In the near future, we plan on introducing legislation to increase the penalties for housing discrimination violations.

The federal Fair Housing Act and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act guarantee the right to pursue housing without discrimination. The Fair Housing Act also requires our Commonwealth to combat housing discrimination while furthering fair housing.

We believe the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act should be updated to strengthen enforcement because too often landlords, especially repeat violators, are not held accountable for their actions. Senator Haywood saw this firsthand when he his wife were trying to buy their home.

The proposed legislation, which will be a companion to Representative Mayes' House bill, would increase the time an individual has to file a complaint from 180 days to 365 days, which would bring State law in line with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s deadline for housing discrimination complaints. It would also increase the current penalties and would tie future increases to inflation.

We hope you will join us in preventing housing discrimination by co-sponsoring this bill.