Fair Housing
No violations of federal or State fair housing law have been documented in the Town but the fact that discrimination has been documented in other Marin County communities suggests that there may be unreported instances of housing discrimination in Fairfax, such as discrimination against renters because of their source of income or the presence of children. To help ensure all households have equal opportunity to live in the town regardless of their ethnicity, race, household composition, or source of income, the Town is taking steps to educate property owners, staff members, current residents, and those seeking housing in Fairfax of their rights and responsibilities.
Signs of Possible Housing Discrimination
- You are denied housing or harassed in your current home because you are a member of a class protected under fair housing law
- You are treated worse than other tenants due to your race or the race of your guests.
- You are charged a higher security deposit because you have children, or you are steered to certain parts of a complex.
- You are asked for a green card when applying for an apartment because of your perceived nationality
- Your prospective landlord tells you she/he doesn’t allow more than 3 people in a two‐ bedroom unit.
- You have a disability and are denied a request for a reasonable accommodation to have an emotional support/service animal.
- You experience sexual harassment from your landlord or his/her staff.
- You experience domestic violence and your landlord asks you to move out for causing a disturbance.
Fair Housing Services
Fair housing services ensure that housing options are accessible to State and federally protected groups, including those based on race, color, gender, religion, national origin, familial status, disability, age, marital status, ancestry, source of income, sexual orientation, genetic information, or other arbitrary factors.
Fair Housing Advocates of Northern California (FHANC)
FHANC provides varying levels of fair housing services and mortgage foreclosure prevention services as well as advisory and training services in Marin, Sonoma (except the city of Petaluma), Solano, and other counties.
- For Renters: Intake, fair housing counseling, investigation, mediation, and assistance in filing complaints; assistance with reasonable accommodation requests for people with disabilities; complaint‐based fair housing testing
- For Homeowners: Foreclosure prevention, education, and counseling
- For Homebuyers: Pre‐purchase education and counseling
- For Housing Industry: Fair Housing training, conferences, and resources
- For Community: Fair housing education and training, Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing and affordable housing advocacy, and systemic investigations of discrimination
If you would like information about FHANC Education programs, including:
Introduction to Homebuying/Pre-purchase or Foreclosure Prevention workshops,
please contact Adriana Ames.
To receive services from FHANC, use the Online Intake Form
Legal Aid Marin
Legal Aid Marin provides high quality legal representation and advocacy, information, referral, advice, community education, and other assistance to low-income and senior residents of Marin County. In particular, Legal Aid of Marin seeks to assist Marin County's most vulnerable residents, particularly with problems related to housing, employment, child dependency, domestic violence prevention, and debtor rights. Their services include:
- Eviction defense
- Habitability complaints
- Tenant organizing (Tenant Associations) and education
- Security deposit recovery
- Homelessness prevention
If you would like to make an appointment, use this Online Intake Form.
Marin County Fair Housing Services
Racially Restrictive Covenant Disavowal
The Marin County Recorder’s office is taking a proactive approach to locating and reviewing recorded restrictions and may have already located and reviewed those for your neighborhood. As of July 2022, if Recorder’s staff, employees of a title or escrow company, real estate brokers or agents have knowledge that a recorded document includes unlawfully restrictive covenants that are in violation of Section 12955 of the California Civil Code, that person or agency shall prepare a Restrictive Covenant Modification Form for recording that includes a copy of the original document with the illegal language stricken. The modification must be reviewed and approved by a deputy from the Marin County Counsel’s office prior to recording.