For Fair Housing Month in April, North Penn Legal Services is hosting a Virtual Fair Housing Summit featuring four timely Fair Housing topics via Zoom, offering Continuing Legal Education credit for attorneys, over the course of two weeks.

The four sessions offered include the following. Registration information is at the link for each session:

SESSION ONE: North Penn Legal Services Virtual Fair Housing Summit Kickoff and Review of PA Landlord-Tenant and Fair Housing Law

April 16, 2021, 9:00 AM-11:00 AM

NPLS Attorneys and Staff will provide a review of landlord-tenant law, including COVID-related updates, and provide a general overview of Fair Housing law and policy in Pennsylvania. Tenants’ rights to be included are the leasing and eviction process from start to finish, how to properly ask for needed repairs in a rental unit, and how to get a security deposit returned after vacating a rental unit. Fair Housing issues to be included are a review of the protected classes in federal, state and local law, types of discrimination, and fair housing enforcement procedures.

Presenters:

• Sarah M. Andrew, Esq., Associate Managing Attorney of the North Penn Legal Services Lehigh Valley office.
• Marybeth Saporita, Paralegal in the North Penn Legal Services Lehigh Valley office.

This session will provide 1.5 Substantive CLE Credits for attending attorneys.

SESSION TWO: The Evolution of Fair Housing for the LGBT Community

April 20, 2021, 10:00 AM-11:30 AM

Adrian Shanker, Founder and Executive Director of Bradbury Sullivan LGBT Community Center in Allentown, Pennsylvania, will review the current housing rights of LGBT people in Pennsylvania and some of the more common sources and types of discrimination experienced by this community. He will detail what protections are still needed at the state and national levels to ensure equal access to housing regardless of sexual orientation and/or gender identity and expression, and provide an advocacy roadmap for how to get there.

Presenter:

• Adrian Shanker (he/him pronouns), Executive Director of Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center in Allentown

This session will provide 1.5 Substantive CLE Credits for attending attorneys.

SESSION THREE: Fair Housing and Medical Marijuana - What Rights Do Tenants Have When Treatment Options Clash with Housing Policy?

April 22, 2021, 10:00 AM-11:30 AM

The use of medical marijuana has been legal in Pennsylvania since 2016, but marijuana is still listed as an illegal drug under federal law. Tenants with disabilities who are legally prescribed medical marijuana may find themselves at odds with landlords who don’t approve of its use in rental properties. Tenants in federally subsidized housing may have to choose between their housing and their medical treatment options. Attorneys Andrew M. Gross and Patrick K. Nightingale will review the current status of medical marijuana law and policy in Pennsylvania as it relates to the rights of tenants with disabilities whose protections under fair housing law may not (yet) extend to the use of medical marijuana.

Presenters:

• Patrick K. Nightingale, Esq., PKN Law, Pittsburgh, PA
• Andrew M. Gross, Esq., Gross & Patterson LLC, Pittsburgh, PA

This session will provide 1.5 Substantive CLE Credits for attending attorneys.

SESSION FOUR: Current Trends and New Developments in Fair Housing Testing, HUD Policies, and Compliance

April 28, 2021, 1:00 PM-2:30 PM

Rachel Wentworth, Executive Director of the Housing Equality Center of Pennsylvania, will review common fair housing violations based on race, national origin, and familial status. She will discuss how testing is used to investigate claims of discrimination, primarily in these protected classes. This session will also focus on current HUD guidance and enforcement, including updates on how the disparate impact standards and the federal mandate to affirmatively further fair housing will be implemented moving forward.

Presenter:

• Rachel Wentworth, Executive Director of the Housing Equality Center of Pennsylvania

This session will provide 1.5 Substantive CLE Credits for attending attorneys.