What Is Fair Housing, and Why Does It Matter?
Fair Housing laws help eliminate discrimination in real estate transactions, but many people still don’t know what the Fair Housing Act entails. While the law can be somewhat confusing and nuanced, renters, sellers, and buyers need to understand a few important points concerning fair housing. This blog post will look at who the Fair Housing Act protects, a few examples of discrimination, and the ways people can report violations of the Fair Housing Act.
According to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, “The Fair Housing Act protects people from discrimination when they are renting or buying a home, getting a mortgage, seeking housing assistance, or engaging in other housing-related activities.” Essentially, someone cannot be discriminated against because of their race, color, national origin, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, familial status, or disabilities. While this act prohibits most housing discrimination, there are a few notable exceptions. Exclusions include buildings that are owner-occupied with four units or less, single-family homes sold or rented by the owner without a real estate agent, or housing limited to members of the operating private club or religious organization.*
Housing discrimination has historically and is currently an issue within all sectors of the housing industry; however, renters are especially prone to experiencing housing discrimination. It is, then, helpful to look at a few examples of housing discrimination so that everyone involved in a selling or rental situation understands what housing violations practically look like.
One obvious discriminatory practice is when owners refuse to sell or rent to a person because of that person’s race, color, national origin, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, familial status, or disabilities. Without an explicit statement from the owner, however, it may be difficult to prove this form of discrimination. One discriminatory act that is easier to prove is when an owner gives a renter different terms because of their status in one of the protected categories. This can look like an unjustifiably higher rent payment, refusal to rent due to the presence of an assistance animal, and many other circumstances. Harassment based on a person’s status in a protected category is also a Fair Housing law violation and should be reported immediately.
If someone believes that they’ve been discriminated against because of their race, color, national origin, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, familial status, or disabilities, they should immediately contact Fair Housing authorities. Information to contact them via an online form, email, phone, or mail can be found at hud.gov.
