Fair Housing Compliance Cheat Sheet

The federal Fair Housing Act bars landlords from treating applicants or tenants differently because of seven protected characteristics, and many states and cities add more. In practice, compliance comes down to three habits: advertise the property rather than the ideal tenant, apply the same written criteria to everyone, and take disability-related requests seriously and individually. This guide explains each rule on the card above, with sources, and flags where federal guidance changed in 2025.

The seven federal protected classes

The Fair Housing Act (Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, as amended) makes it unlawful to refuse to rent, set different terms, publish discriminatory ads, or falsely deny availability because of race, color, religion, sex, familial status, national origin or disability (the statute uses the older word “handicap”). See 42 U.S.C. § 3604.

• Familial status means a household with one or more children under 18 living with a parent, legal custodian or their designee. It also covers anyone who is pregnant or in the process of getting custody (42 U.S.C. § 3602(k)). That is why questions like “Do you plan to have kids?” and rules such as “no children on the second floor” are off limits.
• Disability covers a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity, a record of one, or being regarded as having one. It brings two affirmative duties, accommodations and modifications, covered below.
• Sex is listed in the statute. Whether it includes sexual orientation and gender identity under federal law is contested: HUD withdrew its 2021 guidance applying the Supreme Court’s Bostock decision to housing in 2025. Many states protect those characteristics expressly, so check your state law rather than relying on the federal position.

Who is exempt (and why you probably aren’t)

42 U.S.C. § 3603(b) exempts a single-family home rented by a private owner who owns no more than three such homes and rents without a broker, and rooms or units in an owner-occupied building with four or fewer units (the “Mrs. Murphy” exemption). Two catches: neither exemption covers discriminatory advertising, and state or city laws often have smaller exemptions or none. Using a property manager or listing agent can also remove the single-family exemption. Treat the exemptions as a reason to call a lawyer, not as a plan.

State and local protected classes

Federal law is the floor. State and local laws frequently add classes, and they are enforced by state civil rights agencies and attorneys general as well as private lawsuits. Three examples from large rental markets, verified against the official sources:

• California: Gov. Code § 12955 adds gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, ancestry, source of income, veteran or military status and genetic information. “Source of income” expressly includes Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers and VASH vouchers, and where there is a government rent subsidy, income standards must be based on the tenant’s portion of the rent.
• New York: the State Human Rights Law was amended on April 12, 2019 to protect lawful source of income statewide, including Section 8, public assistance, child support, alimony, foster care subsidies, Social Security and SSI. The New York Attorney General lists “no Section 8/no DSS/no SSI” and “no payment programs” as examples of discriminatory listings, and notes narrow exceptions such as owner-occupied one- and two-family homes.
• Illinois: the Illinois Human Rights Act (775 ILCS 5/1-103(O-5)) has protected source of income in housing since January 2023. The Illinois Department of Human Rights FAQ says landlords may not refuse vouchers, prefer one subsidy program over another, or apply income minimums to the subsidized portion of the rent.

Cities and counties add their own layers, so look up your municipal code as well. Our state legal guides cover the landlord-tenant basics for California, New York, Illinois, Texas and Florida.

Advertising: describe the property, not the tenant

Section 3604(c) bans any notice, statement or advertisement that indicates a preference, limitation or discrimination based on a protected class, and HUD’s regulation at 24 CFR § 100.75 extends that to words, photos, symbols and even the choice of where to advertise. This rule applies to everyone, including owners who are otherwise exempt. The test is how an ordinary reader would understand the ad, not what you intended.

The same applies to what you say on the phone and at showings. Answer questions about the unit and the criteria; do not volunteer opinions about who would “fit in”, which schools or churches are nearby for “people like you”, or which unit would suit a family. That last one is steering. For listing and follow-up language, see our rental marketing templates and tenant communication templates.

Reasonable accommodations vs. reasonable modifications

Disability protection is the one area where treating everyone identically is not enough. The Act requires two kinds of flexibility (42 U.S.C. § 3604(f)(3)):

• Reasonable accommodation: a change to a rule, policy, practice or service, such as allowing an assistance animal in a no-pets building, assigning an accessible parking space, or letting a tenant pay rent on a date that matches their benefit payment (24 CFR § 100.204). The landlord bears any cost unless it is an undue financial and administrative burden.
• Reasonable modification: a physical change to the premises, such as grab bars, a ramp or lever door handles (24 CFR § 100.203). In private housing the tenant generally pays. You may require that the work be done competently, and for interior changes you may, where reasonable, require restoration at move-out (reasonable wear and tear excepted). You may not raise the normal security deposit, though in some cases you can negotiate a restoration escrow that earns interest for the tenant.

The 2004 HUD and Justice Department Joint Statement on Reasonable Accommodations sets out the practical rules most landlords follow. A request can be oral or written and does not need magic words. If the disability and the need are obvious, you may not ask for more information. If the disability is known but the need is not, you may ask only for what you need to evaluate the link. You may not ask about the nature or severity of a disability, and you may not charge extra fees or deposits for an accommodation. If a request seems unreasonable, talk with the tenant about alternatives (the “interactive process”) before saying no.

Assistance animals after the 2025 guidance withdrawal

HUD’s 2020 notice on assistance animals, FHEO-2020-01 (“Assessing a Person’s Request to Have an Animal as a Reasonable Accommodation”), was the most-cited guide on this topic. HUD withdrew it, along with its 2013 service and assistance animal notice, effective September 17, 2025, and announced the withdrawal in the Federal Register on April 6, 2026. The withdrawal did not change the statute or the accommodation regulation, so an assistance animal request is still a reasonable accommodation request, and HUD says actions that do not comply with the text of the Act remain subject to enforcement.

A sensible process that holds up under either the old guidance or the statute alone: treat the request as an accommodation request, not a pet application; do not charge pet rent or a pet deposit; if the disability or the need is not obvious, ask for reliable information that the person has a disability and a disability-related need for the animal; evaluate each request individually; and deny only for a specific reason (for example, the particular animal has a documented history of threatening behavior). State laws, such as those addressing online emotional support animal letters, may add rules, so check yours.

Occupancy standards: the Keating memo

The Act does not override “reasonable local, State, or Federal restrictions regarding the maximum number of occupants” (42 U.S.C. § 3607(b)(1)). Where no local code applies, HUD uses its 1998 occupancy policy statement, the Keating memo (63 FR 70256), which says “an occupancy policy of two persons in a bedroom, as a general rule, is reasonable.” It is a starting point, not a safe harbor. HUD also weighs the size of the bedrooms and the unit, the age of any children (an infant sharing a room is different from teenagers), the unit’s configuration (a den or loft), and state and local law.

Worked example: two everyday decisions

Occupancy. Hypothetical: a 3-bedroom house with average-sized rooms and no local occupancy code. Two per bedroom gives 3 × 2 = 6 occupants as a reasonable general limit. A family of two adults and four children (six people) should be considered on the same footing as six adults. A policy of “maximum four people” for this house would be 2 fewer than the guideline suggests and would fall hardest on families with children, which is the pattern that leads to familial status complaints. If the third bedroom is unusually small, document its actual size and apply the same reasoning to every applicant.

Voucher income test. Using the Illinois Department of Human Rights’ own example: the rent is $2,000 a month and your written standard is income of 3× the rent. An applicant’s voucher pays $1,500 directly to you, so the tenant’s share is $2,000 − $1,500 = $500. Applied to the tenant’s share, the standard is 3 × $500 = $1,500 of monthly income, not 3 × $2,000 = $6,000. Requiring $6,000 would screen out virtually every voucher holder, which is exactly what source-of-income laws in states like Illinois and California prohibit.

Criminal records and screening consistently

In 2016 HUD’s Office of General Counsel issued guidance explaining that blanket criminal-record bans could violate the Act because of their disparate impact, and that arrest records alone are not a reliable basis for denial. HUD withdrew that guidance effective September 25, 2025 (91 FR, July 17, 2026) and has proposed removing its disparate impact regulation (24 CFR § 100.500). That does not make blanket bans safe. The Supreme Court recognized disparate impact claims under the Fair Housing Act in Texas Department of Housing & Community Affairs v. Inclusive Communities Project (2015), private plaintiffs can still sue, many states and cities restrict criminal history screening directly, and the FTC’s landlord guidance still warns that a blanket refusal may violate the Act. (The Act itself expressly permits refusing someone convicted of illegal manufacture or distribution of a controlled substance, 42 U.S.C. § 3607(b)(4).)

A defensible screening process, regardless of where federal guidance lands:

• Write the criteria down before you advertise: income, rental history, credit, and any criminal history rules.
• Consider convictions, not arrests, and limit look-back periods to what relates to safety or property.
• Apply the same checks, in the same order, to every applicant; process applications first come, first served.
• Keep a short written record of why each applicant was approved or denied.
• Send an adverse action notice when a screening report played any part in a denial (FCRA).

Our tenant screening checklist and tenant red flags cheat sheet turn this into a step-by-step routine.

Penalties and complaints, in general terms

An applicant or tenant can file a complaint with HUD within one year of the alleged violation (42 U.S.C. § 3610) or sue in federal or state court within two years (§ 3613). Courts may award actual and punitive damages, injunctions and attorney fees. In HUD administrative cases, an administrative law judge can also impose civil penalties that rise for repeat violations and are adjusted for inflation each year (24 CFR § 180.671). The Justice Department can bring pattern-or-practice cases. State agencies run parallel systems with their own remedies. Retaliating against someone for filing a complaint is a separate violation.

Common mistakes small landlords make

• Asking applicants about children, pregnancy, religion, national origin or a disability in conversation.
• Telling a family the upstairs unit “would be better for kids” or a couple that the building is “mostly older folks”.
• Charging pet rent or a pet deposit for an assistance animal.
• Using occupancy limits stricter than local code or two per bedroom without a documented reason.
• Writing “No Section 8” in a listing in a state or city where source of income is protected.
• Making exceptions to the screening criteria for applicants you like, but not for others.
• Assuming a small-landlord exemption applies without checking state and local law.

Related resources

• First-time landlord playbook
• Lease agreement template
• How to screen tenants: complete guide
• Landlord-tenant laws: complete guide
• All landlord cheat sheets

This cheat sheet is general information, not legal advice. Fair housing law varies by state and city and federal guidance changed in 2025 and 2026. Consult a licensed attorney in your state, or your state civil rights agency, before relying on it for a specific decision.