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 2019-2020

Between July 1, 2019 and June 30, 2020, Fair Housing Advocates of Northern California provided counseling or education to 2,782 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. 

annual_report_fy19-20_final_v5__2_.pdf
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Overview
​Of the fair housing clients assisted by FHANC last year, 94% of clients were extremely low, very low, or low income. In addition, 27% were Latinx, 13% of whom spoke no English, and 20% were Black/African-American. 
 
Federal Protections:

• 360 complaints related to disability
• 48 complaints of race discrimination
• 41 complaints of national origin discrimination
• 54 complaints of gender discrimination
• 33 complaints of familial status discrimination
• 9 complaints of religious discrimination
• 1 complaints of color discrimination

State Protections:

• 10 complaints of age discrimination
• 29 complaints of source of income discrimination
• 9 complaints of marital status discrimination
• 5 complaints of sexual orientation discrimination
• 2 complaints of immigration status discrimination
• 3 complaints of arbitrary characteristic discrimination

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

By The Numbers​

• 1,878 clients served (tenants, homeowners, and homebuyers)
• 507 fair housing rental cases
• 52 reasonable accommodations granted out of 64 requests made
• 9 reasonable modifications requests funded to improve accessibility for people with disabilities
• 10 administrative fair housing complaints filed with the Department of Housing and Urban Development and Department of Fair Employment and Housing
• 98 events attended by staff for networking purposes and to affirmatively further fair housing
• 74 distressed homeowners counseled
• $18,587 garnered in settlements for clients and FHANC
• 179 prospective homebuyers educated
• 209 housing providers, tenants and staff from service agencies reached through fair housing presentations
• Over 200 community members attended the fair housing conference series online
• 4,837 pieces of literature distributed
• 150 children participated in annual Fair Housing School Programs
• $26,940 in modification funds awarded to make homes accessible to 11 households

FHANC Success Stories & Testimonials

What Our Clients Say:

• "Excellent workshop. Everything was very helpful. I especially appreciated the interactive activities and all the presentations. Very informative and enjoyable program."
  - attendee from the Pre-purchase certification workshop

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• "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 assisted a disabled Hispanic single mother who alleged that her property manager sexually harassed her and that management - a large affordable housing provider - did not take prompt action to respond to her complaints. She first made complaints to management about his abusive behavior, noting that she was not the only victim, yet they did not properly investigate. The issue became exacerbated by the fact that she was a Spanish speaker. Ultimately, management transferred him to another property, and later terminated his employment, as well as her tenancy.
  
  FHANC filed two housing discrimination complaints with HUD, one on behalf of the agency and another on behalf of the individual complainant. The complaints were filed in late 2019 and settled in October 2020 for monetary compensation for the client and the agency totaling $13,000. Additionally, management agreed to: 1) to review/revise their policies regarding and responding to and investigating claims of potential sexual harassment of tenants or applicants, 

• FHANC assisted a physically disabled senior citizen with a HUD complaint after her reasonable accommodation request was unlawfully denied. The client lives with a mobility impairment that prevents her from walking up stairs, requiring the use of a chairlift to access her apartment in Tiburon. 
  
  The client was unable to walk the flight of stairs to her apartment or use the chairlift by herself; as a result, she could not live an independent life because of the nature of her disability and the impediments of her housing. This left her isolated and confined to her home. 
  
  When she found out about a vacant unit that was perfect for her needs, she contacted her landlord immediately, explaining her disability-related need for a transfer to the open unit. While the landlord initially agreed, they later reneged, stating that the unit had been rented to a new applicant. 
  
  FHANC intervened on her behalf but the landlord refused to negotiate in any way or try to rectify their error. While they informed her of future vacancies, none met her needs. FHANC represented the client in a HUD complaint that was transferred to DFEH, where it settled with favorable terms for the client. She was awarded one month of free rent, a covered flat parking space, and a transfer to a new accessible unit. The landlord also agreed to change their policies about reasonable accommodation requests, with particular focus on requests to transfer units because of a disability. They also agreed to pay FHANC to provide fair housing training. 
  
  This outcome helped the client directly and led to policy changes that will help future tenants and applicants.