The Fair Housing Act is the federal law that makes it illegal to discriminate against someone when they are renting or buying a home, getting a mortgage, or seeking housing assistance in the United States. It means decisions about housing must be based on fair, lawful criteria — not on who a person is. Whether you are renting, buying, or applying for a mortgage, this law is one of the main protections standing behind you.
Knowing the basics helps renters and buyers recognise unfair treatment, and helps landlords, sellers and agents follow the rules. This guide explains, in plain language, who the law protects, what it prohibits, where its limits lie, and how complaints work in general terms.
What Is The Fair Housing Act?
The Fair Housing Act is Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968. It was passed in 1968, a time when housing discrimination and segregation were widespread in the United States. When first enacted, it prohibited discrimination in the sale, rental and financing of housing based on race, color, religion and national origin. Congress later added sex in 1974, and familial status and disability in 1988. Today the law covers seven protected characteristics, explained below.
The law is enforced mainly by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), through its Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. State and local agencies that run equivalent fair housing programmes also investigate complaints. The United States Department of Justice can also bring cases, particularly where there is a pattern of discrimination. According to HUD’s overview of housing discrimination under the Fair Housing Act, housing discrimination is illegal in nearly all housing, including private housing, public housing and housing that receives federal funding.
Note that this federal anti-discrimination law is different from state landlord-tenant law, a distinction explained later in this guide.
The Seven Protected Classes Under The Fair Housing Act
A “protected class” is a characteristic the law shields from discrimination. Under the Fair Housing Act, a housing provider, seller or lender may not treat someone worse because of any of the following seven characteristics:
- Race: a person’s race, including being refused housing or offered worse terms because of it.
- Color: a person’s skin color or complexion, which is listed separately from race in the law.
- National origin: the country or part of the world a person or their family comes from.
- Religion: a person’s faith or religious beliefs, including the absence of a religious belief.
- Sex: a person’s sex. How this protection is interpreted in practice has changed with different administrations, so check current HUD guidance and your state or local law for the latest position.
- Familial status: generally, having at least one child under the age of 18 living with a parent or legal custodian, being pregnant, or being in the process of obtaining legal custody of a child under 18.
- Disability: a physical or mental disability. This protection also brings extra duties for housing providers, explained in the section below.
These seven categories are the federal list. Some states and cities protect additional characteristics, such as source of income, under their own laws, so check your state or local law as well.
What The Fair Housing Act Prohibits
The law covers most steps in finding and keeping a home: renting, buying, getting a mortgage, seeking housing assistance, and advertising a home. Among the actions that are illegal when they are based on a protected characteristic, HUD lists the following:
- Refusing to rent or sell a home, or refusing to negotiate for housing.
- Making housing unavailable, for example by falsely saying that nothing is available.
- Setting different terms, conditions or privileges for the sale or rental of housing, such as different lease terms or rules.
- Charging different sale prices, rents or deposits.
- Steering a person toward or away from a particular building, neighbourhood or section of a community.
- Discriminating in mortgage lending, including refusing a loan, setting different loan terms, or refusing to provide information about loans.
- Publishing advertisements that show a preference or limitation based on a protected characteristic.
- Retaliating against someone for exercising their fair housing rights, or for helping someone else exercise theirs.
- Failing or delaying maintenance or repairs for a discriminatory reason.
Discrimination is not always a direct refusal. A policy that looks neutral can still be a problem if it has an unjustified, disproportionately negative effect on a protected group — an idea courts call discriminatory effect. Whether a particular policy is unlawful depends on its facts, so it cannot be judged from a single example alone.
Extra Rules For People With Disabilities
The disability protections added in 1988 go further than a simple ban on refusals. Housing providers must make reasonable accommodations — that is, reasonable changes to rules, policies, practices or services — when such a change is needed for a person with a disability to have an equal opportunity to use and enjoy a home. A common example is allowing an assistance animal in a building that otherwise has a no-pets policy.
Providers must also allow reasonable modifications — physical changes such as grab bars in a bathroom or a ramp at an entrance. In private housing the resident generally pays for a modification, while different rules can apply in federally assisted housing. Multifamily housing built for first occupancy after March 13, 1991 must also meet accessibility design standards, including accessible common areas and usable kitchens and bathrooms.
Housing For Families And Older Persons
Familial status protection ended the once-common practice of “adults-only” apartment complexes that turned away families with children. In general, a landlord may not refuse to rent to a family because children will live in the home, charge the family more, or place the family in a less desirable part of a building because of the children.
There is one major exception, explained in general terms: housing that qualifies as “housing for older persons” may lawfully limit occupancy to older residents. Qualifying housing includes housing occupied solely by people aged 62 or older, and certain housing intended for people aged 55 or older where at least 80 percent of occupied units have at least one occupant aged 55 or older and other legal requirements are met. A community that simply calls itself “55-plus” without meeting those requirements does not automatically qualify.
What The Fair Housing Act Does Not Cover
Like most laws, the Fair Housing Act has limits, and they are narrow. In very limited circumstances, HUD notes that the Act exempts owner-occupied buildings with no more than four units, single-family houses sold or rented by the owner without the use of a broker or agent, and housing operated by religious organisations and private clubs that limit occupancy to their members. Even then, the exemption is not a free hand: a separate and older federal law, the Civil Rights Act of 1866, bars racial discrimination in the sale and rental of property and has no such exemptions, and state and local laws may also cover housing that federal law exempts.
The Act also does not decide every housing dispute. It does not set rent levels or deposit amounts, and it does not replace the detailed rules of a state landlord-tenant law. A disagreement about a deposit return, a repair timeline or a lease clause is usually a landlord-tenant issue rather than a fair housing issue, unless the treatment was based on a protected characteristic.
How The Fair Housing Act Differs From State Landlord-Tenant Law
This distinction matters because readers often mix up two different kinds of law. The Fair Housing Act is a federal anti-discrimination law: it asks whether someone was treated unfairly because of a protected characteristic. State landlord-tenant laws, by contrast, set the practical rules of renting in that state, such as notice periods, deposit rules and eviction steps. Our earlier guide to the Arizona landlord-tenant act covers one state’s rental rules, while our guide on whether a landlord can break a lease deals with lease-ending questions. Neither topic is the same as a fair housing claim, although the same situation can sometimes raise both kinds of issue.
A practical example may help. If a landlord refuses to return a deposit, that is usually a landlord-tenant dispute governed by state law. If a landlord refuses to rent to a qualified applicant and the evidence points to the applicant’s race, religion or disability, that may be a fair housing matter. The facts decide which law applies, and sometimes a person may need to consider both.
How To File A Fair Housing Complaint
If you believe you have experienced housing discrimination, you can report it to HUD. In general terms, the process works as follows:
- Act promptly. Under the Fair Housing Act, an allegation must be filed with HUD within one year of the last date of the alleged discrimination. HUD itself advises filing as soon as possible, because delays can make evidence harder to gather. Separately, a person may also file a private lawsuit in court, generally within two years of the discriminatory act, without going through HUD first.
- Submit the complaint. Complaints can be submitted online through HUD’s reporting pages, by telephone, by email or by mail. HUD’s housing discrimination hotline is 1-800-669-9777. You do not need a lawyer to file a complaint with HUD.
- Investigation. HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, or a state or local Fair Housing Assistance Program partner agency, will review the allegation, notify the housing provider, and investigate the facts. According to HUD’s explanation of its intake and investigation process, investigators may interview the people involved and gather documents. Throughout the process HUD will try to help the parties reach a voluntary agreement.
- Outcome. If the matter cannot be resolved voluntarily and the investigation finds that the law was violated, HUD or the Department of Justice may take enforcement action. If HUD issues a charge of discrimination, the case may proceed to a hearing before a HUD administrative law judge or, if either side elects it within the time allowed, to federal court.
Good records make any complaint easier to assess. Keep copies of emails, messages, listings, application forms and lease documents, and write down dates, names and exactly what was said or done, as close to the time as possible. If a listing suddenly became “unavailable” to you but remained advertised, a dated screenshot can be useful.
If a disability, illness or absence means someone else needs to handle housing paperwork on your behalf, it is worth understanding the documents that allow that. Our guide on what a power of attorney is and how it works explains that topic in plain language.
Conclusion
The Fair Housing Act gives a clear, national baseline: when you rent, buy, finance or seek assistance with housing, you must not be treated worse because of your race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status or disability. It bans refusals, unequal terms, steering, discriminatory advertising and retaliation, and it adds practical duties such as reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities. Its exemptions are narrow, and state and local laws may add further protections.
If you suspect discrimination, the most useful steps are simple: keep good records, note dates and exact words, and do not let the one-year HUD filing window slip by while you wait for the situation to resolve itself. You do not need a lawyer to report a concern to HUD, and a complaint costs nothing to file. Knowing your rights will not remove every difficulty in finding a home, but it does mean you do not have to face an unfair housing decision without knowing where you stand — or where to turn next.
General-information disclaimer: This article is for general information only and is not legal advice. Housing law is fact-specific, and federal, state and local rules can differ. If you believe you have experienced discrimination or you need advice about your own situation, consider contacting HUD, your state or local fair housing agency, or a qualified attorney.
What Is The Fair Housing Act In Simple Terms?
It is the federal law that bans discrimination in housing — renting, buying, getting a mortgage, or seeking housing assistance — because of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status or disability.
Who Enforces The Fair Housing Act?
The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), through its Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, investigates complaints. State and local fair housing agencies also investigate complaints, and the Department of Justice can bring enforcement cases.
How Long Do I Have To File A Fair Housing Complaint With HUD?
You must file within one year of the last date of the alleged discrimination. HUD advises filing as soon as possible. A separate private lawsuit in court generally has a two-year window, but its rules and procedures differ.
Does The Fair Housing Act Apply To Small Landlords?
In nearly all housing, yes. There are only very limited exemptions, such as certain owner-occupied buildings with no more than four units and certain single-family homes sold or rented by the owner without a broker. Other laws, including state and local laws, may still apply even where a federal exemption exists.
Can A Landlord Refuse Families With Children?
Generally, no. Familial status is a protected characteristic, so refusing families with children, charging them more, or steering them to a less desirable part of a building is unlawful — except in housing that genuinely qualifies as housing for older persons under the law’s requirements.
Do I Need A Lawyer To File A HUD Complaint?
No. You can file a complaint with HUD online, by phone, by email or by mail without a lawyer, and filing is free. You may still choose to consult a lawyer, especially if the case proceeds to a hearing or court.
