The Fair Housing Center receives complaints of housing discrimination. A complaint may be made by any person who believes they have been discriminated against. A complaint also can be made by someone else on that person’s behalf. Additionally, the Center accepts anonymous reports of suspected discrimination. We also assist complainants with disabilities in making requests for reasonable accommodations and reasonable modifications.

Many people are afraid to make a housing discrimination complaint for fear of retaliation or eviction. If complaints are not made, housing discrimination will not stop. It is unlawful for any housing provider or individual to retaliate against you because you made a housing discrimination complaint or assisted someone else in making a housing discrimination complaint. If retaliation occurs, you should call or email our office immediately.

The Center, as necessary, conducts its own investigation of the complaint. To assist the Center, you need to provide us copies of all records, emails, text messages, pictures, recordings, videos, and other documents relating to your complaint.

The Fair Housing Center provides a broad range of fair housing trainings and webinars, including compliance and best practices. For upcoming trainings and webinars, please see our Events & Trainings page.

Training can prevent most, if not all, fair housing violations. Each year, the Center trains housing providers, management companies, real estate agents and brokers, private, municipal and legal services attorneys, municipalities, tenants, homeowners, and new homebuyers. Our trainings are offered in person and via Zoom

There is no conflict between fair housing compliance and business objectives. We assist housing providers in establishing and maintaining best practices in sales, rental, and management of residential properties. Our training topics keep participants up to date on the current standards, policy statements and guidance, and recent court decisions. The following is a partial list of our trainings:

• Overview of fair housing coverage, including the Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. § 3601 et seq.; the Civil Rights Acts of 1866 & 1870, 42 U.S.C. § 1981 & 42 U.S.C. § 1982; Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. § 794 (Section 504); Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000d et seq; the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. § 12101 (ADA); and other federal, state, and local laws, regulations, ordinances, and policy statements and guidance that pertain to housing.
• Theories of liability, such as disparate treatment, disparate impact, and other theories of liability. 
• Coverage and compliance with Presidential Executive Orders, such as Restoring Equality of Opportunity and Meritocracy (Apr. 23, 2025) (requiring the withdrawal of disparate impact regulations under the FHA, Title VI, and employment discrimination statutes) and Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government (Jan. 20, 2025) (treating “sex” as referring to a person's "immutable biological classification as either male or female" and excluding "the concept of 'gender identity'”), as well as HUD halting the enforcement of the "Equal Access Rule".
• Basics of fair housing enforcement and responsible parties for fair housing violations (direct and vicarious liability).
• Permissible and impermissible housing provider inquiries.
• Use of criminal records, including "fair chance" ordinances.
• Housing for Older Persons Act or "HOPA", including 55+ and 62+ housing facilities and HUD's HOPA Regulations, 24 C.F.R. §§ 100.300 – 100.308.
• Technical overview and analysis of the Fair Housing Act’s (FHA) design and construction requirements, and requirements under Section 504 and the ADA.
• Reasonable accommodations and modifications.
• Protections for the Deaf, Deaf-Blind, and Hard of Hearing communities.
• Emotional support animals, environmental illnesses, and hoarding.
• Veterans and veterans' preferences.
• Source of Income (SOI) coverage (and Michigan's new SOI protections), including common questions, violations, and best practices for compliance.
• Lending discrimination, including discrimination in appraisal practices. 
• Familial status and occupancy limits.
• Medical marijuana.
• National origin and alienage status.
• Affirmatively furthering fair housing (AFFH) requirements.
• Sexual harassment and hostile living environment.
• Racial, ethnic, and religious harassment and hate crimes.
• Limited English proficiency.

On an informal basis, the Center is always available to answer fair housing and general housing-related questions.

The Fair Housing Center also distributes brochures on a variety of fair housing topics. The most common non-English languages in the Center’s service area are Arabic and Spanish. These brochures are available in English, Arabic, and Spanish.

Our brochures include:

• "Your Fair Housing Rights"
• “Fair Housing Guidance for Condominium, Cooperative and Homeowners' Associations"
• "Fair Housing Rights of Persons With Disabilities"
• "Fair Housing Rights of Persons Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing or Who Are Blind or Have Low Vision”
• "Fair Housing Rights of Persons With Disabilities to Reasonable Accommodations for Assistance Animals"
• "Fair Housing for Families With Children"
• “Fair Housing & Occupancy Standards”
• “Fair Housing & Sexual Harassment”
• “Fair Housing & Criminal Records”
• “Source of Income Discrimination”
• “Tenants’ Rights”

Please contact our office if you would like copies of our brochures.

Congress enacted the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program to provide annual grants on a formula basis to states, counties, and cities to develop viable urban communities by providing decent housing and a suitable living environment, and by expanding economic opportunities principally for low- and moderate-income persons.

Section 808(e)(5) of the FHA, 42 U.S.C. § 3608(e)(5), requires the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to “administer the programs and activities relating to housing and urban development in a manner affirmatively to further the policies of [the FHA]”. HUD’s statutory mandate to administer its programs in such a way so as to affirmatively further the policies of FHA is commonly referred to as “AFFH”. 

The Center is available to assist states, counties, and cities in satisfying their AFFH requirements. For example, the Center recently aided in Clinton Township in preparing an Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice. 

The Fair Housing Center holds annual bikeathons to bring attention to the importance of fair housing. The bikeathons are held on the last Saturday in April--to commemorate April as Fair Housing Month.

At our first bikeathon, the bikers went to the Birwood Wall where Professor Gerald Van Dusen elaborated on his widely acclaimed book, Detroit's Birwood Wall: Hatred and Healing in the West Eight Mile Community.  The second bikeathon included brief stops at the Dr. Ossian Sweet House, where the bikers heard a brief, inspiring talk by Daniel A. Baxter, and the Gateway to Freedom: International Memorial to the Underground Railroad, where the riders heard from Kimberly Simmons, the Founder/President of the Detroit River Project. Our third bikeathon included stops at the Virginia Park Community Shopping Plaza, one of the first minority owned and built shopping centers in the nation & first Farmer Jack in Detroit, the Shrine of the Black Madonna, King Solomon Baptist Church, and the Detroit Association of Women’s Club.

The numbers of riders have increased from 40 to 60 in the first two bikeathons to over 100 riders in this year's bikeathon. We have even bigger plans for next year. Next year's bikeathon will be held on Saturday, April 26, 2025.

Even if you do not bike, you are very welcome to join us!

The Fair Housing Center places fair housing advertisements in print and electronic media. These ads inform the public about their fair housing rights.

These ads also encourage victims of discrimination to report fair housing violations. 

The Fair Housing Center has also run billboards to alert the public to fair housing.

Placing billboards on major highways enables the Center to reach thousands of residents in our community who cannot be effectively reached through other outreach efforts.