Fair Housing Practices for Landlords

There are fair housing laws at the federal, state and local level that are designed to prevent discrimination in housing. It’s important to know how to avoid housing discrimination, because landlords can find themselves in legal trouble if an application is denied for the wrong reasons, or if applicants or tenants are treated differently.

Avoid the Practice of Redlining
Fair housing laws state that landlords cannot deny rentals based on race, ethnicity, employment, gender, familial status, etc. Doing so is considered discrimination or redlining, and if someone files a valid complaint against you, it can cost thousands of dollars in civil penalties. For a complete list of protected classes, visit the HUD.gov website so you can read about the federal Fair Housing Act. You’ll also need to understand the California laws that prohibit housing discrimination as well as any local statutes.

Consistent Application Procedures
While housing discrimination can happen at any time during the rental process, even the advertising stage, most of the danger rests in the application process. We recommend you set general procedures for your applicants, and then follow those policies consistently for everyone who applies. Provide a written list of criteria so all your potential tenants will know what’s needed in order to get approved for a rental home. Then, as you are screening tenants, make sure you hold everyone to the same standards, and make sure you screen each application the same way. This is the best way to protect yourself against any allegations of housing discrimination. You’ll be able to demonstrate that you have a documented procedure, and you follow it for each application.

At MSB, we use four-part procedure for all of our applicants. We follow it for everyone so there is no danger of unintentional redlining. If you have any questions about fair housing and housing discrimination, please contact us at MSB Property Management by calling 1-510-649-3380.