The fair housing act came into effect to treat everyone who applies for housing equally. Before the act, there were many discriminatory activities, which was performed by landlords, lenders, buyers, and renters that were against social policies. To bring an end to all such unfair activities, the act came into being. Some of the discriminatory actions, such as imposing different prices for renting or selling the property, not performing maintenance or repairs for particular renters on time, or not providing certain facilities on time, were some of the prevalent problems. Majorly gender discrimination, nationality discrimination, and racial discrimination were widespread. Therefore, to bring an end to all such discrimination, the act was created. The law further Lays down some guidelines for all the property owners and the managers, which are mentioned below.

Guidelines For Property Owners And Managers

• The property owners cannot refuse to rent their property to someone based on any discrimination even though the property is available for rent, or because of their protected class.
• The owner and manager to rent cannot discriminate in the terms and conditions of the rental property because of a resident’s protected class. For example, he cannot send violation notice to an alien resident who breaks the rule but not to a Caucasian resident who broke the same rule; such discrimination is not acceptable anymore.
• He cannot print or publish any notice, advertisement, or statement that indicates any preference to a particular religion for nationality.
• Further, the owner or the manager cannot discriminate against a person on the basis of his disability. They cannot refuse to provide reasonable accommodation to a person with a disability or refuse to provide reasonable modifications in the property. For example, if a person uses a wheelchair, the owner or the manager cannot refuse to install a ramp or refuse a blind person to keep a guide dog.
• They cannot retaliate against an applicant or the resident on the grounds that they have asserted fair housing ground or have been a witness in a fair housing investigation. For example, the owner cannot refuse to do necessary repairs on the grounds that the resident filed a fair housing complaint.

What if the Above Guidelines are not Followed?

 Suppose an owner or a manager does not follow the above guidelines. In that case, the resident or any of his or her guest, relative, friend, roommate, subtenant, or others who were harmed because of the association with the resident can file a complaint against them. For example, if an owner or manager does not treat a resident well because he or she has Mexican guests on the rented property, the guests can file a complaint.

Final Words

 The fair housing act’s primary mission is to save people from any biased activities related to rented properties. However, they can legally take action against them or deny a tenant housing based on inability to pay rent, poor credit, or any other information found.