Fair housing laws encourage equality, prevent discrimination in housing, and aim to ensure that everybody has the right to a safe and relaxed home. Nevertheless, understanding and obeying these rules can sometimes prove demanding for rental property managers and owners. While the goal behind fair housing rules is straightforward, executing them can be a bit more complex.
Understanding fair housing laws and how they apply to you is important to keeping your rental properties compliant. Continue reading to learn about the basics of fair housing laws, common obedience issues, and ideal methods for rental property owners and managers.
Understanding Fair Housing Laws
The first step to understanding fair housing laws is understanding that, depending on where your rental property is situated, several regulations at the federal, state, and local levels may apply.
The first law most people come up with regarding fair housing is the federal Fair Housing Act of 1968. This regulation prohibits discrimination in housing based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, incapacity, and familial status at a national level. The law applies to housing sales, rentals, and financing, intending to ensure equal access in all housing-related transactions.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) administers this law, which examines complaints and works to uphold fair housing standards across the U.S. Along with the Fair Housing Act, other federal housing laws support and strengthen the values of fair housing. Together, these guidelines work toward a more equitable housing landscape around the country.
Aside from federal regulations, numerous state and local laws offer additional protections for renters, addressing concerns like eviction rights, security deposit limits, and discrimination due to income source, sexual orientation, or gender identity. Some municipalities have rent control or stabilization laws to prevent excessive rent increases, guaranteeing housing affordability in high-demand areas. Local tenant rights may also include protections against eviction during extreme weather, access to habitability standards, and necessities for clear communication between landlords and tenants. You can discover more information about housing laws in your state online.
Common Compliance Challenges for Property Owners
Being aware of the laws is a critical first step, but it is equally imperative to know common scenarios that may result in housing law violations and how to prevent them. For instance, some common challenges rental property owners and landlords face in obeying fair housing laws often result from implicit bias or dependence on out-of-date practices.
For illustration, tenant screening can be challenging for some property managers and owners as federal law does not allow you to refuse to rent to someone based on their disability status, age, or family status. Therefore, deciding beforehand that you will only rent to adults without children, for instance, or that you won’t rent to people in their 20s, would both be examples of housing discrimination.
A comparable problem can arise when marketing the property, where property owners and managers may want to advertise for a particular type of tenant. These approaches also generally run afoul of state and federal housing laws. By comprehending these difficulties and adjusting your screening and marketing methods, you can better ensure fair and equitable treatment of all prospective residents.
Best Practices for Ensuring Compliance
There are critical steps to ensure that your property management strategies abide by fair housing laws, such as generating and abiding by a standardized application process and creating criteria for tenant screenings, which is the most effective approach to avoid unintentional discrimination. Other best practices to ensure compliance include:
- Utilize inclusive language in rental advertisements to avoid discriminatory statements or preferences.
- Be consistent with giving the same information, following the same procedures, and performing the same follow-up actions for each applicant.
- Guarantee that your lease terms, rules, and policies are equally fair to all tenants.
- Stay knowledgeable about reasonable accommodations for tenants with disabilities and respond to such requests promptly and appropriately.
- Keep detailed records of all applications, interactions, and decisions, documenting your reasons for approvals and denials in case of future disputes or inquiries.
- Consult an attorney or legal expert when developing policies or handling challenging situations.
Establishing and obeying to a written non-discrimination policy that speaks your obligation to Fair Housing compliance is advantageous to retain consistency.
Property Management Companies in Fair Housing Compliance
Experienced property managers should recognize all applicable local, state, and federal regulations. Moreover, as trained professionals, they have procedures to guarantee that your tenant relations, screening, documentation, and other functions comply with these regulations. This can give you composure and help reduce the risk of discrimination claims altogether.
Building a Fair Housing Culture
With so much at risk in an investment property, it’s critical to be familiar with laws governing rental properties, housing, and related matters to prevent legal pitfalls more easily. Property owners can help guarantee equitable treatment for all tenants by knowing and complying with fair housing laws.
Teaming up with an experienced property management company like Real Property Management Instant Equity (SW Michigan) delivers the expertise to navigate the complexities of fair housing regulations in St Joseph and nearby. Contact us today or call 269-210-3771 for more details on ensuring housing law compliance and other quality management services.
We are pledged to the letter and spirit of U.S. policy for the achievement of equal housing opportunity throughout the Nation. See Equal Housing Opportunity Statement for more information.
