Housing discrimination is when someone is denied access to housing based on their characteristics or membership of a group. Landlords, property managers, or banks can be perpetrators. It is illegal in the US to discriminate based on race, nationality, religion, disability, gender, or marital status. Discrimination can occur in rental housing and buying a home, with examples including charging higher rent or denying access to facilities. Banks, insurers, and mortgage lenders may engage in redlining, making it difficult for certain groups to obtain loans.
Housing discrimination is the restriction of access to housing on the basis of a person’s immutable characteristics or membership of a particular class or group. This type of discrimination can be perpetrated by anyone or any organization that owns or controls access to accommodation: landlords, property managers or banks. In housing discrimination, both prospective renters and buyers of housing may be affected by a property owner’s decision not to sell or rent a home, to charge a higher price for housing, or to place special terms on their tenancy or property. In the United States, federal law makes it illegal to discriminate against a potential tenant based on race, nationality or religion, as well as disability, gender or marital status. In some states or localities, however, it is also illegal to discriminate against an applicant based on a criminal record or on the basis of sexual orientation.
In rental housing, housing discrimination can occur when a landlord or property manager rejects someone’s application for a rent based on whether they belong to one of the protected classes as defined by law rather than based on history lease or the financial situation of the applicant. It is also illegal to discriminate against a prospective tenant by charging an additional security deposit, requiring a co-signer, or requesting a higher rent without having a legitimate business reason to do so. For example, landlords renting to families with children in the United States cannot charge the family more rent than the single renter or couple without children. Other types of housing discrimination in rental accommodation include restricting certain tenants and their families from using services or facilities or refusing to provide reasonable accommodations for a tenant with a disability.
Those wishing to buy a home may also face housing discrimination. Historically, homeowners and real estate agents have sometimes teamed up to prevent people of certain races, religions, or ethnicities from buying a home in a particular neighborhood. Even in the absence of that kind of discriminatory behavior, banks, insurers, and mortgage lenders have been known to engage in a practice called redlining in which they refuse to approve mortgages or loans in neighborhoods dominated by a particular racial or ethnic group. Individuals in these communities who want to buy or improve a home may need to borrow money at subprime rates which cost them more over time and involve greater financial risk.
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