June 2025 Coach's Quiz
QUESTIONS
1. Which of the following is legitimate justification for refusing to rent to a gay male applicant? a. The applicant’s credit rating is below the community’s required minimum standard for eligibility
b. Concern that the applicant may have HIV/AIDS and expose other tenants to infection risk
c. Concern that the applicant’s sexuality won’t mesh with the “Christian values” of other tenants
Click to show the answer
a. The applicant’s credit rating is below the community’s required minimum standard for eligibility
b. Concern that the applicant may have HIV/AIDS and expose other tenants to infection risk
c. Concern that the applicant’s sexuality won’t mesh with the “Christian values” of other tenants
Correct answer: a
Reason: Rules #2 and #6 apply here:
Rule #2: Don’t Let Sexual Stereotypes Affect Your Decisions or Behavior
Rule #6: Beware of LGBTQ+-Based Steering
This scenario makes an important point that applies to not only LGBTQ+-based but also racial, religious, sex, and all other forms of discrimination: The ban on discrimination requires you to provide equal, not preferential treatment. In this case, the landlord may reject a gay applicant for having a poor credit score to the extent it would reject a heterosexual applicant for the same reason. In other words, the fact that the applicant is gay has no bearing on the decision to reject him. So, a. is the right answer. Note: The only situation in which preferential treatment may be required is where a landlord must make reasonable accommodations for an applicant with a disability. But that exception doesn’t apply in this scenario.
Wrong answers explained:
b. The reason b. is wrong is that the landlord’s decision to reject the applicant is based on the stereotype that gay men have or are likely to have HIV/AIDS. And while sexual orientation is in no way considered a disability, having or being perceived as having a disease like HIV/AIDS is. Similarly, rejecting an applicant because you think he’s gay is sexual orientation discrimination even if the perception is wrong and the applicant is actually heterosexual.
c. Refusing to rent to applicants on the basis of their “comfort” or “fit” with other tenants is illegal steering to the extent your assessment is based on the applicant’s race, religion, sex, etc. And that’s exactly what the landlord did in concluding that the applicant’s sexual preference was grounds for excluding him from a “Christian” community.
2. Neighbors with young children complain about a lesbian tenant’s holding hands with her significant other in the lobby and other common areas of the building. What would you advise the landlord to do?
a. Ban the lesbian tenant from being in public areas when kids are present
b. Discreetly and politely ask the lesbian tenant if she’d mind not engaging in public displays of affection in public areas
c. Ban all displays of public affection in the public areas
Click to show the answer
a. Ban the lesbian tenant from being in public areas when kids are present
b. Discreetly and politely ask the lesbian tenant if she’d mind not engaging in public displays of affection in public areas
c. Ban all displays of public affection in the public areas
Correct answer: c
Reason: Rule #7 applies here:
Rule #7: Don’t Discriminate Against Your Current LGBTQ+ Residents
As a landlord, you have the right to set rules of behavior and use of building common areas and facilities. But those rules must be reasonable and nondiscriminatory. A rule banning public displays of affection is defensible, as long as it applies to all persons, and not just persons of a particular sexual orientation or other protected characteristic. So, c. is the right answer.
Wrong answers explained:
a. The reason a. is wrong is that it denies the lesbian tenant access to building public areas on the basis of sexual orientation. The fact that the ban is designed to protect children and limited to hours in which they’re present in the public areas doesn’t make the rule any less discriminatory.
b. At first blush, b. feels a little more acceptable because you’re asking and not demanding that the lesbian tenant refrain from public displays of affection. But because that request singles out the tenant on the basis of her lesbian sexuality, it’s discriminatory regardless of how politely and discreetly you phrase it.
3. A transgender tenant who was born as a male but self-identifies as female reveals her gender identity to the landlord and asks to be referred to using they/them/theirs pronouns. The landlord instructs building staff accordingly. But the maintenance manager is appalled. In addition to using traditional male pronouns, he badgers the tenant and demands that they “act like a man.” All of this occurs in Texas where state fair housing laws ban discrimination on the basis of sex but don’t list sexual orientation or gender identity as protected classes. The tenant sues the landlord for discriminatory harassment. Which of the following is true?
a. The tenant may have a legally valid case against the landlord for sex and gender identity discrimination under the FHA
b. The tenant has a legally valid case against the landlord for sex and gender identity discrimination under Texas law
c. The landlord doesn’t have a valid case for discrimination against the landlord because the harassment was engaged in by the manager and not the landlord
Click to show the answer
a. The tenant may have a legally valid case against the landlord for sex and gender identity discrimination under the FHA
b. The tenant has a legally valid case against the landlord for sex and gender identity discrimination under Texas law
c. The landlord doesn’t have a valid case for discrimination against the landlord because the harassment was engaged in by the manager and not the landlord
Click to show the answer
Correct answer: a
Reason: Rules #3 and #8 apply to this scenario:
Rule #3: Respect LGBTQ+ Persons’ Gender Choices & Pronouns
Rule #8: Protect LGBTQ+ Tenants Against Harassment
There’s no question that the manager engaged in gender identity discrimination by refusing to respect the non-binary tenant’s pronouns and demanding that the tenant “act like a man.” But the question isn’t about whether the manager did something wrong—he clearly did—but whether the landlord would be liable for it. The answer to that question depends on the part of the country where the action takes place.
The starting point is the one constant that applies everywhere in the U.S.—namely, the Bostock case, which stands for the principle that gender identity discrimination is a form of sex discrimination banned by Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act dealing with employment. The unresolved question is whether the same thing is true of housing under Title VIII of the same law. While the Supreme Court hasn’t expressly addressed the question, HUD and several lower federal courts believe that Bostock also applies to housing. So, the tenant probably does have a valid claim against the landlord under the FHA, and a. is the right answer.
Wrong answers explained:
b. is the wrong answer in Texas but would be right if the case took place in one of the many states that expressly ban gender identity discrimination or that interpret its statutory ban on sex discrimination as applying to gender identity. (See the table in the lesson to find out what your state says.) The tenant would also have a valid discrimination claim under local fair housing law if the case occurred in Dallas or another city within Texas where local laws ban gender identity discrimination.
c. is wrong because landlords are liable for discriminatory harassment engaged in by persons under their control. That would include the maintenance manager in this scenario.
