Legal & Fair Housing Compliance Flashcards

A resident with a mental health disability requests that the manager waive the late fee for the current month as a reasonable accommodation. The manager should:

Answer: Engage in an interactive process to determine if there is a disability nexus and whether the accommodation is reasonable

Managers must engage in an interactive dialogue to verify the disability-related need and assess reasonableness before granting or denying any accommodation request.

Which of the following best describes 'quid pro quo' sexual harassment in housing?

Answer: A housing benefit or condition tied to the acceptance or rejection of unwelcome sexual advances

Quid pro quo harassment involves conditioning housing benefits (e.g., reduced rent, lease approval) on a tenant's submission to sexual conduct.

Under the Lead-Based Paint Disclosure rule for pre-1978 housing, a property manager must provide prospective tenants with:

Answer: An EPA-approved lead hazard information pamphlet, any known lead hazard disclosures, and an opportunity to review available records

Federal law requires landlords of pre-1978 housing to disclose known lead paint hazards, provide the EPA pamphlet, and give tenants 10 days to conduct an inspection.

A fair housing tester poses as a prospective tenant and asks about availability. The manager tells the tester no units are available but the following day rents a unit to a non-minority applicant. This is an example of:

Answer: Discriminatory misrepresentation of unit availability, which is illegal under the Fair Housing Act

Falsely claiming no units are available to a protected class member while renting to others is a classic and illegal form of racial or national origin discrimination.

When processing rental applications, which screening criterion is least likely to raise a fair housing concern?

Answer: Requiring verifiable income equal to 2.5–3 times the monthly rent applied consistently to all applicants

An income-to-rent ratio standard applied uniformly is a legitimate, non-discriminatory financial qualification criterion.

A resident discovers mold in their unit and requests an immediate repair. If the manager fails to act and the resident is constructively evicted, the resident's legal remedy typically includes:

Answer: Terminating the lease, vacating the premises, and suing for damages based on the landlord's breach of the warranty of habitability

Constructive eviction allows tenants to treat a serious habitability failure as a lease termination and recover damages from the landlord.

Under HUD's 2016 guidance on the use of criminal records in housing decisions, a blanket policy that denies housing to anyone with any criminal record:

Answer: May violate the Fair Housing Act if it has a disparate impact on protected classes and the landlord cannot demonstrate business necessity

HUD guidance recognizes that blanket criminal record bans can disproportionately affect racial minorities and may constitute disparate impact discrimination absent individualized assessment.