In the rental business, it's crucial that you have a degree of awareness regarding the Fair Housing Act. Landlords utilize this knowledge when conducting tenant screenings and marketing their properties. As part of your responsibilities as a landlord, following the Fair Housing Act is a must.
Without being aware, you may face a bad rep if you happen to overstep the boundaries of the FHA. Not only that, but you may also pay a fine as consequence, or worse. It benefits you as a property owner to become informed, as consequences of overstepping this law can then be avoided.
Here are the core essentials to learn about the Fair Housing Act:
What is the Fair Housing Act?
Created in 1968, the Fair Housing Act promotes equal housing opportunity for everyone looking to purchase or rent a home. Amended in 1988, it seeks to end discrimination by protecting specific classes.
Under the Fair Housing Act, there are 7 protected classes. These classes are sex, religion, race, national origin, disability, color, and familial status. This means that no tenant or homebuyer must be discriminated against based on these classes.
Different states have contributed additional protected classes. They've added age, gender expression or identity, sexual orientation, source of income, genetic information, criminal history (arrest without conviction), and military status. This is to further provide equal housing by limiting discrimination against these additional classes.
Examples of Fair Housing Act Violations
To illustrate, here are ways that you can unintentionally violate the Fair Housing Act:
Example #1
Interrogating prospective renters and refusing to accept them on the basis of being immigrants. The renters have a good rental history, excellent credit scores and make 3x the rental price.
Still, on the subject of race and national origin, you turn down the tenant application.
Example #2
You're selling your property and don't really want to sell it to an interested buyer who practices a different faith than you. You insist that you require more documentation than unnecessary from the potential buyer. This is your way of discouraging the buyer to pursue the purchase and look elsewhere. This is unfair treatment on the basis of religion.
Example #3
As a landlord, you prefer a certain gender to rent your property. You only accept males, even if the female prospects have met the standard requirements easily. This constitutes as a violation by discriminating on the basis of one's sex.
Example #4
Another method of unfair treatment is refusing prospects with disabilities to occupy your rental unit. Say you don't welcome pets in your property. However, people with disabilities are allowed to have companion animals, as these are not categorized as pets. Since you don't want any types of animals in your rental property, you choose not to entertain applications of people with disabilities, which is illegal.
Example #5
As a landlord, you may find families with children intolerable because of potential noise complaints. You attempt to dissuade them from applying for your multi-unit property by increasing the rent...
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