MINNEAPOLIS — Right now Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid is actively recruiting.
"We absolutely are looking for testers," Legal Aid's assistant supervising attorney Elana Dahlager said. "We're looking for testers of all backgrounds because we need testers who are both members of a protected background and who aren't."
Dahlager said housing discrimination testing has been something Legal Aid has been receiving federal funds to do so since 1995. They've continued their work until the pandemic, when it lulled, like everything else.
Post-pandemic, they're revving the engines again to fight discriminatory practices.
"Most of our work at this point as we're building, is complaint-based," Dahlager explained. "So we'll get a call from a potential client that they feel like they're experiencing some discrimination in their housing."
Discrimination can come in all different forms.
"Different rules around lease violations, different consequences for lease violations, we've seen different amounts of security deposits, different application processes," Dahlager said. "Running for instance, a criminal background or a credit screening on some applicants and not others."
Then the testers, who are kept anonymous by the group to the public, go in and test in a pair.
"We'll send in two testers, who are essentially the same, but they differ on one aspect of a protected class status," Dahlager explained. "And so federal law, Fair Housing Act protects people from discrimination on the basis of race, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, color and disability."
Plus, Minnesota's own laws protect all those, as well as creed, marital status, sexual orientation and public assistance status.
Dahlager said she encourages tenants to call if something feels wrong. She said they have the tools to investigate.
"We're just looking to enforce the law as it is, we're not out to get landlords or anything like that," Dahlager said. "If we run a test and we don't find any evidence of differential treatment, that's awesome. We love to see that because that means people are doing what they should be doing."
Testers are paid per completed test. If you are interested in becoming a tester, you can contact Legal Aid via:
Erica Whitaker, Fair Housing Investigation and Outreach Coordinator
ewhitaker@mylegalaid.org
612-552-6531
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