Leasing

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In this month’s lesson, Fair Housing Coach focuses on occupancy standards, an increasing concern for housing communities. Occupancy standards can be a problem because they can restrict the housing choices of families with children. As a general rule, fair housing law doesn’t prevent communities from maintaining reasonable occupancy policies, but it’s unlawful to set overly restrictive occupancy standards that have the effect of excluding families with children.

This month, the Coach zeroes in on the 10 things you can do right now to avoid fair housing trouble. Often, we’re focused on the big picture—and things that take time to put into practice. But for this lesson, we’re focusing on small, immediate steps that you could take right away to cut your risks of a fair housing complaint.

In this month’s lesson, the Coach offers highlights from recent court rulings on fair housing law. For each case, we’ll review what happened and how it landed in court. Then, we’ll explain the fair housing issues involved, and what the court decided and why—so you can understand how to avoid similar fair housing problems at your community. Finally, you can take the Coach’s Quiz to see how much you’ve learned.

In this Special Issue, we’re following up on the Coach’s June 2016 lesson on HUD’s new guidance on criminal background checks with highlights from our recent webinar.

At the webinar, our experts, fair housing attorney Kathelene Williams and Linda Richer, vice president for AmRent, Inc., addressed legal and practical considerations for housing providers when developing a criminal history screening policy.

In this month’s lesson, the Coach reviews fair housing rules protecting children and their families from housing discrimination. The law bans discrimination based on familial status, so it’s unlawful to deny housing to people—or to treat them differently—because there’s a child under the age of 18 in the household. There’s only one exception—but it applies only to senior housing communities that meet strict technical requirements to qualify as “housing for older persons.”

In this lesson, Fair Housing Coach reviews HUD’s latest guidance on the use of criminal background screenings—and what it means for your community.

In April 2016, HUD released new guidance on how federal fair housing law applies to the use of criminal records in both conventional and assisted housing communities. The new guidelines spell out how HUD will evaluate fair housing complaints in cases where a community refuses to rent or renew a lease based on an individual’s criminal history.

With the spring leasing season in full swing, the Coach gets back to basics with a refresher on fair housing law. Think you already know all you need to know? You might be surprised, since the law banning housing discrimination isn’t as straightforward as it seems. Whether you’re new to the industry or a seasoned veteran, it’s important to understand how the law protects prospects, applicants, and residents so you can recognize—and avoid—the pitfalls that commonly lead to fair housing trouble.

In this month’s lesson, the Coach features 37 tips to help you prevent fair housing trouble at your community. Federal fair housing law bans housing discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability, and familial status. On top of that, many state and local laws also ban discrimination based on marital status, age, and sexual orientation, to name a few other commonly protected characteristics.

To kick off the New Year, Fair Housing Coach spotlights HUD’s new proposed rules on harassment and liability for discriminatory practices—and how they may affect your community’s efforts to comply with fair housing law.

In October 2015, HUD released a proposed rule to create new fair housing regulations that would apply nationally to both private and federally assisted communities. Though released in a single proposed rule, the new regulations would cover two major issues by:

This month, the Coach reviews fair housing laws in 30 of the nation’s largest cities (based on the size of the population). It’s a must-read if you’re in those cities, but it’s helpful even if you’re not, since it shows how there can be different fair housing rules even for communities in the same state.