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As your residents prepare for a diverse array of holiday celebrations in and around their homes, it’s important to remember fair housing laws that provide protections against religious discrimination. That’s the advice of the Illinois Department of Human Rights, which recently reminded Illinois renters and property owners that state law prohibits targeted, discriminatory restrictions on decorations and celebrations.
Q: Although your community has a policy of providing unassigned parking, an applicant says he wants an assigned parking space near to the building entrance because of a disability. He doesn’t use a cane or appear to have any difficulty walking, but you could trigger fair housing trouble if you ignore his request. True or false?
Q:When setting occupancy standards, communities may factor in any limitations of building systems—such as the load on water, septic, sewer, and electrical systems—along with other factors pertinent to the size and configuration of the units. True or false?
Q:Your office staff is shorthanded, so you hire a new employee to answer the phones. Since she has prior experience working in a leasing office, you should let her get to work immediately. True or false?
A:False. Make sure that new hires get at least some basic fair housing training—before allowing them to answer the phone or interact with t...
Q:Our community has conducted criminal background checks for years, but we’ve been hearing about new HUD rules restricting our ability to screen residents based on their criminal history. What do the rules say—and how quickly should we act to avoid fair housing trouble based on our criminal screening policy?
Q: Three months after a new resident moves in, your community learns that she has a cat in violation of your no-pet policy. A manager tells her that she must remove the cat or face eviction, but the resident asks to keep it, explaining that she has physical and mental impairments and that she needs the cat for emotional support.
In April 2016, HUD released new guidance on how federal fair housing law applies to the use of criminal records in both conventional and assisted housing communities. The new guidelines spell out how HUD will evaluate fair housing complaints in cases where a community refuses to rent or renew a lease based on an individual’s criminal history. Based on the latest guidance, you may have many questions about whether—and when—you can use criminal backgroun...
Q: Our community allows pets, but not pit bulls, because we believe they pose a safety risk. If a resident says her pit bull is an assistance animal, must we consider making an exception to the breed restriction as a reasonable accommodation?
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