Putnam: 'No foreigners' sign in Mason home sale violates fair housing laws, state says
MASON – “Foreigners” shouldn’t bother trying to buy James Prater’s house in the Mason subdivision of Coventry Woods.
That’s the toxic message Prater delivers amid a pretty flower bed in his front yard. “For Sale by Owner” is next to “Terms No foreigners Iraq vet.”
Are those five words illegal discrimination or Prater’s right to express himself on his own property?
The Michigan Department of Civil Rights said, in response to questions from the Lansing State Journal, that it violates state and federal laws. The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits “any notice, statement or advertisement” in real estate transactions that discriminate based on national origin. Michigan's Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act has similar protections, said Vicki Levengood, the department spokeswoman.
Read more: http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/opinion/columnists/judy-putnam/2017/08/04/fair-housing-iraq-war-veteran-mason/539322001/
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