Who We Serve

FHANC offers fair housing counseling services to homeowners and renters located in the counties of Marin and Sonoma (with the exception of the city of Petaluma), as well as the cities of Fairfield and Vallejo, who have experienced discrimination based on their membership in a protected class. We also offer Foreclosure Prevention and Pre-Purchase Education/Counseling services to homeowners in the Bay Area. 

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FHANC Statistics: Fiscal Year 2018-2019

Between July 1, 2018 and June 30, 2019, Fair Housing Advocates of Northern California provided counseling or education to 4,747 tenants, homeowners, homebuyers, housing providers, children, social service providers and advocates across Marin, Sonoma, and Solano counties, and beyond. Download our Annual Report as a PDF using the link below. 

FHANC Annual Report FY 2018-2019
File Size:	710 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

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* Based on federal and California discrimination protections

Overview
​Of the fair housing clients assisted by FHANC last year, 90% of clients were extremely low, very low, or low income. In addition, 29% were Latinx, 13% of whom spoke no English, and 21% were Black/African-American. 
 
Federal Protections:

• 434 complaints related to disability
  
• 65 complaints of race discrimination
  
• 59 complaints of national origin discrimination
  
• 50 complaints of gender discrimination
  
• 30 complaints of familial status discrimination
  
• 9 complaints of religious discrimination
  
• 2 complaints of color discrimination

State Protections:

• 13 complaints of age discrimination
  
• 13 complaints of source of income discrimination
  
• 9 complaints of marital status discrimination
  
• 8 complaints of sexual orientation discrimination
  
• 2 complaints of immigration status discrimination
  
• 2 complaints of arbitrary characteristic discrimination

 
Please note that some complaints alleged discrimination on the basis of multiple protected classes. 

By The Numbers​

• 1,657 clients served (tenants, homeowners, and homebuyers
• 592 fair housing rental cases
• 89 reasonable accommodations granted out of 97 requests made
• 8 reasonable modifications requests funded to improve accessibility for people with disabilities
• 15 administrative fair housing complaints filed with the Department of Housing and Urban Development and Department of Fair Employment and Housing
• 1 lawsuit filed in federal court
• 51 events attended by staff for networking purposes and to affirmatively further fair housing
• 71 distressed homeowners counseled
• $71,140 garnered in settlements for clients and FHANC
• $228,197 paid to homeowners through Keep Your Home California programs to prevent foreclosure
• 221 prospective homebuyers educated
• 201 housing providers trained
• 379 tenants and staff from service agencies reached through fair housing presentations
• 227 community members attended fair housing conferences
• 4,185 pieces of literature distributed
• 100 children participated in annual Fair Housing School Programs from 10 local schools
• 2,698 children attended 18 Storytelling shows

FHANC Success Stories & Testimonials

What Our Clients Say:

• "Even though I have many health issues, I know I have a bright future! All thanks to people like you who have a beautiful heart. I never forget great human beings...May you always be a blessing to other people and so is the organization. I felt like an actual human being when I was in contact with Fair Housing [Advocates of Northern California]. You all show support and make us feel great. Thank you from the bottom of my heart."                                                        - E.P. (Novato)

 

• "I'm grateful all the issues have been resolved so far, and continue to feel that you and Fair Housing [Advocates] of Northern CA are in some sense my guardian angels!!!                              -A.G. (Santa Rosa)

 

• ​"I was so lucky to have Emily work [on] my case...Unfortunately, I had a super stressful landlord situation, and if it wasn't for her I don't know what I would have done. Thank you for all that you have done to make my living situation better."                                 -K.F. (Santa Rosa)

 

• "Thank you soooooo much for all you did for my daughter and I!! I definitely couldn’t have done anything without your help! You saved me from going to court and you saved my Voucher more than once. You should be proud of all your accomplishments! You worked hard for me... I don’t know what to really say but Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"                                                                        -J.P. (Santa Rosa)

 

• "I appreciate Fair Housing [Advocates] of Northern California for the way they listen and for responding to my plight with understanding and good advisement.  I really appreciate how down to earth the staff are and how they relate to the complexities of harassment.  I found Fair Housing [Advocates] of Northern California right by my side when I had to stand strong in the face of corporate executives who were unresponsive and even though I held my own, [they were] right by my side literally which is something they did not have to do.  I was so glad that they were there for me.  I appreciate Fair Housing of Northern California for their follow-up, they are diligent with the following up with all parties involved and I so appreciate how they keep me in the loop and well-informed.  I appreciate that even though I am going through a crisis they really have my back and the staff are so cool that they don't just turn things around legally but they also turn sadness into laughter, shout out to Emily.  Thank you Fair Housing of Northern California."                         -M.L. (Corte Madera)

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​Client Stories:

• ​​FHANC received a complaint from a Latinx mother who was denied an apartment to rent because the management did not want to rent to a family with a young child on non-ground floor units. While the client was not interested in pursuing her own complaint, she wanted to ensure this experience did not happen to any one else. FHANC conducted multiple investigations, the results of which corroborated the client's allegations. FHANC filed with HUD alleging discrimination based upon familial status, which was successfully conciliated for a number of terms, including a children's play area, significant policy change, fair housing training, posting a HUD familial status poster on the premises, and more. 

 

• FHANC was contacted by an African-American woman who tried to reinstate her own mortgage. FHANC immediately intervened on her behalf with the lender and helped prepare a loan modification packet. The loan modification was approved and her mortgage payment decreased by $419 per month, and the entire delinquency has been deferred.  

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• FHANC and a client each filed a complaint with DFEH following FHANC's investigation into their allegation of discrimination based on national origin/immigration status. It settled for $12,000 in monetary damages, the removal of discriminatory statements from notices advertising vacancies requiring U.S.-based identification, fair housing training on an annual basis for two years for the sum of $1,500, an agreement to list the subject property with Canal Alliance and on tacolist.com, and placement of HUD's fair housing poster in English and Spanish.