Fair Housing Violations

Liability Is Based Not Just on What Policies Say But How They’re Enforced

 

In determining whether a landlord has committed discrimination, HUD, fair housing groups, and courts consider not only what policies say but how they’re actually enforced. Rental policies or restrictions that appear neutral on their face will constitute discrimination to the extent they’re selectively enforced based on race, etc. An Idaho landlord learned this lesson the hard way.

Situation: An Idaho landlord adopted a strict policy banning visitors from parking in spots reserved for tenants. In November 2016, two service providers, one black the other white, visited a tenant at the community. Upon returning to their vehicles, they discovered that the black service provider’s car had been booted while the white service provider’s car had not—even though they had both parked in similarly marked spaces.

Common Fair Housing Pit Falls: Not Exempting Assistance Animal from No-Pets Policy

Fair Housing Pitfall: Not Exempting Assistance Animal from No-Pets Policy

Failure to make reasonable accommodations for a rental applicant or tenant with a disability is, perennially, the most common type of fair housing complaint, accounting for nearly 60 percent of all cases, according to HUD. Many, if not most of these complaints, involve assistance animals. So, that’s where we’ll start our analysis.

Spot the Discrimination Mistake

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