CSP Regulatory Compliance & Legal Framework 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Under the Fair Housing Act, a home stager must avoid creating a look that targets or excludes buyers based on which protected characteristic?
- Income level
- Race, color, national origin, or religion (Correct answer)
- Credit score
- Employment status
Correct answer: Race, color, national origin, or religion
The Fair Housing Act prohibits any housing-related practice that discriminates based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, or disability.
Question 2: Which element is legally required in a professional staging contract to make it enforceable?
- A notarized signature
- Consideration (payment or promise of payment) (Correct answer)
- A minimum staging duration of 30 days
- A clause waiving the client's right to cancel
Correct answer: Consideration (payment or promise of payment)
A valid contract requires offer, acceptance, and consideration — something of value exchanged by both parties.
Question 3: A staging client cancels a signed contract two days before the scheduled install. The stager has already rented furniture. Which contract clause best protects the stager?
- Indemnification clause
- Force majeure clause
- Cancellation and kill fee clause (Correct answer)
- Arbitration clause
Correct answer: Cancellation and kill fee clause
A cancellation/kill fee clause specifies compensation the stager receives when a client cancels after resources have already been committed.
Question 4: The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) most directly affects a home stager when staging which type of property?
- A single-family private residence
- A commercial property or model home open to the public (Correct answer)
- A vacation rental listed on a private platform
- A foreclosure property
Correct answer: A commercial property or model home open to the public
ADA accessibility requirements apply to places of public accommodation, such as commercial spaces and model homes open for public tours.
Question 5: When staging a property, a stager notices the listing photos will prominently feature décor items suggesting a specific cultural background. Under fair housing principles, this practice is:
- Encouraged to target the most likely buyer demographic
- Permissible if the seller requests it
- Potentially discriminatory and should be avoided (Correct answer)
- Required to reflect the neighborhood's demographic
Correct answer: Potentially discriminatory and should be avoided
Staging or marketing that signals preference for buyers of a specific national origin or religion can constitute illegal steering or discriminatory advertising.
Question 6: A staging agreement should include a deposit clause that specifies the deposit is:
- Always fully refundable regardless of cancellation timing
- Non-refundable only if the stager cancels
- Applied to the total fee and subject to stated refund conditions (Correct answer)
- Held in escrow by the real estate agent
Correct answer: Applied to the total fee and subject to stated refund conditions
Best practice is for the deposit clause to clearly state how the deposit is applied to the total fee and under what conditions it is refundable.
Question 7: Which federal law requires that a staging stager/seller disclose the presence of lead-based paint hazards when staging a home built before 1978?
- RESPA
- Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act (Title X) (Correct answer)
- Clean Air Act
- Consumer Product Safety Act
Correct answer: Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act (Title X)
Title X (the Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act) mandates disclosure of known lead-based paint and hazards in pre-1978 housing before sale.
CSP Regulatory Compliance & Legal Framework 2
Under the Fair Housing Act, a home stager must avoid creating a look that targets or excludes buyers based on which protected characteristic?