Landlords-Guide-to-Fair-Housing-Laws-E-book

Landlord’s Guide to Fair Housing Laws

Protect yourself from litigation by knowing these essential federal and state laws
Gain a basic understanding of Fair Housing Laws to help you avoid discriminating against tenants during the renting process.

Introduction

The Fair Housing laws, created in 1968 and included in Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act, prohibit any discrimination on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin, religion, familial status in the sale, rental, and financing of real estate transactions. The goal of the Fair Housing Act is to create a housing market where the merits of the buyer or renter’s financial position are used to make housing decisions instead of their personal background.

According to the Fair Housing laws, it is illegal for a landlord to:

  • Refuse to rent a dwelling to any person because of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, or disability.
  • Discriminate based on race, color, religion, national origin, familial status, or disability in the terms, conditions, privilege of the sale or rental of a dwelling.
  • Advertise the rental of a dwelling indicating preference of discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, familial status, or disability.
  • Coerce, threaten, intimidate, or interfere with a person’s enjoyment or exercise of housing rights based on discriminatory reasons, or retaliate against a person or organization that aids or encourages the exercise of fair housing rights.

Every landlord should be aware of all federal anti-discrimination laws, as well as those in their state and locality. Choosing to ignore, or even unknowingly break, these laws could lead to long and expensive lawsuits and costly penalties, which is why every landlord needs to know about these protections and how they work within the rental process.

In some cases, a property may be exempt from Fair Housing Laws, but know that the overwhelming majority of cases are subjected to these laws. 

The below cases are exempt from Fair Housing laws:

  • An owner-occupied building with four or fewer units.
  • A single-family housing unit rented without the use of a broker.
  • One of the certain types of housing operated by religious organizations and private clubs that limit occupancy to their members only. 
  • Housing reserved exclusively for senior citizens that are occupied solely by persons 62 years of age or older, or houses intended and operated for people over the age of 55. 

Your property may still need to adhere to state and local laws, so be sure to check the legislation in your area to see if these laws are contradicted anywhere.

To get an exact copy of your state’s fair housing and anti-discrimination laws, you can visit the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development website. You can find information specific to your state on their state info page.

Learn more about your state’s specific landlord-tenant laws