To help avoid any issues, property managers and landlords are governed by a set of guidelines called the Fair Housing Act. That means federal law dictates what property managers can and can’t say to you.
We’ve put together a list of some things that property managers aren’t allowed to tell you.
No kids allowed
Property managers cannot base their decision to rent or not to rent to you based on the fact that children might live in the rental. There are a few exceptions like retirement communities or square footage-based restrictions, but for the most part, this type of behavior is classified as discrimination.
This apartment is only available for certain people
The entire premise of the Fair Housing Act is to enforce non-discriminatory behavior among property managers. Landlords and property managers cannot base their decision to rent or not rent a property based on race or color, religion, national origin, familial status, age, disability or gender.
If you come across a property manager who is promoting a rental with any of the above-mentioned stipulations, you’re seeing illegal rental listings. Good property managers, that operate within the law of the Fair Housing Act, will make their rentals available to all.
You’ve got to go
Ok, so technically your property manager can evict you – but not without a valid reason like nonpayment of rent or breaking the rules.
Yet, it’s still fairly common practice for property managers to evict their tenants for reasons that are considered discriminatory.
An example is a tenant being evicted after becoming pregnant. To avoid having unanticipated children in the rental property, some landlords choose to kick their tenants out. A member of the Eviction Lab at Princeton University noted that families with children are actually three times more likely to get evicted than households having no children.
