Fair Housing - John Bradbury - John P. Bradbury

Law Office of John P. Bradbury PLLCFive Penn Plaza, 23rd Floor(212) 697-3529New York Real Estate Lawyerswww.NYRELAW.com(212) NYRELAWFederal Fair Housing Act –Prohibited Acts Representing to any person, as a means ofdiscrimination, that a dwelling is not available for saleor rental Example: A man applies to rent an apartment,manager takes application but informs him thatthere are no units currently available. While all theunits are currently occupied, one of the tenants isdue to move out in three days. Manager prefers torent to a woman, as she believes they make bettertenants. Unlawful housing discrimination on thebasis of sex.Law Office of John P. Bradbury PLLCFive Penn Plaza, 23rd Floor(212) 697-3529New York Real Estate Lawyerswww.NYRELAW.com(212) NYRELAWFederal Fair Housing Act –Prohibited ActsMaking a profit by inducing owners of housing to sell or rentbecause of the prospective entry into the neighborhood ofpersons of a particular race, color, religion, national origin,handicap, or familial status.Example: Acme Real Estate Company is running a direct mailcampaign at-tempting to solicit listings from the predominantlywhite Alderbrook neighborhood. Included in the direct mailpackage are the results of a de-mographic study that projectsthat the population of Alderbrook will be-come increasinglynonwhite in the next few years. Use of such "scare tactics" togenerate profit through increased listings puts Acme inviola-tion of fair housing laws. (This is known as blockbusting.)Law Office of John P. Bradbury PLLCFive Penn Plaza, 23rd Floor(212) 697-3529New York Real Estate Lawyerswww.NYRELAW.com(212) NYRELAWFederal Fair Housing Act –Prohibited ActsAltering the terms or conditions for a home loan to any personwho wishes to purchase or repair a dwelling or otherwisedenying such a loan as a means of discrimination Example: Citywide Mortgage Company has a policy ofrefusing to make loans for properties located in the ValleyView neighborhood, claiming that borrowers from ValleyView have historically been at higher risk of de-fault.Because this policy does not consider the creditworthinessof individ-ual borrowers from Valley View, it is more thanlikely intended to discriminate against such borrowers on thebasis of some other character-istic, such as race or nationalorigin. (This is known as redlining.)Law Office of John P. Bradbury PLLCFive Penn Plaza, 23rd Floor(212) 697-3529New York Real Estate Lawyerswww.NYRELAW.com(212) NYRELAWFederal Fair Housing Act –Prohibited Acts Denying people membership or limiting theirparticipation in any multiple-listing service, real estatebrokers' organization, or other facility related to thesale or rental of dwellings as a means of discrimination Example: A multiple-listing service cannot lawfullyexclude brokers from participation on the basis of theirrace, color, sex, religion, age, national or-igin, familialstatus, or handicap.Law Office of John P. Bradbury PLLCFive Penn Plaza, 23rd Floor(212) 697-3529New York Real Estate Lawyerswww.NYRELAW.com(212) NYRELAWLaw Office of John P. Bradbury PLLCFive Penn Plaza, 23rd Floor(212) 697-3529New York Real Estate Lawyerswww.NYRELAW.com(212) NYRELAWEXEMPTIONS toFair Housing Act The sale or rental of a single-family home is exemptedwhen the home is owned by an individual who does notown more than three such homes at one time and whenthe following conditions exist: (a) a broker,salesperson, or agent is not used; and (b) advertisingis not used. Only one such sale by such an individualis exempt from the law within any 24-month period.EXEMPTIONS toFair Housing Act The rental of units is exempted in an owner-occupiedone- to four family dwelling (but again, discriminatoryadvertising may not be used).