Sacramento Self Help Housing collaborates with Project Sentinel, Legal Services of Northern California (LSNC), and California Apartment Association (CAA) to provide telephone counseling and dispute resolution services for Unincorporated Sacramento County, City of Sacramento, Rancho Cordova, Elk Grove, and Citrus Heights residents.
The Tenant Advisors will deal directly with concerns regarding landlord-tenant disputes and help refer fair housing issues to the appropriate agency.
Renters Helpline is open 8:30am-5:00pm, Monday-Friday: 916-389-7877
More information can be found on their website here: www.rentershelpline.org
Submit a housing concern here to contact Renters Helpline: www.rentershelpline.org/en/contact-us.html
UPDATE: Tennant Protection Program - 3/2021
The Sacramento Self Help Housing is partnering with the City of Sacramento to assist with implementing the city’s Tenant Protection and Relief Act ordinance (Sacramento City Code 5.156) and AB COVID-19 Tenant Relief Act of 2020. SSHH will provide complaint referral and information service to City of Sacramento resident renters and rental housing owners to educate them on the Tenant Protection and Relief Act, provide options for dispute resolution, screen for possible violations and provide appropriate referrals. The collaborative partnership between the City and SSHH team will promote public awareness of ordinance, prohibit rent gouging, limit annual rent increases, and address other violations of the ordinance.
In April of 1968, just a week after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., Congress passed the federal Fair Housing Act (FHA), which made it illegal to discriminate against people in the sale or rental of housing on the basis of race, color, religion, sex and national origin. In 1988, the Fair Housing Amendments Act became law, adding protections based on disability and familial status.
Since 1963, California has also prohibited certain types of discrimination in housing. Today, these laws are known as the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) and the Unruh Civil Rights Act. In addition to those characteristics listed under federal law, California bans housing discrimination based on marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, ancestry, age, source of income and arbitrary characteristics.
The important thing to note about federal and state Fair Housing laws is that they only prohibit discrimination based on a protected characteristic. A bank can deny you a mortgage because you have poor credit, or a housing provider can refuse to rent to you because you are low-income, or have an eviction on your record. These things may not be fair, but they aren’t illegal. To violate the law, a housing provider must treat you differently because of a protected characteristic. For example, it would be a violation of the law if you were denied a mortgage because of race, or denied a rental unit because you have children. There must be a connection between the negative treatment and one of the listed characteristics.