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In the June 2019 lesson, Fair Housing Coach highlighted three hot button fair housing issues that have been generating a lot of activity in the courts and federal enforcement agencies.

In the May 2019 lesson, Fair Housing Coach discusses what to do if your community is ever accused of a fair housing violation. The stakes have never been higher as federal, state, and local fair housing agencies, along with private fair housing organizations, continue to vigorously enforce fair housing laws.

New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo recently signed into law the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA), which prohibits employers, educational institutions, landlords, creditors, and others from discriminating against individuals on the basis of gender identity or expression, and make offenses committed on the basis of gender identity or expression hate crimes under New York State law.

In the March 2019 lesson, Fair Housing Coach reviews fair housing rules governing senior housing communities. Fair housing law generally prohibits discrimination based on familial status, but there’s a limited exception that applies to senior housing communities that qualify as “housing for older persons.” To qualify, senior housing communities must meet strict technical requirements.

U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) recently introduced the Fair Housing Improvement Act of 2018 to protect veterans and low-income families from housing discrimination.

Q: You could trigger a discrimination complaint if you post an ad online that says, “No Teenagers Please.” True or false?

A: True, you could trigger a discrimination complaint by posting an ad that says, “No Teenagers Please.”

Q: A pregnant woman comes to see an available one-bedroom unit, but the elderly woman living next door used to complain about noise from the previous tenant’s children. To avoid similar complaints about a crying baby, you tell the pregnant woman that the unit is no longer available. Since she doesn’t have a child now, you couldn’t be accused of a fair housing violation. True or false?

Q: A resident asked us for an accessible parking space near his unit as a reasonable accommodation. Our policy is to send a verification form to the resident’s healthcare provider to verify his need for an accommodation. However, the resident gave us a note from his cardiologist, on letterhead, stating that the resident meets the definition of disability as contained in the Fair Housing Act, that he needs an ac...