Fair Housing and Tenant Information
This website provides an overview on fair housing laws, tenant rights, and landlord responsibilities in California.
For more information please view the State of California Housing and Community Development Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Webpage and the Town of Paradise General Plan and Certified Housing Element 2022.
Fair Housing Complaints
The Town of Paradise refers Fair housing complaints to the Legal Services of Northern California, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), or California Civil Rights Department (CRD). For information on fair housing complaints please contact the Legal Services of Northern California, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), or California Civil Rights Department (CRD).
Legal Services of Northern California
541 Normal Avenue
Chico, CA 95928
Housing | Legal Services of Northern California
San Francisco Regional Office of FHEO
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
One Sansome Street Suite 1200
San Francisco, CA 94104
Report Housing Discrimination | HUD.gov / U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
California Civil Rights Department (CRD)
651 Bannon Street, Suite 200
Sacramento, CA 95811
(800) 884-1684 (voice), (800) 700-2320 (TTY) or
California's Relay Service at 711
History
Discriminatory government policies, exclusionary tactics, and disparate treatment have long been key components of the housing system and have which encouraged spatial inequality based on race. For decades, systemic redlining, restrictive covenants in private land sales, and residential segregation restricted many groups, particularly communities of color, from accessing opportunity and meaningful fair housing choice.
To address this, Congress established the Fair Housing Act in 1968 to prohibit discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race, religion, and national origin. Over time the law expanded its protections to include discrimination based on sex, disability, and familial status. The law also introduced the need to go beyond just prohibiting discrimination to instead affirmatively creating real housing choice by affirmatively furthering fair housing.
However, while federal mandates prohibited overt forms of housing discrimination, residential segregation has remained through the use of more subtle, discriminatory methods that reinforce patterns of segregation that persist in California today. AB 686 introduces strong state policy to ameliorate this issue. More background and history can be found in the introductory section of the AFFH Guidance Memo.
The Duty to AFFH
In 2018, the California State Legislature passed AB 686 to expand upon the fair housing requirements and protections outlined in the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). The law:
requires all state and local public agencies to facilitate deliberate action to explicitly address, combat, and relieve disparities resulting from past patterns of segregation to foster more inclusive communities.
creates new requirements that apply to all housing elements due for revision on or after January 1, 2021.
The passage of AB 686 protects the requirement to affirmatively further fair housing within California state law, regardless of future federal actions. It also preserves the strong policy in the U.S. Department of Housing and Community Development’s (HUD) Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Rule as published in the Federal Register in 2015.
As of January 1, 2019, AB 686 proactively applies the obligation to affirmatively further fair housing to all public agencies in California. Public agencies must now examine existing and future policies, plans, programs, rules, practices, and related activities and make proactive changes to promote more inclusive communities. More information on AB 686’s new obligations can be found in Part 1 of the AFFH Guidance Memo.
Changes to Housing Element Law Under AB 686
AB 686 creates new requirements for all housing elements due to be revised on or after January 1, 2021. These requirements ensure that the obligation to affirmatively further fair housing is a part of a jurisdiction’s planning process and guiding documents for community development. Amongst other clarifications, AB 1304 further clarified that the Housing Element analysis of AFFH required by AB 686 must include an analysis of Racially Concentrated Areas of Affluence, and that the Assessment of Fair Housing component of the Housing Element should analyze patterns and trends at both a local and regional scale.
New requirements and changes to Housing Element Law can be found in Part 2 of the AFFH Guidance Memo.
AFFH Data Viewer
HCD released an interactive statewide AFFH Data Viewer 3.0 to assist in the assessment of fair housing. This refreshed version provides an enhanced user experience and access to the most recent fair housing data, including a series of new layers. HCD solicited feedback from advocates, councils of government, partner public agencies, and academic research groups to ensure the first iteration of the tool consolidated relevant data and provided options for addressing each component within the Assessment of Fair Housing (within the Housing Element). The AFFH Data Viewer 3.0 consists of mapped data layers in seven categories:
- Existing Affordable Housing Assets
- Racially or Ethnically Concentrated Areas
- Disparities in Access to Opportunities
- Fair Housing Enforcement and Outreach Capacity
- Segregation and Integration
- Disproportionate Housing Needs/Displacement Risk
- Supplemental Data
The interactive maps can be explored in any internet browser and exported as a PDF, jpeg, and other image files. In addition, the underlying data layers can be downloaded for offline data analysis. HCD plans to continuously update these map layers and add additional data, as well as incorporate user feedback. Comments can be submitted to AFFHGuidance@hcd.ca.gov.
Neighborhood Change Map
HCD developed the Neighborhood Change Map to support affordable housing funding policies aimed at reducing displacement in gentrifying areas. The 2025 Neighborhood Change Map identifies census tracts (excluding rural areas) that have experienced both substantial racial/ethnic change and economic changes; while exhibiting markers of disproportionate housing need. This map advances the AFFH objective of addressing disproportionate housing need, including displacement. This map is also on HCD's AFFH Data Viewer.
More information on the Neighborhood Change Map can be found here:
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Final Neighborhood Change Map Methodology
Final Neighborhood Change Map Statewide Summary Table
Opportunity Framework
Through the Opportunity Framework project, HCD is assessing and refining the state’s approach to Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) across different types of neighborhoods and multiple policy areas. The Opportunity Framework project recognizes the state’s obligation to develop a comprehensive strategy for furthering each of the following AFFH objectives:
Addressing significant disparities in housing needs
Addressing significant disparities in opportunity access
Replacing segregated living patterns with truly integrated living patterns
Transforming racially and ethnically concentrated areas of poverty in areas of opportunity
Fostering compliance with fair housing laws
Through the Opportunity Framework project, HCD is looking to identify areas where existing AFFH policies can be refined, where new policies or programs may be needed, and where HCD can better collaborate with other state entities to affirmatively furthering fair housing. HCD will also identity and create additional tools needed to support the state’s AFFH efforts.
To kick-off this project, HCD hosted a virtual webinar on June 7, 2023. The PowerPoint slides from this Webinar can be accessed here. HCD also launched a public survey to collect feedback on the state's AFFH approach, which closed July 21, 2023.
In response initial stakeholder feedback, HCD developed a new Neighborhood Change Map to support affordable housing funding policies to reduce displacement in gentrifying areas. Additional policy proposals that emerged out of this process will be released over the coming months. If you would like to learn more about this work, you can email affhguidance@hcd.ca.gov to indicate your interest.
California Fair Housing Plan Update
HCD is currently working on an update to the Final 2020 AI. Please visit the State website to view the Community Assessment Needs Survey, webinar recordings, planned listening sessions, and planned webinars. To view California Fair Housing plan updates please visit the HCD website here.
