TCS Fair Housing and Lease Requirements 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which federal law prohibits discrimination based on familial status in the sale and rental of housing?
- Civil Rights Act of 1964
- Fair Housing Act of 1968 (Correct answer)
- Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
- Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act
Correct answer: Fair Housing Act of 1968
The Fair Housing Act of 1968, as amended in 1988, prohibits housing discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, and disability.
Question 2: Under the Fair Housing Act, 'familial status' refers to households that include:
- Married couples only
- Persons under age 18 living with a parent or legal guardian (Correct answer)
- Households with elderly members
- Any household with more than two members
Correct answer: Persons under age 18 living with a parent or legal guardian
Familial status protects households where a person under 18 lives with a parent, legal guardian, or designee with parental custody.
Question 3: A LIHTC lease must have a minimum term of:
- 30 days
- 6 months
- One year (Correct answer)
- Two years
Correct answer: One year
IRS regulations require that LIHTC units be rented under a lease with a term of at least one year, unless a shorter term is approved by the state agency.
Question 4: A tenant requests a reasonable accommodation to have an emotional support animal despite a no-pets policy. The owner must:
- Deny the request because the pet policy applies equally to everyone
- Approve the request without charging a pet deposit (Correct answer)
- Conduct a pet interview before deciding
- Refer the tenant to another property with a pet policy
Correct answer: Approve the request without charging a pet deposit
Emotional support animals are not pets; the owner must grant the reasonable accommodation and cannot charge a pet deposit for a disability-related assistance animal.
Question 5: Which of the following is an example of illegal steering under the Fair Housing Act?
- Showing all available units to every applicant
- Directing applicants of a particular race to units in a specific building or area (Correct answer)
- Refusing to rent to a household that does not meet income criteria
- Enforcing an occupancy standard of two persons per bedroom
Correct answer: Directing applicants of a particular race to units in a specific building or area
Steering occurs when applicants are directed to or away from certain units or areas based on a protected class, which is illegal under the Fair Housing Act.
Question 6: Under HUD guidelines, a reasonable occupancy standard for a two-bedroom unit is generally:
- Two persons maximum
- Two persons per bedroom, or four persons (Correct answer)
- One person per bedroom
- Three persons total
Correct answer: Two persons per bedroom, or four persons
HUD's general guidance, based on the Keating Memorandum, establishes two persons per bedroom as a reasonable starting point for occupancy standards.
TCS Fair Housing and Lease Requirements 1
Which federal law prohibits discrimination based on familial status in the sale and rental of housing?