Year in Review: Highlights from the 2020 Lessons

November 10, 2020    
This month, Fair Housing Coach wraps up 2020 with a review of this year’s lessons. Keep it handy—it’s a quick refresher on top fair housing concerns we covered this year. It’s also a helpful index to the full lessons, all of which are available to our subscribers for review...

Beware of 'Drive-By' Accessibility Testing

October 13, 2020    
In this month’s lesson, the Coach aims to raise your awareness about “drive-by” accessibility testing. Even if you’ve never heard of it, drive-by accessibility testing could uncover a potentially expensive source of liability lurking in plain sight at your community.

Legal Update: Recent Developments in Fair Housing Law

September 10, 2020    
Amid the coronavirus crisis and the gridlock in Washington, it’s hard to predict where we’re headed in this election year. Given the uncertainty about what’s going to happen on the national level, it seems like a good time to look at some recent major developments in fair housing...

Dos & Don'ts for Handling Reasonable Accommodation Requests

August 7, 2020    
In this month’s lesson, Fair Housing Coach focuses on reasonable accommodation requests by individuals with disabilities. Fair housing rules governing reasonable accommodation requests are often difficult to apply in the real world. The law requires communities to consider each request on a...

How to Fulfill Your Duty to Prevent Race Discrimination

July 13, 2020    
Recent protests against racial inequities in policing have drawn attention to racism elsewhere, including in housing.   In this month’s lesson, the Coach focuses on fulfilling your obligation to comply with fair housing rules banning discrimination based on race and color.

How Communities Successfully Defend Against Disability Discrimination Claims

June 9, 2020    
Three recent cases offer keys to avoiding complaints and court losses.   In this lesson, Fair Housing Coach highlights recent court rulings to show how communities successfully defend themselves from disability discrimination claims in court. Though the law has been on the books for decades,...

How to Comply with Fair Housing Law While Dealing with COVID-19

May 14, 2020    
In this month’s lesson, we’ll look at how to avoid fair housing trouble while dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. For months now, the nation has been confronting the public health emergency caused by the new coronavirus. By April, all 50 states had reported cases of COVID-19 to the U.S...

10 Dos & Don'ts for Dealing with Families with Children

April 10, 2020    
Complaints can arise from the way you advertise, show units, apply occupancy standards, and enforce community rules.   In this month’s lesson, the Coach looks at fair housing problems that can arise when dealing with families with children. Fair housing law bans discrimination against...

How to Comply with HUD's New Guidance on Assistance Animals

March 6, 2020    
We'll explain HUD's five-part guide for assessing accommodation requests for assistance animals.  

Proceed with Caution When Responding to a Hoarding Problem

February 10, 2020    
In this lesson, Fair Housing Coach tackles a challenging problem: resident hoarding. In multifamily housing communities, extreme cases of hoarding can pose serious health and safety hazards—not only to anyone living in the affected unit, but also to neighbors who may share walls, ceilings,...