The Fair Housing Act is a law that every landlord should be familiar with. It is a piece of legislation that aims to prevent discriminatory practices in the rental housing industry. The act was created so that every American will not be deprived of the opportunity to find a suitable home to live in just because of factors that are beyond their control. The act disallows landlords to deny potential clients from renting their units based on color, gender, race, religious belief, family status, national origin, and disability.

Even in their advertisements, tenants are not allowed to show any discrimination towards people who are protected by the Fair Housing Act. A non-discriminatory environment must be maintained throughout the entire duration of a tenancy.

Landlords are prone to receive lawsuits related to violating fair housing regulations. Oftentimes, they don’t even realize that they’ve committed a violation. Here are a few mistakes landlords often make without them noticing:

Poorly trained staff

A tenant must ensure that everyone who interacts with tenants and prospective clients are aware of the possible violations of the fair housing act. Everyone in charge of management, marketing, leasing, and maintenance should communicate with customers in a respectful way.

They should not practice any form of preferential treatment. For instance, in cases where multiple tenants request for a repair, your maintenance team must respond to the demands in the order that they were requested. They can’t prioritize one tenant over another tenant, even though the latter was the first one to make a request. If you do, it can indicate preferential treatment. The same goes for other services.

Having rules for just a specific group of occupants

One example of this is having a rule that female tenants are prohibited from loitering the facilities unaccompanied. Since women are part of a protected class because you can’t discriminate based on gender, this rule is against the Fair Housing Act. If you want to implement this rule, you should prohibit all tenants from loitering unaccompanied.

Denying Service Animals

Even if you have a no-pet policy, you are not allowed to deny entry of a tenant’s service animal since they are not classified as pets. Since owners of service and companion animals are for impaired tenants, it would be discriminatory if a landlord refuses to provide them reasonable accommodations.

However, if a landlord can prove that there will be an “undue financial burden” on his part if he would accommodate a service animal, the landlord is legally allowed to deny the animal of accommodation. Consulting a lawyer for this is ideal.

Federal Law vs State Law

You have to be familiar with your state’s fair housing laws since there are states that have adopted additional policies.

For instance, in states like California, Delaware, and Connecticut, you are not allowed to discriminate based on marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, and medical condition. For the District of Columbia, you can’t deny a qualified tenant based on their family responsibilities, political affiliation, or personal appearance. And there are states with a different fair housing policy for handling rent, security deposits, and evictions.

It is important that every tenant is familiar with federal and state laws on fair housing. When you create listings on popular property management sites, make sure that you market your units in a way that is not discriminatory to any protected group. Padleads can lead you to a ton of interested applicants, so you have to give them a good impression that you can provide them with accommodation where they won’t be discriminated against.