February 12, 2015
In this month’s lesson, the Coach looks at fair housing problems that can arise when dealing with residents who break the rules. The specifics will vary, but all residents have to abide by some basic rules: They must pay rent, avoid damage to the unit (subject to reasonable wear and tear),...
January 16, 2015
This month, the Coach takes a look at recent trends—and what they may mean for your fair housing program. The big news is a U.S. Supreme Court case on whether federal fair housing law imposes liability for discrimination based on disparate impact—that is, when a housing practice has a...
December 19, 2014
This month, the Coach focuses on the rules banning retaliation—a separate, and often overlooked, source of liability under fair housing law. Under the retaliation rules, it’s unlawful to “coerce, intimidate, threaten, or interfere with” anyone exercising a fair housing right...
December 4, 2014
In this Special Issue, we’re going to wrap up 2014 with a summary of all the lessons covered over the year. Keep it handy—it’s a brief refresher on top fair housing concerns and a helpful index to the full lessons, all of which are available to subscribers to review on—or...
November 13, 2014
In this month’s lesson, we’re going to look at how to provide maintenance services to residents at your community without violating fair housing law.
It’s important to maintain the property and respond to residents’ requests for maintenance or repairs, but you could get into...
October 8, 2014
In this month’s lesson, Fair Housing Coach invites you to be the judge in several recent court cases involving reasonable accommodation requests. Fair housing law prohibits housing discrimination based on disability, and one form of disability discrimination is refusal to make reasonable...
September 15, 2014
In this month’s lesson, Fair Housing Coach spotlights fair housing problems that can arise when dealing with prospects. The majority of fair housing complaints occur during the apartment-seeking and rental-selection phase, says fair housing expert Shirley Robertson. And some have hit the news...
August 22, 2014
This month’s lesson focuses on complying with fair housing law when renting to students. Not so long ago, the major fair housing concern was discrimination against students—who faced difficulty finding housing based on a lack of positive credit history and worries about loud parties,...
July 31, 2014
In this Special Issue, we’re tackling recordkeeping—a task that’s essential to protect your community from fair housing trouble.
Why is having the proper paperwork so important? Because it puts you in the best position to prevent fair housing violations—and to defend...
July 10, 2014
This month’s lesson focuses on a tough problem: sexual harassment. You might be familiar with rules banning sexual harassment of employees in the workplace, but there are similar rules banning sexual harassment of prospects, applicants, and residents of multifamily housing communities.
