Fair Housing - Equal Opportunity for All

Fair Housing is not option - it's the law. The Fair Housing Act covers most housing and prohibits discrimination in housing because of race or color, national origin, religion, gender, familial status (including children under the age of 18 living with parents or legal custodians, pregnant women, and people securing custody of children under 18), or disability. Under the Fair Housing Act, it is against the law to:

• Refuse to rent to you or sell you housing
• Tell you housing is unavailable when in fact it is available
• Show you apartments or homes only in certain neighborhoods
• Set different terms, conditions, or privileges for sale or rental of a dwelling
• Provide different housing services or facilities
• Advertise housing to preferred groups of people only
• Refuse to provide you with information regarding mortgage loans, deny you a mortgage loan, or impose different terms or conditions on a mortgage loan
• Deny you property insurance
• Conduct property appraisals in a discriminatory manner
• Refuse to make reasonable accommodations for persons with a disability if the accommodation may be necessary to afford such person a reasonable and equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling
• Fail to design and construct housing in an accessible manner
• Harass, coerce, intimidate, or interfere with anyone exercising or assisting someone else with his / her fair housing rights

Fair Housing - Equal Opportunity for All Booklet

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has an excellent booklet available to help you understand more about housing discrimination, how to recognize it, and what rights and protections you have under the law. You can view and/or download a copy of the booklet Fair Housing - Equal Opportunity for All in English (PDF) or Spanish (PDF). For the booklet in additional languages, you can visit the HUD website.