About Us
SouthCoast Fair Housing (SCFH) is a nonprofit fair housing organization dedicated to eliminating housing discrimination, ensuring equal housing opportunities, and developing inclusive communities throughout Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts. To advance this mission, SCFH: delivers fair housing education; increases awareness of fair housing rights through community outreach; advocates for laws, policies, and programs that increase protections for equal access to housing; and combats discrimination through investigation, legal representation, and other enforcement services.
SCFH strengthens enforcement of fair housing laws by assisting clients in securing reasonable accommodations for their disability and litigating housing discrimination cases before the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Rhode Island Commission for Human Rights, and the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination.
Providing comprehensive legal assistance, SCFH is the only full-service fair housing organization that services Rhode Island as well as Bristol and Plymouth counties in Massachusetts.
Our Cases
Fair housing laws prohibiting discrimination apply to a wide range of housing transactions, which can include rentals, sales, home mortgages, appraisals, and homeowner’s insurance, and other dealings. Denying housing, limiting access to housing, discouraging home seekers, making discriminatory statements, or creating different rules, fees or standards because of a person’s status within a category that is protected by federal, state or local laws are just a few examples of prohibited housing discrimination. Some of these legally-protected categories include: race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability, familial status (e.g. the presence of minor children or pregnancy), age, veteran or military status, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, receipt of public assistance (e.g. food stamps), use of a housing subsidy (e.g. Section 8 voucher), receipt of child support or alimony, and genetics.