Dealing with Domestic Violence: How to Avoid Fair Housing and Other Legal Traps

October 22, 2021    
Look at your watch and count off 60 seconds. If the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) averages hold true, by the time you’re done, 20 people in the U.S. will have suffered physical abuse at the hands of an intimate partner. What people do to each other in their own homes is directly relevant...

Fair Housing Retaliation Liability Risks & How to Avoid Them

September 16, 2021    
“Retaliation” is a fancy word for revenge. It’s a nasty action that you take to get back at somebody for doing something bad to you. In the context of fair housing, retaliation means an unfavorable action a landlord takes like rejecting a rental applicant or evicting a tenant...

Back to School: How to Avoid Fair Housing Trouble When Renting—or Not Renting—to Students

August 24, 2021    
Leasing to students who attend or college or university in your geographic market can be an excellent source of income. At least 79 percent of the students attending a two- or four-year college live off-campus, according to the Urban Institute. In many rental markets, demand for student rental...

Responding to Requests for Disability-Related Parking Accommodations

July 20, 2021    
Nearly 61 million people in the U.S., roughly one in four of the adult population, have disabilities. Mobility impairment is the most common disability, particularly among those age 65 and older. Leasing to people with disabilities poses fair housing compliance challenges. Simply refraining from...

How to Avoid Discriminating Against People with Limited English Proficiency

June 15, 2021    
More than 25 million people in the U.S. have limited ability to speak, understand, write, and read the English language. That’s about 9 percent of the national population. Sadly, people in this “limited English proficiency” (LEP) group frequently get doors slammed in their faces....

10 Pitfalls to Avoid When Responding to a Sexual Harassment Complaint

May 17, 2021    
We all know that it’s illegal for landlords to demand sexual favors or otherwise sexually harass their tenants. But it still happens all the time. And given the inherent imbalance in economic power between landlords and tenants, it’s a problem that’s unlikely to go away any time...

How to Limit Liability for Tenant-on-Tenant Harassment

April 19, 2021    
While the current law is unsettled, for landlords there’s much more at stake than what the law requires.  

Avoiding Discrimination on the Basis of Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity

March 16, 2021    
HUD is stepping up enforcement of the laws banning LGBT discrimination.  

How to Steer Clear of Illegal Steering

February 16, 2021    
Contrary to popular belief, housing segregation remains alive and well not just in specific regions of the U.S. but across America. So concluded HUD upon completing its most recent review of the state of fair housing in the U.S. “Real estate agents and rental housing providers recommend and...

How to Perform Criminal Records Checks Without Committing Discrimination

January 20, 2021    
The last thing you or your residents would ever want is to have murderers, rapists, drug dealers, arsonists, and other dangerous criminals in your community. And because “criminals” aren’t among the people that fair housing laws protect, it’s okay to refuse to rent to...