The Fair Housing Act and Landlords: What You Should Know | Daily #28

The Fair Housing Act (FHA) ensures that any person can buy or rent a house or apartment wherever they want regardless of their race, ethnicity, gender, religious preference, disability, family status, or national origin. Some areas of the United States also prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation.

As part of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, overseen by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Fair Housing Act prevents housing discrimination and ensures equal opportunities for all tenants and homebuyers. It was enacted during the Civil Rights Movement, shortly after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.

It also states that you cannot discriminate through the terms of your lease agreement or by advertising with any preference toward protected classes.

Unfortunately, the Fair Housing Act doesn’t actually list the words you can’t use in marketing communications. A good rule of thumb is to avoid exclusionary words like “no” or “only,” except when the exclusion is clearly allowed by law (e.g., “no drugs” or “no smoking”).

After reading the above list of protected classes and examples of discriminatory language, you may think you have nothing to worry about. After all, most of us would never intentionally discriminate against any of the above classifications. However, intentional or not, discrimination is discrimination. Even a well-meaning comment or decision made by the landlord—or anyone acting on your behalf—can be considered discriminatory.

Know your local, state, and federal fair housing laws, too, to avoid sticking your foot in your mouth and winding up with a lawsuit on your hands. Local governments may offer stricter protections.

Purchasing your first rental property is just the beginning of your real estate journey, because being a good landlord is almost as important as making good deals. BiggerPockets’ free guide How to Become a Landlord: Managing Rental Properties for Real Estate Investors will teach you everything—from setting rent to handling evictions.

What the Fair Housing Act Covers
Keep these protected classes in mind when creating your real estate advertisements. Pay attention to the wording in your ads to avoid a lawsuit.

1. National Origin, Race, or Color
Federal law states that it’s unacceptable to use language that describes the housing, neighborhood, or neighbors in a racial or ethnic way. So you can’t state that an apartment is located in a Hispanic or African-American neighborhood, even if you’re simply trying to point out the excellent Tex-Mex or Southern cuisine.

However, it is acceptable to use words such as “master bedroom,” “desirable neighborhood,” and “exceptional find” in your advertising. These terms aren’t considered racial discrimination and will not warrant the filing of a claim from a potential tenant or buyer.

Keep reading the article "The Fair Housing Act and Landlords: What You Should Know" by Brandon Turner here:

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[curtisa.wrightsr.]

Greetings, I'm a REALTOR Trainer who teach Fair Housing and Cultural Diversity classes. This was a very good video. Thanks

[ToddBaldwin]

Thank you for putting together this information.

[captdie]

QUESTION- collecting rent from a person on social security? A lease agreement says rent is due on the 1st. But tenant does not receive his SSDI until the 3rd.

[robgrey]

Here in Wyoming I just let all of them fill out an application and waste their time. Then I rent to the folks I want to rent to.

[jfjfrederic]

The video is very good I learned a lot. Thank you

[bigd]

Does this also apply to house hacking? Such as a woman that only wants other female roommates? Or, in a major military community, such as near a base, only wanting to rent a house to an active duty military family?

[Cali_Girl]

If the Tenant using a wheelchair has lived in rental property for 17 years, and requests 30 year old carpeting to be replaced with hard flooring (LTV) for easier mobility, is Tenant or Landlord responsible for costs?

Thank You.

[cynthiawright]

I would like to know if the fair housing act discriminates against all people regarding the ability to get and maintain safe affordable housing. People are being priced out of safe and affordable housing daily. It should not be the right of a landlord to be able to raise the rent at the beginning of every lease. I believe this is overall violating ALL people's rights to fair safe and affordable housing. The literal interpretation of safe fair and affordable housing should be available to all and not be subject to constant rent increases that are designated as allowable in the fair housing act. In summation, landlords are raising rents and effectively putting people at risk of being homeless. The people who are at risk are the people 'designed' to be protected by this act.

[yanabelous]

Question: I just had my real estate exam and one of the questions were asking what elderly age is protected under Federal Housing Act . I was debating between 55 or 62 years . Internet shows me both answers . What is the correct answer? Thank you in advance

[jacquelinejackiedamphier]

Can a disabled tenant that's high risk for the virus and a senior get evicted over a temporary asst that was helping me with errands and light house cleaning boyfriend, that came to pick her up and apparently had a probation violation and they followed him to my apartment and I am getting evicted because I had no clue of his past. Someone help me ASAP WITH INFO.

[catsgameingomg]

What the law on sharing a room with my 12 yr old son.. housing is saying I have to share a room with my son wtf???

[melissadavis]

What did the oaks of spring valley do in justin Davis mother's case and his sister laneseia Davis. Michael Jordon of the Chicago Bulls and Ucf police and James Williams jr the father of justin Davis and the father of laneseia Davis Daryl Franklin Gardner Sr.

[christi-annebeatty]

That being a good person one is key. If you find yourself accidentally discriminating you probably aren’t practicing that one... lol the amount of people in this industry just being passively racist is off the charts. Other landlords, mortgage loan officers, realtors, even contractors are too casual throwing around racist comments. Just be a good person and don’t say blatantly racist stuff. Not asking you to reinvent the wheel and offer to rent to people who can’t pay. It’s not hard.

[patrickday]

My ex wife Heidi O'Day now Heidi termer and her boss was a manager and employee and had the previous head fired for a slip that sounded discriminatory and Sharon replaced that man! Sharron and Heidi termer in Washington states human rights commission shouldn't be trusted my ex wife said repeatedly that shraron was blatantly racist against Mexicans and would regularly force investigators to close cases no cause! Simply because she didn't like Mexicans!!!! My wife and her boss was a manager and employee and had the previous head fired for a slip that sounded discriminatory and Sharon replaced that man!

[MartB-txlb]

The FHA is fair. Show me how you make money.. there.... prospective tenant. Show me the most recent W2 and your last pay stub. That gets rid of 90% of stragglers. Get your @$$ back on these streets!

[artisanhome]

Fair housing laws must be extended to protect realtors of color. Real estate brokerages are accepting black and brown realtors into their offices, but many buyers and sellers avoid hiring them in favor of white realtors. Eighty percent of the nation's homeowners are white, and many of them will only hire white realtors. There are so few African Americans who can afford to purchase homes, so many black realtors end up leaving the profession before they get a chance to get started. I wasn't a realtor for long before I observed so many disturbing biases and disparities. The vast majority of realtors in America are white females in their 50s. When they become realtors, they start helping folks buy and sell real estate right away because of their connections to people who can afford real estate. White realtors are also welcomed into high-earning realtor teams far more often than realtors of color.

It isn't my intention to take anything away from realtors who are steadily working. That is awesome! My intention is to shed light on these unaddressed disparities. Surely, it can't be fair for one demographic to be working in real estate without any fair and balanced competition. There must be someone who can address these disparities professionally. Let me also remind people of Matthew 22:39 Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. If you're a believer, then the Bible commands us to be unbiased and to not show favoritism, but to love ALL our neighbors. People need to return to core values in God's Word.

[DWHalse]

Your kidding…you can’t put down “no Catholics?” OK, kidding ya!

[charlesryan]

The 2020 Real estate investment is good but i rather invest my money in crypto

[mustknowinfo]

Would this apply for lot rent for mobile homes?