Assessing Policies For Fair Housing Compliance
Types of Violations
- Differential Treatment - purposefully trying to exclude or offer worse terms, conditions or services because someone is in a protected class.
- Disparate Impact - policies that unintentionally excluding or offering worse terms, conditions or services to one or more protected classes.
- Retaliation - punishing, harassing or intimidating someone who attempted to exercise their fair housing rights or help someone else exercise those rights.
WA State Protected Classes
- Race
- Color
- National Origin
- Immigration/Citizenship Status
- Sex (biological, sexual orientation, gender identity)
- Disability
- Religion
- Familial status (presence of children under 18 years old in the home)
- Marital status (single, married, widowed, divorced)
- Source of Income
- Check for locally protected groups
Fair Housing Compliance Checklist
- What is the policy being considered?
- Not sure where to start? Most fair housing violations are found in eligibility requirements, such as policies about criminal convictions, income, landlord references, residency, and documents required to verify identity.
- Not sure where to start? Most fair housing violations are found in eligibility requirements, such as policies about criminal convictions, income, landlord references, residency, and documents required to verify identity.
- What is the business-related need for this policy?
- Is it intended to prevent a certain type of person from qualifying or participating in this housing opportunity?
- Describe the type of person.
- Is that "type of person" normally part of a protected class? If yes, the policy is likely a differential treatment violations.
- Is it intended to prevent a certain type of person from qualifying or participating in this housing opportunity?
- Is the policy likely to negatively impact one or more protected groups?
One way to check this is to do the following:- List out the individuals/groups negatively impacted by this policy in the past 12 months.
- List out the groups who benefited from this policy in the past 12 months.
- Compare the two groups-if one or more protected groups are only in the adversely impacted group, that is likely a disparate impact violation.
- If the policy appears to negatively impact one or more protected groups, what is at least one different way to meet the business-related need without negatively impacting one or more protected classes?
Questions about Fair Housing laws? Contact the Fair Housing Center of Washington by email or call 253-274-9523 or click here to visit their website.
