Key Takeaways
- Fair Housing Laws Are Crucial: Landlords in California must comply with state and federal fair housing laws, ensuring they treat tenants fairly regardless of protected classes such as race, sex, and religion.
- Discriminatory Actions Can Be Costly: Violating fair housing laws can lead to significant financial penalties and damage to a landlord's reputation, which may affect their ability to attract or retain tenants.
- Extended Protections in California: California offers additional protections beyond federal laws, covering categories such as gender identity, sexual orientation, and military status.
- Compliance Is Key to Success: To avoid legal issues, landlords should familiarize themselves with fair housing regulations, advertise without discrimination, and provide reasonable accommodations for tenants with disabilities.
Understanding Fair Housing laws is a very important part of California landlord-tenant law. These laws require landlords to treat tenants fairly regardless of certain protected classes like race, sex, and religion.
Violations can be costly. Besides facing hefty financial penalties, it can also scarify your reputation, which may make it harder for you to attract or even retain quality tenants.
That’s why, as a landlord, familiarizing yourself with your legal obligations is a key recipe for success. You can also consider working with a property management company to help oversee your property’s legal aspects.
The following guide by Town & Coastal Property Management highlights the important basics of the Fair Housing Act in California.
What Is the Fair Housing Act?
The Fair Housing Act (FHA) became a federal law on April 11th, 1968, after it was signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson. This important antidiscrimination law banned housing providers from discriminating against their clients based on certain protected classes, such as race, color, and religion.
This brought about a big shift when it came to housing accessibility for certain minority groups. Landlords could no longer show favoritism or limitation when it came to housing. For example, they could not reject a tenant’s rental application simply because of their skin color or their sex.
While housing discrimination hasn’t been entirely eliminated, significant strides have been made in that regard. Now, fair housing laws apply to a wide range of players in the housing industry, not just landlords. They include:
Property managers
Real estate agents
Lending institutions like banks
Homeowners associations
Insurance companies
Builders and developers
Housing appraisers
Essentially, anyone involved in the facilitation of housing transactions or providing housing must abide by the Fair Housing Act.
What Is the Fair Housing Act in California?
The Federal Fair Housing Act passed by Congress on April 11th, 1968, applies to all the U.S states. By default, landlords across the country must treat their tenants equally and fairly regardless of seven protected classes: race, color, sex, disability, familial status, nationality, and religion.
Some states have also passed legislation to add to this list of protections. In California, for instance, there are extended additional protections for tenants based on:
Gender identity/expression
Ancestry
Mental disability
Immigration status
Sexual orientation
Primary language
Income source
Military and veteran status
What Behaviors Can Be Classified as Discriminatory in California?
When directed at a member of a protected group, the following are some examples of behaviors that can be potentially discriminatory:
Refusing to rent out your property to a tenant with a bonafide application.
Claiming a unit is no longer available so as to deny a renter of a protected class the opportunity to rent the property.
Terminating the lease of a tenant and going through with the eviction process just because of their race, color, nationality, or any other protected class.
Instituting policies that discriminate against tenants belonging to a particular protected class. For example, instituting a no-pets policy to reject pets, including service animals.
Refusing to provide disabled tenants with reasonable accommodations or failing to honor reasonable requests for modifications.
Having strict rules for families with children, such as where and when children can play.
Including discriminatory phrases in your rental ad.
Asking discriminatory questions when screening prospective tenants. You shouldn’t include any questions that touch on any of a prospective tenant’s protected class when interviewing them.
Doing any of these are a violation of the state’s Civil Rights Department (CRD). It also goes without saying that the impact to your bottom line can be quite significant. The penalties can range from a few thousand to hundreds of thousands of dollars, depending on the severity of the issue.
That’s why it’s important to familiarize yourself with your legal responsibilities before renting out your property. It also pays to stay abreast with any changes that can come about.
If you’re just starting out as a landlord, operating out of state, or have a portfolio of rental properties, it may be in your best interest to hire expert help. A good property manager can ensure you enjoy stress-free property management and even optimize your ROI.
Are There Any Exemptions to the Fair Housing Act?
Yes, a few exist. They include the following:
Religious organizations can show preference to their members when it comes to housing, however, there must not be any discrimination based on the state’s protected classes among the members.
Private clubs can show preference to members belonging to their clubs, as long as there is no discrimination within the membership.
Owner-occupied housing, where the owner occupies one of the units as a primary residence. The units must, however, not exceed four.
Where occupancy rules exist, landlords can limit occupancy only to a maximum number of renters.
Homes that are designated for people aged 55 years and above.
How Can a Landlord Ensure Compliance With the Fair Housing Act in California?
Ignorance of the law isn’t a legal defense! As such, before you begin renting out your California rental property, first familiarize yourself with the state’s landlord-tenant laws. These are contained under the state’s Civ. Code 1940-1954.06.
When it comes to the Fair Housing Act in California, the following are some of the things you’ll want to keep in mind:
Advertise your rental property in a way that doesn’t show any favoritism or limitation to a member of a protected class.
Ask the proper questions when screening potential tenants.
Provide disabled tenants with reasonable accommodations, such as allowing their service animals.
Treat residents fairly when it comes to lease enforcement.
Work with a property management company.
Bottom Line
As a landlord, the journey to success starts with knowing your legal responsibilities. This can help you build a solid relationship with your tenants, which can translate into multiple lease renewals.
If you have further questions or would want to work with a trusted property manager, don’t hesitate to contact Town & Coastal Property Management. We’re a trusted property management company in the Central Coast of California and the surrounding areas. Get in touch to learn more!
Disclaimer: Please note that the information provided in this blog is intended for general guidance and should not be considered as a replacement for professional legal advice. It is important to be aware that laws pertaining to property management may change, rendering this information outdated by the time you read it.