A Property Manager’s Guide to Fair Housing

BY DANIEL BERLIND CEO, SNAPPT

The most egregious Fair Housing violators are easy to spot.

There was the Las Vegas landlord who wrote explicit terms for sexual favors into the leases of his female tenants. Or the New York couple whose available apartments would suddenly evaporate when Black renters showed up at their door.

Those examples, though abhorrent, are obvious.

But it’s the gray areas of Fair Housing that keep property managers up at night. Indeed, property staff may commit potential violations without even knowing it.

Take the well-intentioned leasing agent, who shows a young couple and their child an apartment, telling them. “It’s a great place for young families.” That comment could be construed as either steering — an effort to bring the “right” kind of people to a building — or discrimination toward older adults without kids.

More subtle would be a policy that states all invoices and rent notices must be sent directly to tenants, no exceptions. That may seem like a commonsense policy. But for a tenant with a developmental disability that prevents them from doing their own finances and requests all notices be sent to a family member instead, it could be seen as a refusal to make a reasonable accommodation — another violation.

Property managers also need to consider whether their teams’ conversations with prospects would pass as compliant in court. Fair Housing “testers” regularly apply for apartments, while candidly recording their conversations with agents for later use in suits. Indeed, one well established industry tester has recorded more than 1,500 interactions.

The cost for getting it wrong isn’t cheap. Civil penalties for Fair Housing violations can be as high as $100,000. In addition, landlords may be responsible for paying compensatory damages to a tenant, covering their out of pocket expenses incurred while looking for and renting alternative housing, as well as their legal fees in pursuing a claim.

The bottom line is that Fair Housing law can be complex, and even unintentional violations can be costly.

Understanding its nuances means the difference between a successful rental property, or ending up battling discrimination claims, no matter how well intentioned your leasing agents are. Consistent policies and procedures help, as does the use of technology, to ensure every prospective tenant, regardless of who they are, receives the same service and treatment from your team.

The federal Fair Housing Act became law on April 11, 1968, just a week after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a vocal advocate for fair housing rights. Its goal is to ensure that every neighborhood is a place of opportunity for all people.

At the federal level, the Fair Housing Act makes it illegal to discriminate in housing on the basis of:

• Race

• Color

• National origin

• Religion

• Sex (including gender identity and sexual orientation)

• Familial status

• Physical or mental disability

State and local laws often also include provisions around:

• Age

• Citizenship

• Source of income (including rental assistance programs, such as Section 8 housing vouchers)

• Criminal history

While these protected classes seem straight forward, applying them to real world situations can get complicated. Particularly challenging are policies that could be considered as having a “disparate impact,” even unintentionally, against covered classes. Property managers should pay particular attention to the following Fair Housing problem areas.