MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Rising rents and the cost of housing are one problem, but new data shows companies continue to make it harder for some families to get into and stay in their homes.

More than 34,000 fair housing complaints were filed in 2023, the highest number since the National Fair Housing Alliance began tracking the data for its Trends Report in the mid-90s.

Housing discrimination can happen in all sorts of ways, but of those complaints, over 34,000 complaints, the overwhelming majority, more than 50%, were related to discrimination against persons with disabilities. Discrimination based on race and sex followed.

“The original discrimination was we don’t want your kind here, point blank, period, and they would flat out say it, or they would write it in HOA rules,” Chenise Anthony, Executive Director of the Fair Housing Council of Metropolitan Memphis. “Now it’s more so, we see it as,  you go to apply for an apartment, and you never get a response. You email a housing provider and you say, hey, I would like to see the homes in this neighborhood, never get a response.”

She says if you’re renting, buying, obtaining a mortgage, or homeowner’s insurance that the law prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion,  as well as national origin, sex, disability, and familial status.

“So, you can’t tell a woman who has four kids and she’s the head of her household, you can’t rent an apartment here. That’s illegal,” said Anthony.

If that happens, you call their office at (901) 538-7700. April is Fair Housing Month, and for more information from housing counselors, you can check out the Convergence Memphis Home Expo on Saturday from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. at New Direction Church at 6120 Winchester Rd, Memphis, TN 38115.