Fair housing laws promote equality, prevent discrimination in housing, and aim to ensure that everyone has the right to a safe and comfortable home. Nonetheless, it can occasionally complicated for rental property managers and owners to understand and abide by these requirements. Fair housing rules have a straightforward ambition, but putting them into effect can be a little more complicated.
Understanding fair housing laws and how they apply to you is important to keeping your rental properties compliant. Keep reading to learn the nitty-gritty of fair housing regulations, common compliance problems, and ideal practices for rental property owners and managers.
Understanding Fair Housing Laws
Finding out which federal, state, and local laws may be applicable to your rental property depends on its place. This is the initial step to understanding fair housing laws.
The federal Fair Housing Act of 1968 is the first rule that most people consider when they think of fair housing. At the national level, this law prohibits discrimination in housing on the grounds of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, handicap, and family status. The objective of the law is to ensure equal access in all housing-related transactions pertaining to housing, incorporating sales, rents, and financing.
This law is carried out by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which looks into grievances and attempts to uphold fair housing standards across the U.S. Other federal housing laws encourage and strengthen the principles of fair housing in addition to the Fair Housing Act. These rules together contribute to a more equitable housing landscape around the nation.
Aside from federal regulations, several state and local laws provide extra protections for renters. These laws cover topics such as eviction rights, security deposit limits, and discrimination based on financial source, sexual orientation, or gender identity. Certain cities have rent boundaries or stabilization laws to prevent excessive rent increases, warranting access to housing in high-demand areas. Local tenant rights may also include safeguards against eviction in the event of severe conditions, access to habitability standards, and necessities for open communication between landlords and tenants. You can get more details about housing laws in your state electronically.
Common Compliance Challenges for Property Owners
Realizing the guidelines is a vital starting step, but it’s also important to be aware of common scenarios that may result in housing law violations and how to prevent them. For instance, unconscious bias or dependence on obsolete measures are the cause of numerous common challenges rental property owners and landlords face when following fair housing laws.
Some property managers and owners may find tenant screening bothersome, for example, because federal law forbids you from refusing to rent to someone based on their age, familial situation, or disability status. As a result, it would be an example of housing discrimination to choose in advance that you will only rent to individuals without children or that you will not rent to anyone in their 20s.
When marketing the property, property owners and managers could want to promote a specific type of tenant, which might present the same issue. State and federal housing laws are typically violated by these approaches. By recognizing 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
Setting standards for tenant evaluations and developing and obeying a standardized application process are important stages in making sure that your property management strategies comply with fair housing laws. Other best practices to ensure compliance include:
- Use inclusive language in rental advertisements to steer clear of inequitable claims or preferences.
- Be consistent with offering the same information, following the same procedures, and implementing the same follow-up actions for each candidate.
- Make sure that your lease terms, guidelines, and standards are equally fair to all tenants.
- Remain updated about reasonable accommodations for tenants with impairments and respond to such requests promptly and appropriately.
- Keep detailed records of all applications, relationships, and decisions, incorporating your justifications for approvals and rejections in case of future disputes or inquiries.
- Look up to an attorney or legal expert when creating policies or handling challenging situations.
Creating and sticking to a written non-discrimination policy that expresses your obligation to Fair Housing compliance is beneficial to maintain consistency.
Property Management Companies in Fair Housing Compliance
All relevant local, state, and federal legislations must be known to experienced property managers. Moreover, they have measures in place as trained professionals to ensure that your tenant relations, screening, documentation, and other operations comply with these regulations. This can reduce the risk of discrimination claims entirely and give you peace of mind.
Building a Fair Housing Culture
To prevent legal traps more readily, you have to be updated on the laws governing rental properties, housing, and related issues because there is so much risk in an investment property. Property owners can help guarantee equitable treatment for all tenants by establishing and following fair housing laws.
The knowledge to deal with the particulars of fair housing laws in Arlington Heights and the adjacent area comes from collaborating with an experienced property management company like Real Property Management Chicago Group. Contact usright now or call 312-265-0660 for further details on guaranteeing compliance with housing laws 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.
