May 2017 Coach's Quiz

We’ve given you seven rules on how to avoid fair housing trouble when dealing with immigrants and noncitizens. Now let’s look at how the rules might apply in the real world. Take the Coach’s Quiz to see what you have learned.

INSTRUCTIONS: Each of the following questions has only one correct answer. On a separate piece of paper, write down the number of each question, followed by the answer you think is correct—for example, (1)b, (2)a, and so on.

QUESTION #1

Restricting housing to U.S. citizens could trigger a discrimination complaint. True or false?

a.   True.

b.   False.

QUESTION #2

It’s often difficult to understand prospects who call your office if they have a heavy foreign accent or don’t speak English well, so you usually cut the conversation short and refer them to your website to get information about the community. Although you’re just trying to overcome the language barrier, this could be a problem or discriminatory under fair housing law. True or false?

a.   True.

b.   False.

QUESTION #3

Even if you have good intentions in believing that new immigrants would prefer to live near one another, you risk fair housing trouble if you show them only vacancies in areas where others from the same country already live. True or false?

a.   True.

b.   False.

COACH’S ANSWERS & EXPLANATIONS

QUESTION #1

Correct answer: a

Reason: Rules #1 & #2 apply here:

     Rule #1: Weigh Risks of Policy Restricting Residency to U.S. Citizens

     Rule #2: Decide Whether to Screen Applicants Based on Immigration Status

You could trigger a discrimination complaint by restricting residency to U.S. citizens. Even in certain public housing and federally assisted housing (such as Section 8 properties), the law allows noncitizen applicants and residents with lawful immigration status to live there.

Though citizenship and immigration status are not protected characteristics under the FHA, any restriction on renting to someone who isn’t a U.S. citizen could be seen by the courts as intentional discrimination because of national origin in violation of federal fair housing law. Refusing to rent to people who are not U.S. citizens, but otherwise lawfully in the country, could also trigger a discrimination complaint under other federal civil rights laws.

QUESTION #2

Correct answer: a

Reason: Rules #4 & #5 apply here:

     Rule #4: Don’t Deny Housing Because of Language Barriers

   Rule #5: Avoid Pitfalls That Can Lead to Fair Housing Trouble

Discrimination based on English-language skills isn’t itself a violation of fair housing law, but it’s closely related to national origin and race, which are protected classes under fair housing law. Treating people differently because of their limited ability to speak, read, or understand English could be considered “linguistic profiling,” a practice that could lead to fair housing trouble.

QUESTION #3

Correct answer: a

Reason: Rule #5 applies here:

     Rule #5: Avoid Pitfalls That Can Lead to Fair Housing Trouble

Despite your good intentions, it’s considered unlawful steering to limit a prospect’s housing choices based on his national origin. Unless he says that he wants to see only units near friends, family, or others who are from the same ethnic group, offer to show a prospect all vacancies that meet his rental criteria.