The Fair Housing Act, part of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, prohibits discrimination in housing based on national origin, creed, race, gender, marital status, or disability. It covers landlords, real estate agents, and lenders and addresses various forms of discrimination. However, discrimination can be subtle and difficult to detect. The act also addresses coercion and threats to tenants and home buyers. Both tenants and landlords should be aware of the act’s terms and connect with organizations that support fair housing.
The Fair Housing Act is a piece of legislation that was passed in the United States in 1968, building on the earlier Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Fair Housing Act was the main part of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, and you may hear the Fair Housing Act referred to as the Civil Rights Act of 1968 for this reason. This piece of legislation was designed to spell out the types of housing prejudice that are illegal and to establish clear penalties for violations of the law. It has been updated several times since 1968 to protect additional groups under the law.
Under the Fair Housing Act, people cannot be discriminated against on the basis of their national origin, creed, race, gender, marital status or disability. The Fair Housing Act covers landlords, real estate agents and lenders, addressing the many facets of housing in the United States. If someone is suspected of a violation or reported to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Justice Department may choose to pursue criminal action.
There are several ways the Fair Housing Act works. In the most basic sense, people cannot be denied a rental or sale home based on the above categories, although landlords may discriminate on the basis of financial means, ability to take care of property and references. The Fair Housing Act also does not currently cover discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender. Discrimination can take the form of advertisements with wording like “no Jews” and statements like “I will not rent to a family with children” at a property show. It can also include practices such as redlining and restrictive covenants.
One of the problems with the Fair Housing Act is that the discrimination is often subtle, especially as it has become less and less socially acceptable. Few landlords are stupid enough to indicate that they refuse to rent to Hispanics in an advertisement, for example, but landlords are free to deny a rental without explanation, and a racist landlord will. Often victims of discrimination are totally unaware of the discrimination and therefore it is not reported. The Justice Department uses a housing review team to look for instances of such discrimination, sending people acting as interested renters or homebuyers.
The Fair Housing Act also addresses coercion and threats to tenants and home buyers. For example, if a landlord sexually harasses a tenant and claims that he will evict the tenant if the harassment is reported, this is illegal under the Fair Housing Act.
Both tenants and landlords should be aware of the terms of the Fair Housing Act. Landlords, in particular, need to be very careful what they say and how they word their leases. Many owners like to use standard forms for this very reason. Tenants should read the Fair Housing Act and connect with organizations that support fair housing to ensure they are treated fairly.
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