Federal Fair Housing Act (FHA), its Amendments & Exemptions?

Question

is it true that:

- Private property owners who do not own or have any interest in more than three single-family houses at one time are exempt from the federal Fair Housing Act of 1968?

- Multifamily properties with fewer than four units, as long as one of the units is occupied by the owner as his or her residence, are exempt from the federal Fair Housing Act of 1968?

and if so, how does local and state play into legality; does state or federal take precedence?

no, i'm not interested in discriminating against folks based on race/color/nationality/national origin/religion/sex/disability; whether under my own primary residence's roof nor any clients' but actually bewildered that such a detailed act would point out 'race' 'color' and 'nationality' or 'national origin' but not touch upon ethnicity; same for 'sex' but not even touch upon gender identity or orientation.. at least at the federal level.

and likewise, what about language? would it be okay to eliminate a prospective tenant because they haven't yet learned to communicate in English and the landlord doesn't have a translator available?

Mindy Jensen · Answer

Account Closed, those look to be quotes. Yes, both statements are true. I don't understand why those owners are exempt, shouldn't everyone have to follow the same laws? Claiming ignorance of the law is no defense...

I believe state laws can be MORE restrictive, but cannot be less restrictive than federal laws, so the state can add gender identity, even though federal doesn't spell that out. (FYI Colorado has added orientation as a protected class, and we are pretty progressive in our real estate laws. I would look for that to be added to the federal law soon.)

Language isn't a protected class.

Dumitru Anton · Answer

sorry, my google fu is off today:

http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/52/topics/1912...

http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/52/topics/1542...

Account Closed · Answer

wow K. Marie Poe article hits the head on the pressing issues that were concerning me, glad u brought her BP post to my attention, cuz i would have otherwise missed it!

like i said FHA protect 'race' 'color' and 'nationality' or 'national origin' but not touch upon ethnicity; same for 'sex' but not even touch upon gender identity or orientation.. at least at the federal level. and likewise, what about language?

apparently HUD's basis for suing the PM is because he stated "Are you willing to pay $500 for the translation? … I’m not required to enter into a legal contract with a party that may later claim they didn’t understand it.”

to me 'a party that may later claim they didn't understand it' could be anyone of any proficiency, and it wouldn't be my call to make and it would be my responsibility as a professional bound by Equal Housing Opportunity statutes to be accommodating(sp?) to any disabilities as well as sensitive to discriminating based on what languages they don't speak; I mean afterall this isn't England is it?

i like the like the idea of including 'do not sign this agreement if you do not understand it' on the lease in all of the same languages that the local state forms. i would be worried to 'just' include spanish or to ask the applicant what is their native language.

the family being Hmong really drives the issue this topic is about because Hmong aren't a nationality per say; i can't think of any one national origin of Hmong peoples either as lots are out of China, but also other parts of Eurasia including Russia, Laos, etc as the were apparently a 'nomadic' nation perhaps like the Mongols?

same goes for Gypsies/Romanis. nationality or national origin nor race nor color don't really cut i though yea it could be argued gypsies/romanis are to a great extent of 'northern Indian' national origin.. but that sorta mitigates the natal Romanian admixture not that every Gypsy is Romani nor vice versa. =/

Dumitru Anton · Answer

@ Neil G.  and @Mindy Jensen

i think there was a recent thread where they (HUD) indirectly connected language with ethnicity.

some thread about renting to parents with absolutely no english communication whit translation being handled by a child or friend, not official translator...

Federal Fair Housing Act (FHA), its Amendments & Exemptions?

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