20 - The Federal Fair Housing Act and Your Role
Be Fair
The writer first really got involved in real estate because it was the one consistent way to build wealth for the long term, and in the United States the opportunity to do that is limited only by ones desire to work hard and work smart.
What really struck a cord however was 30 years ago and sometimes now the strain of racism and prejudice remains an underlying problem on every level in every neighborhood in the United States. This is unfortunate. It does however give you, the landlord an opportunity to go beyond prejudice and be part of creating a better earth we live on.
As a landlord when you treat someone fairly and leave behind prejudices and behaviors that reduce or restricts someone because they are not just like you is a feeling that is so good it is hard to explain.
Sometimes it maybe to spend a few dollars to put up an extra handle on something, an extra light fixture…whatever it is one generally will make the money back 100 times over while doing something good for your fellow person.
The US Federal Fair Housing Act
The United State Federal Fair Housing Acts apply to all aspects of the landlord-tenant relationship. A landlord may not:
- - advertise or make any statement that indicates a limitation or preference based on race, religion, or any other protected category
- - falsely deny that a rental unit is available
- - set more restrictive standards for selecting tenants or refuse to rent to members of certain groups
- - before or during the tenancy, set different terms, conditions, or privileges for rental of a dwelling unit, such as requiring larger deposits of some tenants or adopting an inconsistent policy of responding to late rent payments
- - terminate a tenancy for a discriminatory reason.
Find out more about the law
Federal antidiscrimination laws are admininstered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). If you want to read the text of federal discrimination law, see 42 United States Code Sections 3601-3619 and 3631.