The City of Melbourne’s Fair Housing Ordinance, the Florida Fair Housing Act and the Federal Fair Housing Act make it illegal for anyone to refuse to rent, sell or make a housing loan to you because of the following factors:

• Race or color
• National Origin
• Religion
• Sex
• Familial status (including children under the age of 18 living with parents or legal custodians; pregnant women and people securing custody of children under 18)
• Handicap (disability)

Based upon the above-listed factors (also known as “protected classes”), it is against the law to:

• Refuse to rent to you or sell you housing.
• Tell you housing is unavailable when in fact it is available.
• Show you apartments or homes in certain neighborhoods only.
• Advertise housing to preferred groups of people only.
• Refuse to provide you with information regarding mortgage loans, deny you a mortgage loan, or impose different terms or conditions on a mortgage loan.
• Deny you property insurance.
• Conduct property appraisals in a discriminatory manner.
• Refuse to make certain modifications or accommodations for persons with a mental or physical disability, including persons recovering from alcohol and substance abuse, and HIV/AIDS-related illnesses.
• Fail to design and construct housing in an accessible manner.
• Harass, coerce, intimidate, or interfere with anyone exercising or assisting someone else with their fair housing rights.

If you believe your rights have been violated, the City of Melbourne’s Housing and Urban Improvement Division is ready to help you file a complaint. You have 180 days from the date of the alleged act of discrimination to file your complaint with the City of Melbourne. You will need to provide the following information in your complaint:

• Your name, address and phone number where you can be reached.
• Another contact’s name, address and phone number if the agency cannot reach you.
• A description of what happened to you.
• A statement telling why you believe you are being discriminated against (e.g. on the basis of what protected class).
• A statement of who discriminated against you with their name, title and address.
• A statement describing where the alleged discrimination occurred (complete address).
• A statement as to the date the last act of discrimination occurred. Tell if the alleged discrimination is ongoing.

The City of Melbourne’s Housing and Urban Improvement Division will make an initial inquiry into your complaint and, if there are reasonable grounds to believe a violation has occurred, will refer your complaint to the Florida Commission on Human Relations. Or, if indicated by the nature of the complaint, will refer your complaint to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

For more information, contact:

• Housing and Urban Improvement Division: 321-608-7530; huid@mlbfl.org
• Fair Housing Continuum Inc.: 877-629-0228
• Florida Commission on Human Relations 1-800-342-8170
• Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity U. S. Department of Housing & Urban Development Housing Discrimination Hotline: 1-800-669-9777