Your humble Fair Housing Defense Blog editor gets questions from readers time to time. Which is good. Some I can’t answer off the cuff – such as “[i]t will just take a minute, but can you tell me how much my claim is worth?” Obviously, I can’t do that.  And remember, I am the guy…

The most uncommon year of 2020 continues on, with a most unusual Thanksgiving last week. Accordingly, it is now time for my annual Fair Housing Blog apartment community holiday decoration guide. How do we respect the Christmas celebrations of some, Hanukkah beliefs of others, as well as festive traditions of various other cultures? Can we…

I suspect I have mentioned this before, but it keeps coming up.  In addition to the seven protected classes (race, national origin, color, religion, sex, familial status, and disability) in the federal Fair Housing Act (FHA), there is another cause of action tucked away in a different section of the law that trips up housing…

Catching up with some Fair Housing Defense reader email this week. With the caveat that this blog entry does not constitute legal advice, here we go:

1. Am I part of the problem? Sure hope not. A reader indicated that because I defend those accused of housing discrimination (and specifically that I have previously written I

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In a decision which will likely expand the scope of the federal Fair Housing Act (FHA) by analogy, the U.S. Supreme Court concluded earlier today that a 1960’s era civil rights statute protects gay and transgender workers. By a 6-3 vote, the Supreme Court held that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,…

With the worldwide pandemic set to extend to a new month, both renters and property owners will face new challenges on April 1 – the day when most rents are due. Leasing offices and management companies across the country are bracing for a significant increase in the inability of residents to pay their rent. Like…

A handful of helpful reminders today in response to questions sent in by blog readers:

1. If you are going to draft community rules and policies (indeed, a best practice in my view) please remember not to single out members of a protected class. For example, if you want to prohibit running and/or playing in your

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With the calendar firmly in December, I have now received multiple requests from Fair Housing Defense blog readers (thank you for checking in) for my annual apartment community holiday decoration guide. How do we respect the Christmas celebrations of some, Hanukkah beliefs of others, as well as festive traditions of various other cultures? Can we…