The list above details the “protected classes” of people that are covered by fair housing laws.
People often ask if a landlord can refuse to rent to smokers or students.
Since smokers and students are not protected classes, fair housing laws do not protect them.
The most obvious way to violate a person’s fair housing rights is to decide not to rent or sell to them. Less obvious discrimination includes:
• Telling a real estate agent not to show the property to members of a protected class
• Negotiating differently with a member of a protected class
• Offering different information or terms to members of protected classes (i.e. request a higher deposit, offer different lease terms, or prepare the property differently for them)
• Performing different levels of employment, income or credit investigations for members of protected classes.
Discrimination is illegal whether intentional or not. I would go as to say that eliminating as much subjective decision making as possible from the process is not only good practice for landlords, sellers and agents, but it is their responsibility.
For Sellers, Landlords and Agents, the key to avoiding discrimination is consistency; everybody should be treated exactly the same way all of the time without exception. Subjective judgment should be excluded from the decision making process as much as possible.
As an agent, when I present an offer and the seller or listing agent asks me to tell them about my buyers, I focus on my client’s financial qualifications and stay away from anything on the list above.
As a landlord, I prefer to list my apartments with rental agents and give them the clear credit score criteria and the references that I require to accept tenants. That way I stay clear of potential fair housing violations and make a business decision based on consistent, sound criteria.
An excellent local resource to learn more about fair housing rights and responsibilities is The Fair Housing Center of Boston. According to the site, about 50% of African-Americans and Latinos have encountered discrimination in housing.
Landlords… have you ever been accused of discrimination? What did you do?
What do you do to avoid discriminating against potential tenants?
Tenants and buyers…. have you ever felt that someone has discriminated against you?
What did you do?