Eleven residents of a Dakota County, Nebraska, mobile home park are looking for a new place to live, tonight... after they were evicted at the end of last week.
The owner of Lake Village Mobile Home Park notified the tenants, last month, that they would have to find another place to live by December 1st. They're all registered sex offenders... half were listed at "high-risk."
Susie Squires, the leader of a local watchdog group, said many residents couldn't afford to move away from the offenders. She says it was a safety issue for the dozens of other families that lived there.
But, aren't there laws that prevent discrimination when you try to buy or rent property? There are protections in place.
The Lake Village Mobile Home Park is privately-owned. According to the U-S Department of Housing and Urban Development, doesn't have any tenants who receive federal housing help. That means the Fair Housing Act-- which protects people from discrimination on the basis of things like race, color and religion-- doesn't apply to those with a criminal background.
This is not completely correct. HUD does protect CERTAIN sex offenders who receive federal housing help. See HUD Release and eAdvocate explanation.
The evicted don't have much legal recourse... the federal Civil Rights Act doesn't protect them either. "They were, um serving eviction notices on people who were registered sex offenders, that's my understanding, and if that is so, civil rights act doesn't protect people who have a criminal record, which would include sex offenders," said Pat Johnson, Human Rights Commission.
Landlords are allowed to perform criminal background checks on tenants and deny housing based on a criminal past. Something that's been standard practice for years. ..more.. by KTIV News Channel 4
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