Fair Housing Workshops Offered in Hilo and Kona

April is known as Fair Housing Month in recognition of the passing of the 1968 Fair Housing Act.

In an effort to educate people about fair housing practices and prevent discrimination, a Fair Housing Laws 2013 workshop will be held in Hilo on April 29 and in Kona on April 30.

The Hilo workshop will be held at the Aupuni Conference Center, 101 Pauahi St. and the Kona workshop will be held at the West Hawaii Civic Center, 74-5044 Ane Keohokalole Highway.

The workshop is coordinated by the County of Hawai‘i Office of Housing and Community Development, US Department of Housing and Urban Development, Hawai‘i Civil Rights Commission, Hawai‘i Island Realtors and Legal Aid Society of Hawai‘i.

According to Alan Rudo, fair housing officer for the County of Hawai’i, attendees can learn about the latest trends, changes and case studies in fair housing law, as well as ask questions from fair housing experts.

“The workshop enables people to keep up to date with the laws and know how it affects their rights as a tenant,” said Rudo. “There’s always new cases going on and we give people an updates on rulings being issued.

“For instance, there is a lot of confusion between assistance animals and service animals and we cover that issue in detail.”

Speakers for the event include Rudo, as well as Jelani Madaraka, lead civil rights analyst for the Honolulu office of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Additional speakers include Marcus Kawatachi, Hawaii Civil Rights Commission, and Ryker Wada, managing attorney for Legal Aid Society of Hawai‘i.

The  same information will be provided for both workshops.

Each workshop is divided into two sessions with a morning session from 9 a.m. to noon and an afternoon session from 1 to 4 p.m.

“Usually the morning session is for realtors and the afternoon session is for the general public,” said Rudo.

Licensed realtors will earn three CE credits for the morning session, which costs $50 for realtors and $60 for non-realtors.

The afternoon session is free and open to the public.

Seating is limited for both events and the deadline to register is tomorrow.

To register for either workshop contact the Hawaii Island Realtors by phone at (808) 935-0827 or via email at [email protected], or contact Alan Rudo at (808) 961-8379.