Fair Housing Laws Vocabulary Flashcards

Objectives

  • Explain the significance of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and equal opportunity in housing.
  • Describe federal laws protecting Americans from unfair housing practices.
  • Describe blockbusting, steering, redlining, and other abusive housing practices.
  • List recourse options for those who believe illegal discrimination has occurred, including acts of real estate professionals.
  • Describe the importance of understanding and complying with fair housing laws for real estate professionals and the public.

Key Terms

  • Administrative Law Judge
  • Americans with Disabilities Act
  • Blockbusting
  • Civil Rights Act of 1866
  • Conciliation
  • Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
  • Fair Housing Act
  • Fair Housing Amendment Act
  • Housing for Older Persons Act
  • Redlining
  • Steering
  • Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968

Overview

  • Real estate professionals must recognize and serve the diversity of America's population.
  • Fair housing is critical for individuals and families to achieve a satisfying lifestyle.
  • Housing discrimination negatively impacts both victims and society.
  • Legal action is available to correct housing abuses, benefiting everyone.
  • Understanding and complying with fair housing laws is critical for a vibrant and profitable real estate market.

History of Civil Rights Laws in Real Estate

  • Civil rights laws recognize the importance of the opportunity to live where one chooses.
  • Federal, state, and local fair housing laws affect every phase of a real estate transaction.
  • These laws ensure housing is not denied based on race, nationality, religion, or other protected characteristics.
  • Real estate professionals must not allow their own prejudices or discriminatory attitudes of others to affect compliance with fair housing laws.
  • Failure to comply with fair housing laws can result in civil and criminal penalties as well as disciplinary action by licensing authorities.

Civil Rights Act of 1866

  • This law prohibits discrimination based on race in every property transaction.
  • It was largely ignored for a century.

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

  • The U.S. Supreme Court upheld racial segregation in public facilities, establishing the separate but equal doctrine.
  • This case legitimized Jim Crow laws and segregation for decades.
  • Plessy, an attorney, challenged Louisiana's Separate Car Act by sitting in a white-only railway car.
  • The Supreme Court ruled against him, reinforcing segregation.

Key Events

  • 1941: President Roosevelt signed an executive order prohibiting racial discrimination in the national defense industry.
  • 1948: President Truman signed an executive order ending racial discrimination in the U.S. armed forces.

Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

  • The U.S. Supreme Court overturned Plessy v. Ferguson, declaring that separate schools for black and white students were inherently unconstitutional.
  • Some states resisted integration despite the ruling.

Civil Rights Act of 1957

  • President Eisenhower signed this act, authorizing the attorney general to seek federal injunctions to protect the voting rights of African Americans.
  • Voting rights of African Americans are still at risk today.

Jones v. Mayer (1968)

  • The U.S. Supreme Court held that the Civil Rights Act of 1866 has a constitutional basis in the Thirteenth Amendment, which prohibits slavery.
  • This law prohibits all racial discrimination in the sale or rental of publicly or privately held property without exception.
  • Where race is involved, no exceptions apply.
  • Jones, a black man married to a white woman, was refused the sale of a house by real estate broker Mayer because of his race.
  • The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Jones, reaffirming the Civil Rights Act of 1866.
  • Subsequent cases expanded the definition of race to include ancestral and ethnic characteristics.
  • Discrimination based on race, as currently defined, allows complaints to be brought under the Civil Rights Act of 1866.

Comparison of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and the Fair Housing Act

  • The Civil Rights Act of 1866 applies only to racial discrimination in housing.
  • The Fair Housing Act prohibits specific discriminatory practices throughout the real estate industry.

Fair Housing Act (Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968)

  • Signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on April 11, 1968.
  • Amended by the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 and the Fair Housing Amendment Act of 1988.
  • Prohibits discrimination in housing based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, and disability.
  • Also prohibits discrimination against individuals because of their association with people in protected classes.
  • 1968: Race, color, national origin, and religion are protected.
  • 1974: Sex (gender) was added to the list (Housing and Community Development Act).
  • 1988: Disability and familial status were added (Fair Housing Amendment Act).
  • An exception was made for certain housing intended for persons aged 55 or older.
  • The amendment act also changed the penalties for violation of the law, making them more severe, and added the right to seek damages such as those for noneconomic injuries, humiliation, embarrassment, inconvenience, and mental anguish.
  • Weeks prior to signing, Martin Luther King was assassinated, which pushed President Johnson to sign the law.

Housing for Older Persons Act (1995)

  • Repealed the requirement that housing intended for those aged 55 or older have significant facilities and services designed for seniors.
  • The act also prohibits awarding of money damages to those who in good faith reasonably believe that property designated as housing for older persons was exempt from familiar status provision of the Fair Housing Act.
  • Housing for older persons is exempt from familial status provisions.
  • Active adult communities can restrict residency based on age.

Fair Housing Act Administration

  • Administered by HUD (Department of Housing and Urban Development).
  • HUD's website provides information about fair housing.
  • Real estate brokerage offices should display an equal opportunity poster.
  • Business cards, advertisements, brochures, and flyers should include the equal opportunity logo.

Definitions

  • Dwelling: Any building or part of a building designed for occupancy as a residence by one or more families, including single-family houses, condominiums, cooperatives, manufactured homes, and vacant land for such structures.
  • Familial Status: One or more individuals under 18 living with a parent or guardian, a woman who is pregnant, or anyone in the process of assuming custody of a child under 18.
  • It is illegal to advertise properties as being for adults only or to indicate a preference for a certain number of children.
  • Landlords and condominiums and cooperatives cannot restrict the number of occupants with the intent of eliminating families with children.
  • Occupancy standards must be based on objective factors such as sanitation or safety.
  • Rentals provide opportunities, and it is important to know the rules for the county where the house is located.
  • Baltimore City example BaltimoreCityMaryland.gov.

Disability

  • Included in the Fair Housing Act as a handicap, but the preferred word is disability or people with disabilities.
  • Disability: A physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of a person's major life activities.
  • It includes having a record of such an impairment or being regarded as having such an impairment, even if one does not exist.
  • It is unlawful to discriminate against prospective buyers or tenants based on their disabilities.
  • Persons who have AIDS are protected under this classification.
  • Landlords must make reasonable accommodations to existing policies, practices, or services to permit persons with disabilities to have equal enjoyment of the premises.
  • This includes allowing a support animal in a no-pets building or providing a designated parking space.
  • People with disabilities must be permitted to make reasonable modifications to the premises at their own expense.
  • Failure to permit reasonable modifications constitutes illegal discrimination.
  • If modifications make the property undesirable to the general public, the landlord can require the property to be restored to its previous condition (aside from reasonable wear and tear) at the tenant's expense.
  • The landlord may require the tenant to pay into an interest-bearing escrow account to ensure funds for restoration.
  • The interest accrues to the benefit of the tenant, and the landlord may not increase the security deposit for a person with a disability.
  • In newly constructed multifamily buildings with an elevator and four or more units, public and common areas must be accessible to persons with disabilities.
  • Doors and hallways must be wide enough for wheelchair.
  • Entrances to each unit must be accessible, as are light switches, electrical outlets, thermostats, and other environmental controls.
  • A person using a wheelchair should be able to use the kitchen and bathroom.
  • Bathroom walls should be reinforced to accommodate later installation of grab bars.
  • Ground floor units must meet these requirements in buildings without elevators.
  • State and local laws may have stricter standards.

Exceptions to the Fair Housing Act

  • Owner-occupied buildings with no more than four units.
  • Single-family housing sold or rented without the use of a real estate professional.
  • Housing operated by organizations and private clubs that limit occupancy to members.
  • The rental of rooms or units in an owner-occupied building of no more than four units is exempt from the Fair Housing Act.
  • The sale or rental of a single-family home is exempt from the Fair Housing Act when the transaction meets all the following conditions:
    • The home is owned by an individual who does not own more than three such homes at one time and who does not sell more than one home every two years.
    • A real estate professional is not involved in the transaction.
    • Discriminatory advertising is not used.
  • Housing owned by a religious organization may be restricted to people of the same religion if membership in the organization is not restricted on the basis of race, color, or national origin.
  • Private clubs that are not open to the public may restrict the rental or occupancy of their lodgings to members, as long as those lodgings are not operated commercially, and membership in that private club must be open to people of all races, colors, and national origins.

Maryland Law Exceptions

  • Maryland law has exceptions to its anti-discrimination requirement that parallel those in the 1968 and 1988 Fair Housing Act.
  • An individual is permitted to show discretion in the sale or rental of a single-family dwelling if the property is sold or rented without the help of any licensed broker or any other person in the business of selling or renting dwellings.
  • The seller must use no discriminatory advertising in marketing a property.
  • Maryland's law makes no requirement about the number of properties the seller may own or how many may be sold within a specified time.
  • Racial discrimination is not permitted in any of these situations because of the Civil Rights Act of 1866.
  • The law allows an owner-occupant of a single-family principal residence to reject tenant applicants for rooms based on sex, marital status, and/or sexual orientation.
  • The owner-occupant of a building of five or fewer rental units may also reject applicants in the three previously listed categories.
  • The federal law standards a total of four few units.
  • One and sharing their living quarter with them, never on race, color, religion, and national origin.