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.

If you believe you may have experienced housing discrimination based on your identity in any of these categories, please contact SCFH to learn more about your legal options and how the law may protect you or complete an online intake form and a SCFH housing specialist will be sure to follow up.

Our Impact

Discriminatory housing practices can produce instability; create financial, educational, and employment barriers; and threaten the safety and comfort customarily associated with one’s home. SCFH staff works diligently to challenge these discriminatory housing practices and dismantle the harmful barriers associated with housing inequities by empowering persons most vulnerable to achieve their housing goals and leveraging the law in all its forms to change culture and design solutions that improve quality of life for all. To learn about SCFH’s most recent successes, subscribe to SCFH’s free newsletter or follow SCFH on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

The work that provided the basis for this publication was supported by funding under a grant (EOI190024) with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The substance and findings of the work are dedicated to the public. The author and publisher are solely responsible for the accuracy of the statements and interpretations contained in this publication. Such interpretations do not necessarily reflect the views of the Federal Government.