Fair housing means all persons have equal opportunity to be considered for rental units, purchase of property, housing loans, and property insurance.
The State Fair Housing Act (see also the Spanish version) makes it illegal to discriminate in housing because of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, physical or mental handicaps, or family status (families with children).
Discrimination could be any of the following:
A property manager refuses to rent an apartment to a single women, but he will rent the apartment to a single man.
The law applies to the sale, rental and financing of residential housing. Apartments, houses, mobile homes and even vacant lots to be used for housing are covered by the Fair Housing Act. With a few exceptions, anyone who has control over residential property and real estate financing must obey the law. This includes rental managers, property owners, real estate agents, landlords, banks, developers, builders and individual homeowners who are selling or renting their property.
In order to be in compliance with the Fair Housing Act, there are seven basic design and construction requirements that must be met.
Housing discrimination complaint form
