Fair Housing, Ethics, and Consumer Protection
Federal and New York Fair Housing
The federal Fair Housing Act (Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968), enforced by HUD, prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, and disability. New York's Human Rights Law goes further, adding age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, military status, source of income, creed, and arrest or conviction record. Source of income, including Section 8 vouchers, and familial status are the most frequently tested New York additions. Prohibited practices include refusing to rent or sell, offering different terms, steering, blockbusting, redlining, discriminatory advertising, and retaliation. Landlords must provide reasonable accommodations for disability and permit reasonable modifications at the tenant's expense. Limited exemptions exist for certain owner-occupied small buildings and religious organizations, but advertising rules are strict - a broker should assume no exemption.
Ethics and Consumer Protection
RESPA Section 8 bars kickbacks and unearned referral fees in settlement services; ECOA bars discrimination in credit; TILA requires cost disclosure. Sellers and agents must disclose known lead-based paint hazards in pre-1978 housing. Follow truth-in-advertising rules, Do Not Call and TCPA restrictions on calls and texts, and never use coded descriptions such as "no children" or "perfect for young professionals." Rule of thumb: describe the property, not the person. Worked example: a landlord refuses a voucher-holding family. That is illegal source-of-income discrimination under New York law even though source of income is not a federal protected class.