Housing Matters: Everyone Deserves a Fair Path to Housing – Know Your Rights

Your guide to understanding unfair practices and the laws that protect access to equal housing opportunities.

Choosing where to rent or purchase a home is an important decision that involves more than just the type of unit and how much it costs. Where you live impacts your school zones, commuting time and access to public transportation. It can affect the availability of job opportunities, because some employers may require workers to live within a certain distance from the workplace. You might also weigh the proximity to amenities and services, such as grocery stores, medical centers, parks and open spaces in your housing options.

In short, where you live affects opportunities to thrive and contributes to your overall quality of life. Discriminatory practices limit access to housing choices and hinder chances for growth. Not only is housing discrimination unfair, but it’s also illegal.

What Does Fair Housing Mean?

Equal opportunity does not guarantee anyone housing, but it does guarantee everyone the opportunity to be considered fairly. Fair housing means treating people of differing group characteristics the same by anyone who advertises, rents, buys, sells, finances or otherwise deals with housing. It is offering the opportunity for people to obtain housing based only on factual and legal requirements, such as their income, credit and rental history and not on anything else. Fair housing also ensures standards are applied the same for everyone.

Know Your Rights

Federal and state fair housing laws protect people from discrimination when they are renting, buying or securing financing or insurance for any housing. There are few instances where fair housing requirements are exempt, which are mentioned later in this article.

April marks the 58th anniversary since the federal Fair Housing Act was signed into law in 1968. The current federal law prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status and disability.

Virginia’s Fair Housing Law expands protections for all who live in the Commonwealth and also prohibits discrimination based on elderliness (55 years and older), sexual orientation, gender identity, military status and source of funds.

Source of Funds

Source of funds, or source of income, was added as a protected class under the Virginia Fair Housing Law to address discriminatory practices against renters and buyers who lawfully receive funds through assistance, subsidy or benefit programs. For example, while landlords can set a standard for tenants to show sufficient income (such as monthly income three times the rent), it would be discriminatory to disqualify someone based solely on the way they will pay their rent.

This protection extends beyond income received through government programs, such as Housing Choice Voucher, Social Security Disability Income or Supplemental Security Income programs. It also covers support provided through nongovernmental entities, including emergency rental assistance from nonprofit organizations.

Recognizing source of funds as a protected class is important because it’s another way to help ensure all residents — especially those facing affordability challenges — have equal access to rental and homeownership opportunities.

What Practices Are Unfair?

Housing discrimination isn’t always obvious. It’s important to know what unfair practices look and sound like, so you can recognize them if you find yourself in these situations when doing business related to housing:

Avoidance

"Grudgingly" doing something
Refusal to show, rent or sell
Failure to complete, or delaying, maintenance or repairs

Different Requirements

Requiring credit checks for some and not others
Different lease provisions
Different payment terms

Discriminatory Statements

"No kids allowed."
"Your kind isn't welcome."
"You wouldn't be comfortable here."
Interference, intimidation, coercion or harassment

Misrepresentations

Falsifying information
Blockbusting – persuading owners to sell or rent their properties, often at below market value, by suggesting that members of a protected class are moving into a neighborhood
Steering – influencing where someone should buy or rent a home based on a protected class

Fair Housing Exemptions

The following instances are exempt from fair housing requirements:

Owner-occupied buildings with no more than four units
Single-family housing sold or rented without the use of a broker
Housing operated by organizations and private clubs that limit occupancy to members

How to Report Housing Discrimination

If you think your fair housing rights have been violated or you need more information, contact the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and/or the Virginia Fair Housing Office. You have one year after an alleged violation to file a complaint, but you should file it as soon as possible.

HUD
1-800-669-9777
Report Housing Discrimination to HUD

Virginia Fair Housing Office — Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation (DPOR)
804-367-8530 or 888-551-3247
Virginia Fair Housing Office