Fair HousingFair Housing is the right of all people to buy, sell or rent residential property, and to live where they wish free from discrimination. The Fair Housing Act ensures equal access to rental housing and home ownership opportunities by prohibiting the denial of housing because of:
RACE: a person's race or the race of persons with whom one associates:
COLOR: a person's skin color NATIONAL ORIGIN: the country of one's birth or the nationality of one's ancestors RELIGION: a person's religious beliefs or denomination SEX: a person's biological characteristics FAMILIAL STATUS: refers to families in which one or more children under 18 years old live with a parent, a person with legal custody, or a designee from the parent or legal custodian. Also applies to pregnant women and persons in the process of securing legal custody of a child or children under 18 years old. DISABILITY: a physical or mental disability that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a record of having such a disability, or being regarded as having such impairment. This includes people with HIV or AIDS, any visitors or family members who have HIV or AIDS, and people who are erroneously thought to have HIV or AIDS. What is Prohibited? |
- Refusal to permit a reasonable modification to the unit at the expense of the person with a disability, so that person may have full enjoyment of the unit
- False denial of availability, advising someone that there are no available units when, in fact, there are.
- Refusal to deal; refusing to rent, sell, or negotiate with a person.
- Discriminatory terms, conditions and provision of services or facilities-giving less favorable terms in sales o rental agreements.
- Discriminatory advertising, indicating any preference, limitation or discrimination.
- Blockbusting: for profit, to artificially change the demographic composition of a neighborhood through manipulation
- Steering: Maneuvering home-seekers to buy or rent in neighborhood composed of persons of the same face.