.
Q: How Long Does the Fair Housing Complaint Process Take?
As soon as your Fair Housing complaint is received, an intake specialist will begin reviewing your case and all the information provided. The person who filed the complaint will be contacted for an initial interview, which usually occurs by phone. Since each complaint is handled on a case by case basis, there is no guarantee to how long your complaint investigation will take. However, most cases are handled quickly and can be resolved within a few months.
Q: What Do I Need to File a Fair Housing Complaint?
You will need to provide information about the incidents in which you were discriminated against. Please try to provide: the dates the alleged interactions occurred, who was involved, the location, and any witnesses who were present, anyone who may have relevant information to the situation, and any documents that are relevant to the offense.
How We Help You
Pathways to Success is dedicated to helping you with your Fair Housing needs every step of the way. Besides teaching you about your Fair Housing rights, we are also ready to help answer any question and guide you through the process of filling out a Fair Housing complaint form.
For most of your Fair Housing complaint questions, we are just a phone call away. Give us a call at (302) 858-4861. We can answer all of your Fair Housing-related questions, walk you through the process of filing a Fair Housing complaint online, and give you advice on what you should do if you or someone you know is a victim of housing discrimination. If we are not available right away to take your call, just leave us a message and we will promptly return your call.
If you prefer to meet in person, no worries, you can visit us at our location in Georgetown, Delaware. We are located on the Georgetown Circle, and are open Monday – Friday from 9 am to 5 pm. We ask that you please give us a call first to schedule an appointment. We will listen to you and help walk you through the Fair Housing complaint process while in our office, so you will be assured that it was done correctly.
Since we are partnered with HUD in Sussex County, come to us if you would like to check the status of your current Fair Housing complaint, or if you need to submit documentation.
Your Delaware Fair Housing Rights
Any resident in the state of Delaware has to right to the pursuit of housing, free from discrimination. Whether it is based on your age, creed, religion, disability, family status, marital status, national origin, race, gender, sexual identity, or source of income, Federal and Delaware law make it illegal for a housing provider to discriminate against you.
Sadly, these protections still don’t stop many people from being discriminated against. That’s why Pathways to Success partners with federal agencies, like HUD and the State of Delaware Division of Human Relations, to help keep you protected in the community. We provide fair housing training, and if you believe you have been discriminated against, we help you file all the necessary paperwork so your voice can be heard.
Fair Housing Discrimination Examples
You may think that discrimination is obviously easy to spot. That’s not always the case. If it was, we would never have to investigate fair housing complaints because the evidence would always be right in front of us.
Because life isn’t simple, neither are the circumstances we encounter along the way. Housing discrimination is not always easy to identify, and therefore, it is important for everyone to be educated on federal and local housing laws.
Below are some real-world fair housing discrimination examples that are outlawed by the FHA. Some are easy to spot, and others might just surprise you.
- Your calls with a potential landlord are going well and they seem very interested in renting you an open unit. They agree for you to come in for an interview, but when they see you in person, they suddenly change their mind and tell you they’ll let you know when something opens up. Even though they still list open units, you have yet to receive a call. This is most likely the landlord discriminating against you.
- You want to move into a new apartment with your family. You really like the view from the second story units and ask if you could get one of those. The salesperson looks at your children and tells you that the neighbors here prefer the quiet, so you should take a ground floor unit. This is a discrimination of familial status.
- Your realtor is showing you around to different houses you are interested in. One house, in particular, you want to see, but the realtor informs you that you probably won’t like that neighborhood. You realized that the realtor is trying to prevent you from buying a house in that neighborhood.
- You now require a service dog because of a recent disability. Your landlord says there is a fee for keeping pets in the apartments and adds it to your monthly rent. You really need your service animal, so you agree to pay the extra fee. This is a form of disability discrimination.
- Your spouse’s parents from outside the U.S. have come to Delaware to live with you. You need a bigger house and decide to buy a new one. The realtor shows you one house in particular and says that it is perfect for you because there are plenty of neighbors just like your parents, so they would fit in perfectly. This is a discrimination of national origin.
If you believe you have also been discriminated against while seeking housing, then please fill out a complaint form. If you need help completing the form, or have any questions, please contact us.
Visit HUD.GOV for more examples of fair housing discrimination.