Owner Update
"Question Of The Month"
Note: Last month's question addressed fair housing laws
and tenant screening. This month's Q continues with information
on advertising and fair housing. It's important to know that
fair housing laws apply to ALL rental housing, not just rentals
on the TMHA Section 8 program.
Question of the Month: How do I advertise my units so
that I don't violate fair housing laws?
Answer: In a nutshell, it is illegal to advertise or make any
statement that indicates a limitation or preference based on a
protected class. The classes protected under the fair housing
laws are the following:
- race / national origin
- color
- religion
- sex (gender - male/female)
- familial staus (covers
families with children & pregnant women)
- handicap or disability.
Discrimination can take many
forms, but only someone who really wants to get sued would
advertise by saying, "1 BR unit for whites only." However, more
subtle examples of discriminatory advertising can be found. If
the ad contains information
that implies some limitation that the owner is placing on the
potential renter, it is a violation. For example:
"Apt. for rent. 1 BR apartment available for single female"
This ad implies that the owner is seeking a single female
renter, and therefore will not equally consider a single male or
a couple. This is a fair housing violation.
Consider this ad: "2 br house available for rent. No yard for
kids."
This ad implies that a family with kids need not apply because
there is no yard. The advertiser may believe that he's just
trying to save everyone a lot of trouble by pointing out this
inadequacy. However, the concept of fair housing says that the
family should have the right to view the unit and reject it on
that basis, if the yard space is important to them. The owner
should not make that decision for them.
The idea is to advertise the unit based on the facts of the
unit, and not jump to the next step of implying that the unit is
somehow more or less appropriate for one group or another based
on these facts. The potential renter should make those
conclusions.
What about pets? Often ads will state a "no pets" policy. Is
this a violation? Well, no, because pets are NOT a protected
class. The exception is the disabled person who needs a seeing
eye or hearing animal. This animal is not considered a pet, but
a necessary aid to the disabled person.
Watch in the coming months for more information on fair housing.
Did you know, for example, that under certain circumstances you
CAN legally discriminate based on age? More on that later.
Have fair housing questions? Call Fair Housing Consortia at
1-800-581-3247 for answers.
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