Fair housing laws encourage equality, prevent discrimination in housing, and aim to ensure that everybody has an opportunity to a safe and comfortable home. Nonetheless, grasping and obeying these laws can sometimes prove difficult for rental property managers and owners. While the intent behind fair housing rules is simple, executing them can be a bit more complex.
Understanding fair housing laws and how they apply to you is essential to keeping your rental properties compliant. Stick around to familiarize yourself with the nitty-gritty of fair housing laws, regular compliance issues, and excellent approaches for rental property owners and managers.
Understanding Fair Housing Laws
The first stage to understanding fair housing laws is grasping that, based on where your rental property is sited, a number of laws at the federal, state, and local levels may apply.
The primary rule most people visualize 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, disability, and familial status at a national level. The law is applicable to housing sales, rentals, and financing, aiming to guarantee equal access in all housing-related transactions.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) employs this law, which studies grievances and works to uphold fair housing standards across the U.S. In addition to the Fair Housing Act, other federal housing laws maintain and highlight the principles of fair housing. Together, these principles work toward a more equitable housing landscape around the nation.
On top of federal regulations, several state and local laws present additional protections for renters, dealing with matters like eviction rights, security deposit limits, and discrimination based on income source, sexual orientation, or gender identity. Some municipalities have rent limits or stabilization laws to prevent excessive rent increases, warranting housing affordability in high-demand areas. Local tenant rights may also involve protections against eviction during dangerous weather, access to habitability standards, and necessities for clear interaction between landlords and tenants. You can seek more data about housing laws in your state online.
Common Compliance Challenges for Property Owners
Distinguishing 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 dodge them. For instance, some common challenges rental property owners and landlords face in abiding by fair housing laws often arise from implicit bias or reliance on outdated approaches.
For example, tenant screening can be challenging for some property managers and owners because federal law does not allow you to reject rent to someone based on their incapacity status, age, or family status. Consequently, deciding in advance that you will only rent to adults without children, for illustration, or that you won’t rent to individuals in their 20s, would both be examples of housing discrimination.
A comparable matter can occur when marketing the property, where property owners and managers may want to publicize for a particular type of tenant. These approaches also usually run afoul of state and federal housing laws. By distinguishing these disputes 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 essential steps to guarantee that your property management strategies abide by fair housing laws, such as generating and obeying a standardized application process and creating criteria for tenant inspections, which is the ideal means to avoid accidental discrimination. Other best practices to ensure compliance include:
- Utilize inclusive language in rental advertisements to evade unfair statements or inclinations.
- Be consistent with granting the same data, following the same procedures, and carrying out the same follow-up actions for every applicant.
- Guarantee that your lease terms, rules, and strategies are equally fair to all tenants.
- Stay educated about reasonable accommodations for tenants with disabilities, and respond to such requests promptly and appropriately.
- Keep detailed records of all applications, relations, and choices, documenting your reasons for approvals and denials in case of future disputes or inquiries.
- Communicate with an attorney or legal expert when creating rules or handling difficult circumstances.
Determining and following a written non-discrimination policy that pronounces your responsibility to Fair Housing compliance is advantageous to uphold consistency.
Property Management Companies in Fair Housing Compliance
Experienced property managers should comprehend all applicable local, state, and federal regulations. Also, as trained professionals, they have methods to guarantee that your tenant relationships, inspection, 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 in jeopardy in an investment property, it’s vital to understand laws governing rental properties, housing, and connected matters to avoid legal drawbacks more easily. Property owners can help ensure equitable treatment for all tenants by being aware of and abiding by fair housing laws.
Engaging with an experienced property management company like Real Property Management Lakeside delivers the expertise to navigate the intricacies of fair housing guidelines in Polk County and adjacent areas. Contact us today or call 863-877-1078 for more details on guaranteeing 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.
