Knowing about fair housing will help lead to understanding what should and should not be done when renting, leasing, buying, selling, and financing property. Understanding fair housing is the best protection against a claim that a fair housing law has been violated. According to the Department of Justice (2016), one of the central objectives of the Fair Housing Act, when Congress enacted it in 1968, was to prohibit race discrimination in sales and rentals of housing. Nevertheless, more than 30 years later,
race discrimination in housing continues to be a problem.

Compliance with federal and state fair housing laws is vital to the successful implementation of HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity expectation to
prevent housing discrimination of all persons, specifically to those in the following
protected classes:

  1. Sex/Gender Orientation
  2. Race
  3. Religion
  4. Familial/Marital Status
  5. Handicap Status
  6. Age
  7. National origin

Regarding fair housing training & outreach designed specifically for fair housing discrimination, emphasis is focused on community stakeholders, colleges/universities, property management agencies, lending institutions, community centers, local businesses, property management firms/agencies, and the general public. Additionally, LCHDC also provides technical assistance as needed to include, but not limited to, the following areas:

  1. Advertising
  2. Steering
  3. Screening/Applications
  4. Occupancy Standards
  5. Reasonable Accommodation/Modification
  6. Record Keeping
  7. Fair Housing Compliance Training for community stakeholders including Landlords/Owners, property management personnel, tenants, lenders, etc. Evictions

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