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Q: Your property is located in San Antonio where local ordinance bans military status discrimination. A naval officer has been assigned to a new base and needs a one-bedroom apartment right away. The only one-bedroom apartment that’s currently available is right next door to the unit occupied by a radical peace activist with an erratic personality and history of getting into aggressive confrontations with anybo...
Hidden flaws in the technology can expose you to fair housing liability.
Like other real estate businesses, you may be using ChatGPT, Bard, Bing, and other generative AI products, a.k.a. chatbots, for marketing purposes, such as developing advertising strategies, analyzing housing markets, and generating property listings, ads, social media posts, and other marketing content. Just recognize that for all their potential benefits, chatbots contain flaws t...
Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Representative Scott Peters (D-CA) recently introduced the “Fair Housing Improvement Act” to protect veterans and low-income families from housing discrimination.
Last week’s Pop Quiz posed a question about when you can reject applicants who aren’t U.S. citizens without risking fair housing trouble. The answer was when being a U.S. citizen is required for leasing property under HUD program rules and/or state or local law. But Gwen Volk, president of Gwen Volk INFOCUS, Inc., warns, “That answer may be a bit misleading and cause managers of ...
Q: I manage a rental property in Maine that doesn’t allow pets. An applicant from New York gave me a note from a New York doctor stating that the applicant needs an emotional support animal as an accommodation for a disability. Can I require the applicant to get a note from a local doctor in Maine?
Q: Is there a potential fair housing problem with advertising online that we have, say, two available units at our property, when in fact we have, say, five units? If someone comes to the property, we will show all five units. But we want to show online a more limited supply to create a sense of urgency and demand. Also, some units may be under renovation and we’re not exactly sure when they’ll be availab...
Q: While preparing to open your community’s swimming pool for the summer, you review your pool rules. You want to prevent kids from drowning by requiring them to be responsibly supervised when using the pool. Local ordinances stipulate that all children under 14 must be supervised to use a public pool. Which is the least restrictive way to formulate your own rule?
In a recent case, a tenant claimed she needed an emotional support animal for a mental disability and asked the homeowners association board for an exemption from the community’s no-pet policy. Since the tenant’s disability isn’t readily apparent, the board asked her for verification. She provided a medical note listing her diagnosis.
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