Q: A pregnant woman comes to see an available one-bedroom unit, but the elderly woman living next door used to complain about noise from the previous tenant’s children. To avoid similar complaints about a crying baby, you tell the pregnant woman that the unit is no longer available. Since she doesn’t have a child now, you couldn’t be accused of a fair housing violation. True or false?

A: False. You could trigger a fair housing complaint for misrepresenting the availability of the unit because the prospect is pregnant. The law banning discrimination based on familial status protects pregnant women in addition to families with children under 18.

Fair Housing Coach recently reviewed how fair housing laws may affect how you attract and rent to people of particular generations. For example, fair housing law may affect the two largest generations—Millennials and Baby Boomers—in different ways. Millennials are more racially and ethnically diverse and, based on their age, more likely to be living with minor children, than older generations. When dealing with Millennials, it’s important to keep in mind fair housing rules banning discrimination based on race, national origin, and familial status.

For Boomers—and older generations—the ban on disability discrimination takes on increasing importance as the likelihood of disability increases with age. Fair housing law not only makes it unlawful to exclude or treat people with disabilities differently than others, but also to deny requests for reasonable accommodations and modifications needed by individuals with disabilities to fully enjoy their home.

To learn more, see the Coach’s August 2018 lesson, “Fair Housing for the Ages: Renting to Millennials, Boomers, and Everyone in Between,” available for download to our subscribers here.