Fair housing

Fair housing is a right protected by federal and state laws. Fair housing means you may freely choose a place to live without regard to your race, color, religion, sex, national origin or because you are disabled or have children in your family. Housing discrimination is illegal.

Your fair housing rights are violated when you are prevented from doing the following because of your race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability or family status:

• Viewing or renting an apartment
• Viewing or purchasing a home
• Applying for or securing a home loan
• Purchasing homeowners or renters insurance

If you have a fair housing complaint, contact the Utah Antidiscrimination & Labor Division, Fair Housing at 160 East 300 South, 3rd Floor, Salt Lake City, Utah 84114-6630.

You may also use the Federal Government's HUD complaint form. Click here for the online form and more information.

Davis County is committed to assure meaningful access to its programs and activities and equal access to housing to all eligible individuals regardless of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, sexual orientation, familial status, or source of income including those person for whom English is not their primary language and who have limited ability to read, write, speak or understand English.

Affordable Housing in Davis County

Davis County fosters a diverse and balanced community with housing that offers a wide range of choices for all income levels of households. A balanced housing environment would include housing choices for children of existing families and their elderly grandparents who no longer need large family homes. An emphasis on large-lot single family homes forces young adults and elderly to move to more developed cities in neighboring counties. The County supports mixed-income, mixed-use and transit-oriented development, as well as adequate reliable public transportation so that residents may access employment, goods and services and affordable housing. As the participating municipalities Moderate Income Housing Plans are updated and amendments to zoning ordinances are proposed, reviews of the potential impacts on housing are required to ensure that barriers are not being created. Zoning ordinances need to effectively address the County's changing housing needs.

One of the most pressing barriers to affordability is the concept of fair share. Some cities have a preponderance of moderate income housing while others have little or none.

The high cost of housing in Davis County coupled with a shortage of affordable housing for low-income households is a significant barrier to affordable housing. This has been exacerbated by current economic conditions: housing foreclosures, subprime loans and rising unemployment.

Some landlord programs are also becoming obstacles to obtaining housing for low-income households. Some local jurisdictions are adopting 'good landlord' programs which provide discounts on license fees for apartment owners who agree to run credit and criminal background checks on all applicants and refuse to rent to high risk tenants. Programs need to be developed that assist landlords to rent to such high risk households.

The Davis Community Housing Authority (DCHA) is located in Farmington and serves low-income County residents. DCHA operates 158 units of public housing in Davis County, of which 72 are one-bedroom units designated to house low to very-low income elderly and/or disabled households in Bountiful. The remaining 86 units are two, three and four bedroom units located in Clearfield, Layton, Centerville and Bountiful which house low to very-low income households. It also manages 1,036 Section 8 vouchers, with 143 other types of vouchers for low-income households. The Authority reports that over 1,379 households are on one or more waiting lists for section 8 assistance and over 440 people are waiting for public housing. This represents a two-year wait.

In addition to the Davis Community Housing Authority, several private property managers maintain 602 units of assisted housing for low income residents. These residents pay up to 30% of their income for housing while the remainder of the cost of rent is paid by housing vouchers provided by federal programs.

The County's Consolidated Plan describes a plan to use Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds to specifically assist eligible moderate and/or low income families obtain suitable and decent housing and to maintain that housing. The County will continue to support local service providing agencies that provide immediate and long term housing assistance to income eligible residents.

Homelessness in Davis County

Davis County does not have a big chronic homeless population but the primary needs are for victims of domestic violence, those with mental illness and large families.

Based on the 2010 count of homeless persons, it is possible to estimate the annual number of homeless in Davis County as 629 homeless individuals, with 550 individuals in 170 families with minor children.

Not included in the report above is a separate count of 1,073 homeless youth in schools in Davis County counted by the Davis School District. These children are living in a variety of transitory environments that include doubled with another family, in a hotel or motel, in a shelter, in a car, park, campground or public place.

Davis County itself does not operate any homeless facilities. The capacity of Davis County year-round homeless beds is limited. There are currently 32 emergency shelter beds for victims of domestic violence, 127 transitional housing units, and 44 permanent supportive housing units.

Homeless needs in Davis County are split between services and facilities. The County lacks a homeless shelter, and this forces some of the homeless population to take up shelter north in Weber County or south in Salt Lake County where facilities exist. Davis County does have non-profit organizations that attempt to meet the needs of homeless individuals for services.

The Davis County Local Homeless Coordinating Committee represents a broad range of community stakeholders and is chaired by a County Commissioner. The committee seeks to coordinate all activities that serve the homeless in the Davis County.

Davis County intends to utilize CDBG funds for domestic violence shelters and related programs that offer assistance to homeless victims resulting from domestic violence. CDBG funds will be allocated to nonprofit organizations that provide emergency services such as food and transportation, case management and transitional housing.