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Discrimination is the action of isolating and treating differently certain individuals or a whole group compared to others.
The right to housing for all is a basic right. Discriminations with housing relate to inequalities of access to the social housing as with the private park. It can be a question:
- of hiring or refusal to sell;
- requirement of additional financial guarantees for the foreign candidates;
- of an unjustified refusal to take into account a request for social housing;
- not-restitution without valid reason for the deposit…
A housing cannot you are refused owing to the fact that you are a foreigner in regular situation on the French territory, a young person, a woman alone with dependant children, a handicapped or homosexual person…
New provisions
Refusal of hiring: article 158 of the law 2002-73 (law of social modernization):
“No person can see herself refusing the hiring of a housing because of her origin, her patronymic, her physical appearance, her sex, her family circumstances, her health condition, her handicap, her manners, her sexual orientation, her political opinions, her trade-union activities or her membership or her not-membership true or supposed with an ethnos group, a nation, a race or a given religion”.
The refusal by an owner to rent a house can be carried in front of the courts. It is frequent that a candidate be refused the hiring of housing under various pretexts, dissimulating a reason related to the health condition, the ethnic group or the family circumstances of a person.
The financial backer cannot require any more, before the signature of, the presentation leasing agreement of the following documents: chart of member of National Insurance Scheme, copies bank statement, certificate of good behaviour of the accounts, certificate of the preceding financial backer, marriage contract, certificate of cohabitation, a check of reservation of housing, extract of the police records, passport photograph, indeed, the owner does not have the right to claim you photograph of identity (art.22-2 of the law n°89-462 of July 6th, 1989)…
Provisions of the law n° 2007-290 of March 5th, 2007 aim at facilitating the access to rental housing. A list of the supporting documents that a financial backer cannot ask the candidates tenants was drawn up. In form part, the certificates of absence of appropriations in progress or the authorizations of direct debit.
The refusal to rent should not be founded on the civil statue of the tenant. The financial backer cannot either refuse the guarantee of a person who resides abroad or who does not have French nationality.
If you are handicapped
The policy with regard to the autonomy of the handicapped people passes by an adaptation of the residences and the accessibility of the buildings. The access to the housing social, HLM, from now on is made priority for the handicapped people or the families having to their load a person with a handicap.
The law prevents an owner to make a distinction against a handicapped, physical or mental person.
An owner does not have the right to ask you questions about your incapacity or to ask for the proof of your incapacity to you.
An owner must satisfy the needs for a handicapped person, with his expenses.
This can include:
- installation of a slope for the access of wheel chair;
- kitchen modified by installing more accessible and surer apparatuses.
What does the law say?
In the event of litigation, the business is competence of the magistrates' court. The person has who it hiring was refused will have to present to the judge elements in fact letting suppose the existence of a direct or indirect discrimination (testimonies, phone conversation, correspondences…). It is up to the financial backer to bring the proof that its refusal was justified. The judge will be able to prescribe all measurements which it considers useful and to order the payment of damages to the candidate injured tenant.
What are the remedies?
- you can seize the High authority of fight against discriminations and for the equality (Dump);
- contact an defence association of the rights of the tenants, which will assist you in your steps;
- you can to also address you to your departmental agency for information on the housing (ADIL) which will be able to inform you and to be directed;
- to consult a lawyer.
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