Fair Housing
What the exam tests
Fair Housing tests federal and Pennsylvania protected classes, prohibited acts, advertising rules, reasonable accommodation, and exemptions. Questions often use facts about families, disabilities, or steering.
Core rules
- Federal Fair Housing Act protected classes are race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, and disability.
- Pennsylvania Human Relations Act adds ancestry, age, and other classes; state and local rules may be broader than federal law.
- Prohibited acts include refusing to rent or sell, different terms, steering, blockbusting, discriminatory advertising, and retaliation.
- Reasonable accommodation may require exceptions to rules, such as a service animal despite a no-pet policy; reasonable modification allows the tenant to alter the unit at the tenant’s expense in some cases.
- The Mrs. Murphy exemption for owner-occupied small buildings is narrow and does not permit discriminatory advertising.
Worked example
A landlord refuses to rent a two-bedroom apartment to a couple with a newborn because “the building is adults-only.” That policy violates familial status under the Fair Housing Act. The landlord may not use an adults-only preference as a workaround; the tenant may file a complaint and the landlord faces damages and penalties.
Traps that cost marks
Do not confuse “familial status” with marital status. Do not treat a service animal as a pet. Do not assume an exemption allows discriminatory ads. Do not ignore state or local protected classes that exceed federal law.