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I was once called a "Participator."
Meaning when I get interested in something, I REALLY involve myself. For example, I didn't just buy an investment property, but I found it important to attend my local city council meetings to stay on top of current issues. I joined my city's Planning Board to better understand the inner workings. I'm on the Board of Director's for my county's Owners Association. Oh, and then have this community of 25k women!!!
But I do this all to Protect my investments.
Being a Landlord involves much more than just exchanging keys for a room. We are business owners and are held to certain standards. Remember, our role is to provide safe housing to our fellow humans. And there are guidelines and laws that govern that.
Today, I want to focus on what applies to ALL of us: The Fair Housing Act.
FHA is Federal instruction to ensure that discriminatory practices do not make their way into Real Estate. Unfortunately, it absolutely still does and the consequences can be steep if violated. Here are the 7 Protected Classes that you need to know:
1. Race
2. Color
3. Religion
4. National Origin
5. Gender
6. Familial Status
7. Disability
Now, here is how the Fair Housing Act may apply to you:
1. Owner Protection.
Most think that the FHA only protects Tenants, but it also protects us as Landlords. It ensures that service providers that we work with do not engage in discriminatory practices either. So our Realtors, Mortgage Brokers, Appraisers, etc also must be in compliance. I think we have all heard the cases of protected classes receiving different interest rates, comps, etc and that is what prompted the Federal government to step in and put this Act into place as well. Feel you are being discriminated against? Speak up!
2. Tenant Protection
As Lady Landlords, we are then held to the FHA Guidelines during Tenancy and for accommodation requests. From the content of our Ads when we have vacancies to the move out period, we must be in compliance. This is why it is so important to have set, documented rental criteria. If there is ever a question as to whether or not you engaged in discriminatory practices, sharing your written criteria showing that you held everyone to the same standards will help you! Make sure that your criteria doesn't violate the FHA in the first place though and have it written out before you even publish your Ad for best results!
Need help setting your rental criteria or want to learn if you are exempt from the Fair Housing Act? Take the Lady Landlords Tenant Management Certification program today!