As an Antioch resident, you have protections against discrimination in the sale or rental of housing, in seeking a mortgage, housing assistance, or in other housing-related activities. The following passage from the Housing and Urban Development Website (HUD) details protected classes of the Fair Housing Act, and a general overview of what constitutes discrimination. For more detailed information on what constitutes discrimination, click on this Fair Housing services info from the HUD Website.

“It is illegal to discriminate in the sale or rental of housing, including against individuals seeking a mortgage or housing assistance, or in other housing-related activities. The Fair Housing Act prohibits this discrimination because of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, and disability. A variety of other federal civil rights laws, including Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act, prohibit discrimination in housing and community development programs and activities, particularly those that are assisted with HUD funding.

These civil rights laws include obligations such as taking reasonable steps to ensure meaningful access to their programs and activities for persons with limited English proficiency (LEP) and taking appropriate steps to ensure effective communication with individuals with disabilities through the provision of appropriate auxiliary aids and services. Various federal fair housing and civil rights laws require HUD and its program participants to affirmatively further the purposes of the Fair Housing Act.”

Fair Housing Services

The City of Antioch contracts with its nonprofit partners, ECHO Housing and Bay Area Legal Aid, to provide services that ensure fair housing rights are upheld for all Antioch residents. These services are funded with City of Antioch Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Funds. These services include investigations and enforcement in response to reports of housing discrimination complaints, as well as independent testing of rental properties for signs of discrimination in rental practices.

If you have experienced or witnessed discrimination based on ​race, color, ancestry, national origin, mental or physical disability, children, national origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, source of income, or any other arbitrary characteristic, please call us at one of ECHO’s program offices.

Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice

Click here to learn what the City of Antioch and all of Contra Costa County is doing to address impediments to Fair Housing.