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With the spring leasing season in full swing, the Coach gets back to basics with a refresher on fair housing law. Think you already know all you need to know? You might be surprised, since the law banning housing discrimination isn’t as straightforward as it seems. Whether you’re new to the industry or a seasoned veteran, it’s important to understand how the law protects prospects, applicants, and residents so you can recognize—and avoid...

In this lesson, the Coach spotlights recent news of settlements reached in fair housing cases. The amounts reportedly paid are sometimes staggering—which is news in and of itself—and show just how much it can cost to resolve fair housing complaints. But the real news is in the backstory, the events that led to a complaint against the community. It’s there that you can learn what, if anything, the community could have done to avoid the problem ...

In this month’s lesson, the Coach features 37 tips to help you prevent fair housing trouble at your community. Federal fair housing law bans housing discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability, and familial status. On top of that, many state and local laws also ban discrimination based on marital status, age, and sexual orientation, to name a few other commonly protected characteristics.

To kick off the New Year, Fair Housing Coach spotlights HUD’s new proposed rules on harassment and liability for discriminatory practices—and how they may affect your community’s efforts to comply with fair housing law.

In October 2015, HUD released a proposed rule to create new fair housing regulations that would apply nationally to both private and federally assisted communities. Though released in a single proposed rule, the new regul...

The Coach wraps up 2015 with a review of all the lessons covered this year. Keep it handy—it’s a quick refresher on top fair housing concerns and a helpful index to the full lessons, all of which are available to review online or download from FairHousingCoach.com. And you’ll also find quiz questions—with links to the answers—so you can see how much you’ve learned.

There’s often a lot of attention on avoiding fair housing trouble during the leasing process, but those concerns don’t end once the lease is signed. Fair housing law protects not only prospects and applicants who are denied housing, but also current and former residents who claim unfair treatment because of their race, ethnicity, or other protected class.

In this Special Issue, Fair Housing Coach spotlights the new Supreme Court ruling on fair housing law and what it may mean for your community.

In this lesson, the Coach reviews fair housing rules banning discriminatory statements. The rules apply to discriminatory advertising, but there’s more to it than that, since they apply to all kinds of statements, including:

This month, the Coach reviews fair housing laws in 30 of the nation’s largest cities (based on the size of the population). It’s a must-read if you’re in those cities, but it’s helpful even if you’re not, since it shows how there can be different fair housing rules even for communities in the same state.

In this month’s lesson, the Coach reviews what happens if someone files a fair housing claim against you. It’s probably not a regular occurrence at your community, so you may be taken aback and not know what to do, particularly if you’ve never or only rarely received a formal fair housing complaint.