Atchison posts fair housing notice, reminds residents of protections

A tenant denied a mortgage quote, a family steered away from a loan, or a resident refused a needed accessibility change now has a city-issued reminder of where to turn: call the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development hotline at 1-800-669-9777. The City of Atchison posted the fair-housing information page on May 19, and City Clerk Tina Fitzpatrick signed the notice that links to the Atchison 2026 Fair Housing Activity flyer.

That flyer lays out the kinds of conduct fair-housing law forbids. It includes refusing to provide mortgage-loan information, denying a mortgage loan, imposing different loan terms, denying property insurance, issuing discriminatory appraisals, refusing reasonable modifications or accommodations for people with physical or mental disabilities, failing to design and construct housing in an accessible way, and harassing, coercing, intimidating or interfering with someone exercising fair-housing rights or helping someone else do so.

The notice matters because the rules apply far beyond a single landlord-tenant dispute. HUD says the Fair Housing Act covers people when they are renting or buying a home, getting a mortgage, seeking housing assistance or taking part in other housing-related activities. At the federal level, race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status and disability are protected classes. Kansas law goes further by adding ancestry, and the Kansas Human Rights Commission says housing complaints in Kansas generally must be filed within one year of the last alleged discriminatory act.

Atchison has put fair-housing information in front of residents before. The city posted a fair-housing resources notice on Dec. 11, 2023, and a fair-housing hotline notice on Oct. 15, 2025. The latest posting keeps that effort in the city’s public-information stream, where the clerk’s office serves as a records and information hub for residents looking for official guidance.

The local housing backdrop makes the reminder practical. The Atchison Housing Authority says it was created in 1966 and provides affordable housing in three locations within the city. For residents who think a landlord, lender, insurer, appraiser or housing provider crossed the line, the city’s notice directs them to HUD, while earlier city materials pointed to the Kansas Human Rights Commission in Topeka and HUD’s Kansas City regional office at 400 State Avenue in Kansas City, Kansas 66101. HUD Region VII covers Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska, giving Atchison residents a clear path beyond City Hall when housing access is on the line.