Fair Housing

Bowing to complaints from mental health workers and patients, fairgrounds officials have removed the "insane asylum" portion of the Scream Zone haunted house. Del Mar Fairgrounds spokesman Steve Fiebing said he received about two dozen phone calls and e-mails from people who said the psychotic patient character in the annual Halloween display was demeaning and offensive.

In issuing a preliminary injunction barring real estate magnate Donald Sterling from using "Korean" in the names of his apartment buildings, U.S. District Judge A. Howard Matz sent an unambiguous message to landlords regionwide: Housing discrimination, however subliminal, will not be tolerated. Sterling, better known as the owner of pro basketball's Los Angeles Clippers, owns about 100 apartment buildings in Southern California.

Question: The owner of the rental property I manage wants to add a rental agreement clause requiring the tenants to be responsible for plumbing repairs regardless of the cause. I thought repairs were the responsibility of the landlord. Am I right? Answer: State of California Civil Code 1941.1 and the Uniform Housing Code specify the repairs for which a property owner is responsible. Operable plumbing is one of the required standards.

Linda Gagne and her husband, Alfred, thought they had found the perfect apartment in San Bruno, Calif. But when the couple met the landlord, she took one look at Gagne's guide dog and said she would not rent to them because of a strict no-pets policy. Gagne explained that her guide dog was not a pet, but a companion trained to assist her because she is blind. When the landlord still refused, Gagne decided to file a housing discrimination complaint.

Question: I've decided to sell the rental house I own. The tenants have a lease that will not expire for nine months. In exchange for a rent reduction, they have agreed to be flexible and allow the real estate agent to show the property with little or no advance notice. Can the tenants be required to move after the property is sold?

Question: My 10-year-old granddaughter must stay with me for a few months while her parents work out their marital problems. The mobile home park manager said that since the park is an adults-only park, she could not stay more than 10 days. If she stayed longer, I would be served a three-day notice to move because no one under the age of 18 is allowed. He said this was part of the "child visitation policy" at the park, which could not be amended. I don't want to lose my housing.

The plight of a mixed-race couple who were turned away from buying a house in this small desert town will come before the Supreme Court this week in a case that will decide who can be held liable for blatant racial discrimination in real estate sales. At issue is whether brokers and supervisors can be sued if an agent discriminates against a potential buyer. Realtors are urging the court to strictly limit the reach of the Fair Housing Act.

Question: I recently tried to place a newspaper ad to rent a room in my home. I would like to specify in the ad that I only want a Cantonese-speaking tenant. Is it permissible to limit consideration of potential tenants this way? Answer: The answer depends on the reason why you want to limit your ad to Cantonese-speaking applicants. Many readers would interpret such a limitation as excluding anyone who is not Chinese.

The Los Angeles County Community Development Commission will conduct five community meetings to receive comments from the public on fair housing issues. The meetings will be Thursday, 5:30-7:30 p.m., A.C. Bilbrew Library Meeting Room, 150 E. El Segundo Blvd., L.A.; Nov. 18, 6-8 p.m., South Whittier Resource Center Community Hall, 10750 Laurel Ave., Whittier; Nov. 20, 6-8 p.m., East Los Angeles Services Center, Room 109, 133 N. Sunol Drive, L.A.; Nov. 21, 6-8 p.m.

Question: The resident manager at my apartment complex is very slow at scheduling repairs. I've asked for the name and telephone number of the property owner, but she will not give it to me. What can I do? Answer: As long as there is a manager on the premises, there is no legal requirement for the manager to reveal the name and/or telephone number of a property owner.