Fair housing laws support fairness, prevent discrimination in housing, and strive to ensure that everyone has the privilege of a protected and cozy home. However, rental property managers and owners may find it hard to understand and stick with these regulations. Even though fair housing policies have a simple objective, putting them into effect can be a bit challenging.
Understanding fair housing laws and how they apply to you is important to keeping your rental properties compliant. Continue reading to find out the fundamentals of fair housing laws, common compliance difficulties, and best approaches for rental property owners and managers.
Understanding Fair Housing Laws
The initial step to understanding fair housing laws is to know that, depending on your rental property’s position, a variety of federal, state, and municipal laws may apply.
The Federal Fair Housing Act of 1968 is the first law that most people think of regarding fair housing. This law prohibits discrimination in housing based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, and family status at a national level. The law extends to housing sales, rentals, and financing, with the goal of ensuring equal access to all housing-related transactions.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) employs this law, which examines complaints and seeks to uphold fair housing standards across the U.S. Along with the Fair Housing Act, other federal housing laws support and strengthen the concepts of fair housing. Collectively, these approaches contribute to a more equitable housing landscape across the country.
Besides federal regulations, numerous state and local laws provide additional protections for renters, such as eviction rights, security deposit limits, and discrimination due to income source, sexual orientation, or gender identity. Certain cities have rent control or stabilization laws to prevent excessive rent increases, guaranteeing housing affordability in high-demand areas. Local tenant rights can additionally encompass security from eviction during stormy weather, access to habitability standards, and the need for clear communication between landlords and tenants. More data on housing laws in your state can be found online.
Common Compliance Challenges for Property Owners
Knowing the regulations is a imperative starting step, but it is also vital to comprehend common scenarios that may result in housing law violations and how to avoid them. Some common challenges rental property owners and landlords face in complying with fair housing laws, for instance, are frequently the result of unconscious prejudice or dependence on outdated methods.
For instance, tenant screening might be difficult for some property managers and owners because federal law forbids you from rejecting to rent to someone due to their disability, age, or familial issue. Consequently, 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 similar problem could arise when marketing the property, where property owners and managers may want to advertise for a particular type of tenant. These approaches often infringe on state and federal housing laws. By acknowledging 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 measures that must be taken to guarantee that your property management strategies comply with fair housing laws, including developing and sticking to a standardized application process and setting criteria for tenant screenings, which is the most effective means to prevent unintentional discrimination. Other best practices to ensure compliance include:
- Use inclusive language in rental advertisements instead of discriminating claims or preferences.
- Be consistent in delivering the same information, following the same procedures, and completing the same follow-up actions for each applicant.
- Guarantee that your lease terms, rules, and practices are equally fair to all tenants.
- Remain informed about reasonable accommodations for tenants with disabilities and respond to such requests promptly and appropriately.
- Keep detailed records of all applications, communications, and decisions, recording your reasons for approvals and denials in case of future disputes or inquiries.
- Consult an attorney or legal expert when creating policies or handling challenging situations.
Developing and sticking to a written non-discrimination policy that demonstrates your devotion to Fair Housing compliance can be valuable for maintaining consistency.
Property Management Companies in Fair Housing Compliance
Experienced property managers must be acquainted with every applicable local, state, and federal regulations. In addition, as trained professionals, they have measures in place to ensure that your tenant relations, screening, documentation, and other functions comply with these regulations. This can give you serenity and help reduce the risk of discrimination claims altogether.
Building a Fair Housing Culture
With so much danger in an investment property, you need to be familiar with the laws governing rental properties, housing, and other related matters in order to avoid legal hazards more easily. Property owners can help ensure equitable treatment for all tenants by knowing and sticking to fair housing laws.
Working with an experienced property management company like Real Property Management Vesta gives the skills needed to manage the difficulties of fair housing rules in Forsyth and its vicinity. Contact us today or call 478-257-7055 to get 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.
