The Somerville Fair Housing Commission recently held their regular meeting, largely addressing issues brought before it concerning tenant rights and violations by landlords.

By Yoko Zhu

The Somerville Fair Housing Commission, which advocates for tenant rights and deals with fair housing violations, held their monthly meeting on Thursday, July 27.

The meeting was led by Commissioners Claudia DeAndrade, Patrice Faulkner, Dennis Fischman, Rona Fischman, Janine Lot, and staff member Hanalei Steinhart. Members of the public were invited to participate remotely, which Commissioner Dennis Fischman expressed as the best way to get involved in the Somerville Fair Housing Commission.

Steinhart reviewed three new complaints that Fair Housing received. The first one was on the basis of disability discrimination, involving a tenant who “owns a service dog but was denied an apartment, due to the landlord’s allergy.” However, the landlord “did not live in the unit, would not be spending substantial time in the unit, and has a dog herself.”

The second complaint was on the basis of small children, as this tenant was “working to renew a lease with the landlord. The landlord had extended an invitation to renew. Upon finding out that the tenant was pregnant, the landlord didn’t send over the lease to renew with 11 days left on the lease. The landlord claimed this was because of renovations scheduled to start before they moved out,” Steinhart said in the meeting. “However, those renovations have not been scheduled.”

The third complaint came that morning, regarding a landlord who was engaging in “retaliatory behavior” and “asking tenants for repairs to be made to their unit such as broken stoves or electrical fixtures.”

Concerns of housing discrimination can be submitted to the Fair Housing Commission section on the City of Somerville website (https://www.somervillema.gov/departments/fair-housing-commission).

Additionally, the Fair Housing Commission indicated they had additional questions for the politicians running in the local elections. “The questionnaire would test each of the candidates’ knowledge,” Commissioner Faulkner said. “It’s to see how well they know their district, and also as a form of accountability in regards to their company policies.”

The additional questions proposed to the candidates include: What advice would you give to Somerville residents, who may have been facing discrimination? How do you know that you have addressed and combatted the housing discrimination against protected classes and affirmatively furthering Fair Housing in Somerville?

Furthermore, the meeting also discussed the Anti-Displacement Task Force (ADTF), which was “formed to research and recommend policies to prevent residential displacement,” according to the city website.

The ADTF hosted listening sessions for landlords on July 20 and tenants on July 27. The ADTF is currently researching and collecting ideas from the public. After gathering the necessary information, they will submit a proposal to the city council. 

On Aug 1, a webinar was held on “Coordinated Entry as a Tool for Equity: Training on Fair Housing and Coordinated Entry.”