Fair housing laws promote equality, prevent discrimination in housing, and aim to ensure that everyone has the right to a safe and comfortable home. Nevertheless, rental property managers and owners may find it difficult to understand and comply with these requirements. While fair housing policies have a simple objective, putting them into action can be more difficult.
Understanding fair housing laws and how they apply to you is critical to keeping your rental properties compliant. Continue reading to understand the fundamentals of fair housing laws, typical compliance difficulties, and best practices for rental property owners and managers.
Understanding Fair Housing Laws
The initial step to understanding fair housing laws is to understand that, depending on your rental property’s location, a variety of federal, state, and municipal laws may apply.
The federal Fair Housing Act of 1968 is the first statute that most people associate with fair housing. This law prohibits discrimination in housing based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, and familial status at a national level. The rule extends to housing sales, rentals, and financing, with the objective of ensuring equal access in all housing-related transactions.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) implements this law, which analyzes accusations and seeks to uphold fair housing standards across the U.S. Along with the Fair Housing Act, other federal housing laws encourage and reinforce the concepts of fair housing. Collectively, these measures contribute to a more equitable housing landscape across the country.
Apart from federal regulations, numerous state and local laws provide additional protections for renters, such as eviction rights, security deposit limits, and discrimination caused by income source, sexual orientation, or gender identity. Some cities have rent control or stabilization laws to prevent excessive rent increases, ensuring housing affordability in high-demand areas. Local tenant rights can additionally encompass security from eviction during stormy weather, access to habitability standards, and requirements for clear communication between landlords and tenants. More information on housing laws in your state can be found online.
Common Compliance Challenges for Property Owners
Recognizing the regulations is a vital starting step, but it is also critical to comprehend common scenarios that may result in housing law violations and how to prevent them. Some common challenges rental property owners and landlords face in complying with fair housing laws, for example, are frequently the result of unconscious bias or dependence on obsolete techniques.
For illustration, tenant screening might be challenging for some property managers and owners because federal law forbids you from rejecting to rent to someone because of their disability, age, or familial issue. So, deciding ahead of time that you will only rent to adults without children, for example, or that you won’t rent to persons in their twenties, are both examples of housing discrimination.
A comparable problem could happen when marketing the property, where property owners and managers may want to advertise for a specific type of tenant. These tactics often infringe on state and federal housing laws. By acknowledging these hurdles 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 important measures that must be taken to ensure that your property management strategies comply with fair housing laws, including creating and rolling out a standardized application process and setting parameters for tenant screenings, which is the most efficient means to prevent accidental discrimination. Other best practices to ensure compliance include:
- Employ inclusive language in rental advertisements instead of discriminating claims or preferences.
- Be consistent in supplying the same information, following the same procedures, and completing the same follow-up actions for each applicant.
- Ensure that your lease terms, rules, and practices are equally fair to all tenants.
- Remain 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.
Developing and adhering to a written non-discrimination policy that shows your devotion to Fair Housing compliance can be helpful for maintaining consistency.
Property Management Companies in Fair Housing Compliance
Experienced property managers should be acquainted with every applicable local, state, and federal regulations. Moreover, as trained professionals, they have procedures in place to ensure that your tenant relations, screening, documentation, and other responsibilities 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 stake in an investment property, it’s critical to be familiar with the laws governing rental properties, housing, and other pertinent matters in order to avoid legal hazards more readily. Property owners can help ensure equitable treatment for all tenants by learning and following fair housing laws.
Collaborating with an experienced property management company like Real Property Management MetroWest-Worcester gives the skills needed to handle the obstacles of fair housing rules in Shrewsbury along with adjacent areas. Contact us today or call 508-329-6000 to get additional information 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.
