February 2025 Coach's Quiz
QUESTIONS
1.
A tenant who lives by himself complains that a member of your maintenance staff has inappropriately groped and made unwelcome sexual advances to his girlfriend on numerous occasions. Other female tenants have made similar complaints about the same employee. To the extent the allegations are true, to whom would you be potentially liable for sexual discrimination and harassment?
a. The female tenants
b. The male tenant
c. The male tenant’s girlfriend
d. All of the above
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Correct answer: d
Reason: Rule #4 applies here:
Rule #4: Landlords May Be Liable for Discriminatory Harassment of Guests
Fair housing bans on discrimination include the duty to refrain from harassment on the basis of race, sex, religion, etc. Although it was the maintenance employee rather than the landlord who engaged in sexual harassment, the landlord would still be liable to the extent that the employee is its agent. But the real takeaway from this question is that all of the victims involved would have a valid claim for discrimination against the landlord regardless of their sex or status as tenants or guests. Let’s go through them one at a time.
Answer choices explained:
a. The female tenants were direct targets and victims of the employee’s sex harassment. So, they’d clearly have a valid claim for sex discrimination against the landlord.
b. The male tenant would also have a valid claim for sex discrimination even though he’s not a woman and wasn’t sexually harassed by the employee. The basis of his claim would be that the sexual harassment not only targeted his guest but also deprived him of his right to live in a harassment-free housing environment.
c. The tenant’s girlfriend would also have a valid sex discrimination claim against the landlord even though she’s not a tenant. Her standing derives from her being a guest.
2.
A landlord determined to keep its community and tenants safe learns that the young man who has just moved in with his mom was recently arrested for a felony. What should the landlord do?
a. Evict the mom immediately
b. Let the mom stay but demand that the son move out immediately
c. Find out more about the circumstances and decide whether making the son move out is necessary for safety
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Correct answer: c
Reason: Rules #2 and #3 apply here:
Rule #2: Evicting Tenants for Guests’ Criminal Activity May Discriminate
Rule #3: Overly Broad Guest Restrictions Based on Criminal History May Discriminate
Landlords have a legitimate interest in excluding people who engage in criminal activity; at the same time, restrictions based on criminal background may constitute racial or national origin discrimination. The rule of thumb is that exclusion is allowed if the guest poses a substantial threat to safety and property. The fact that the son in this case was recently convicted of a felony would get you some of the way there. But it wouldn’t be enough for the landlord to conclude that the son poses a substantial threat. There are still other things the landlord must consider before making that judgment. So, c. is the right answer.
Wrong answers explained:
a. The reason a. is wrong is that landlords may not punish entire households for the criminal acts of a single member or guest, especially since there’s no suggestion that the mother in this case did anything wrong.
b. This is wrong because recent conviction of a felony isn’t enough to justify the conclusion that the son poses a substantial threat to safety and health. He may or he may not. There are other things the landlord still needs to consider before making that determination, including what the felony actually was and whether there are any mitigating circumstances involved, such as evidence that the son has since received counselling or successfully completed rehabilitation programs.
3.
A disabled tenant who receives vital care and support from a home care nurse asks you to provide the nurse with a parking space that’s near her apartment. But parking is incredibly tight right now and there are no spaces available. What should you do?
a. Explore alternative accommodations
b. Require another disabled tenant to give up his space to free up a space for the nurse
c. Reject the request because the home nurse isn’t disabled
d. Construct a new parking hangar just for the nurse
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Answer:
Correct answer: a
Reason: Rule #8 applies here:
Rule #8: You May Have to Make Other Reasonable Accommodations for Tenants’ Caregivers
While parking spaces are a common accommodation that landlords are generally expected to provide, it may be unreasonable to grant the tenant’s request in this case because there is no suitable parking available. But even in that event, the landlord still has to consider and talk to the tenant about the possibility of alternative accommodations that would meet the tenant’s needs. For example, maybe the landlord can let the nurse park at another property close to the community that it owns. So, a. is the right answer.
Wrong answers explained:
b. The reason is b. is wrong is that HUD guidance makes it clear that landlords don’t have to grant accommodations that would have an adverse effect on other disabled tenants. In other words, accommodations aren’t reasonable if they’d force a landlord to deprive another tenant of the opportunity to enjoy the dwelling, such as by taking away the tenant’s parking space.
c. This answer is wrong because whether the home nurse has a disability is irrelevant to the question of whether the request of the tenant who is disabled is reasonable.
d. This answer is wrong because constructing a special parking facility for the benefit of one tenant would impose an undue and excessive burden on the landlord.
Answer: C. Deliberately. In the concluding chapter of Walden (a book about his experiences living for two years, two months, and two days by Walden Pond), Thoreau wrote: “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”
Answer: C. Deliberately. In the concluding chapter of Walden (a book about his experiences living for two years, two months, and two days by Walden Pond), Thoreau wrote: “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”
Answer: C. Deliberately. In the concluding chapter of Walden (a book about his experiences living for two years, two months, and two days by Walden Pond), Thoreau wrote: “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”
