How To File A Federal Fair Housing Claim

Housing discrimination based on your race, color, national origin, religion, sex, family status, and disability is illegal by federal law. If you believe that you have been discriminated against in the process of trying to rent or buy a home or apartment, you may file a fair housing complaint.

There are several ways to file a complaint.

You can file an immediate complaint with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”), the federal agency which has jurisdiction over matters of fair housing and lending.

To file a complaint, you can call the HUD toll-free number, 1-800-669-9777.
Or you can file your complaint by filling out their online form [http://www.hud.gov/offices/fheo/online-complaint.cfm].

Or you can send a complaint by mail. The HUD website contains the HUD complaint form, and you may wish to accompany your complaint form with a letter. A letter to HUD should including the following information:

• Your name and address
• The name and address of the person your complaint is about
• The address of the house or apartment you were trying to rent or buy
• The date when this incident occurred
• A short description of what happened

The HUD complaint form may be accessed here [http://www.hud.gov/utilities/intercept.cfm?/offices/adm/hudclips/forms/files/903-1.pdf]. Fill it out, and mail it to the address:

Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity
Department of Housing and Urban Development
Room 5204
451 Seventh St. SW
Washington, DC 20410-2000

Not all HUD housing complaints are handled by HUD. Certain states have equivalent housing agencies to which HUD may refer your complaint.

Complaints upheld by FOS doubles in two years

The Herald reports that the proportion of complaints upheld in favour of consumers by the UK Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) has doubled in the past two years.

FOS upheld 61% of banking-related complaints, 41% of mortgage complaints, 70% of general insurance complaints and 42% of investment-related complaints. Five banking groups accounted for 38,286 cases – over half of all the new complaints received by the ombudsman during this six-month period.

The British Bankers Association (BBA) response to this data was to immediately claim this was a great success as this translated to "less than one upheld complaint for every 10,000 products you can get from your bank".

Of course this may provide little comfort to the 38,286 bank customers who complained to the FOS in the last six months; and if FOS is upholding 61% of these complaints, this is compelling evidence that the banks' complaint handling systems are wholly inadequate and in need of reform.

Clearly, the FOS is providing a practical remedy to UK consumers with financial disputes, and if you want information on how to complain to the FOS please visit here. Although, for a critical 'insiders' take on problems with the FOS see here.