With my annual apology to David Letterman, the first Fair Housing Defense blog entry of the year is always my favorite as I highlight the Top Ten posts from the previous year (and you can click on each entry if you want to read it). I am not surprised to see that issues involving the
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Thoughts On Avoiding Criminal Background FHA Claims
I have heard from a couple of clients (and potential new clients) recently after they received either a demand letter or lawsuit (or both) asserting their property violated the Fair Housing Act (FHA) related to criminal background screening. The letter from counsel asserts that an applicant tried to rent an apartment and was rejected because…
HUD Settles Sexual Harassment Fair Housing Act Charge from California for $13,000
Pursuant to the terms of a conciliation agreement, the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) announced earlier this month that it facilitated settlement of a sexual harassment Fair Housing Act (FHA) case from California. As a part of the agreement, the Respondents, although denying the allegations, agreed to pay $13,000 as well as…
Early Lease Terminations and COVID-19: Here Are Some Guidelines
As written here (and elsewhere), the COVID era has raised housing law issues nobody had thought of until March 2020. While there are recently approved vaccines, until those vaccines are widely distributed to the American public (and I fully support health care professionals, first responders, frontline workers, as well as nursing home residents and other…
Department of Transportation Limits Emotional Support Animal Travel on Airlines
As Fair Housing Defense blog readers are aware, the issue of questionable/fraudulent medical verifications for certain assistance animals has vexed both the professional apartment industry and airlines for some time now. In an effort to provide additional guidance for air travel, last week the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) published a final rule which provides…
“Is My Property Covered Under the Fair Housing Laws?”
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…
An Apartment Community Holiday Decoration Guide
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…
HUD Settles Disability Fair Housing Act Case for $34,900
Pursuant to the terms of a formal Consent Order, earlier this month, a property owner/manager in Georgia agreed to settle a Fair Housing Act (FHA) disability discrimination case for $34,900 as well as various additional affirmative relief. Factually, the case arose because a resident who received disability benefits sought a reasonable accommodation to move the…
HUD Charges Pennsylvania Property With Disability Discrimination
Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) announced that it charged a Pennsylvania property owner with disability discrimination related to assistance animals and designated parking spaces pursuant to the Fair Housing Act (FHA).
The case was referred to HUD by a local fair housing tester agency. The agency received a…
HUD Initiates Religious Discrimination Fair Housing Act Case
Most of the fair housing cases I report about in this Blog are brought by individuals or on behalf of individuals by a local fair housing advocacy group. There is, however, another way for a complaint to be filed. The federal Fair Housing Act (FHA) as well as many state law counterparts, permit what is…