Whether you’re renting out a condo, house, or apartment, you need to understand and follow fair housing laws. These regulations are in place to prevent discrimination of any kind when it comes to finding renters or tenants for your properties. Running afoul of fair housing violations can lead to costly lawsuits and settlements, even if the violation was committed on accident. Alternatively, being accused of one of these violations can also lead to expensive legal fees, even if you’re proven innocent of the allegations.
So, how can you protect yourself and your rental company from these potential violations? Insurance, of course.
Breaking Down Fair Housing Law
Before you can understand how insurance can protect your business from fair housing violations, you first need to have a good grasp of fair housing laws. Here’s a quick breakdown:
Fair Housing Laws – According to current fair housing regulations, you can’t discriminate against potential tenants based on their religion, gender or sex, married status, disabilities, color, race, national origin, or family size and status. (However, with the latter, you do need to keep an eye on the regulations in your area regarding how many bedrooms are needed per child based on family size in order to avoid breaking any additional laws.)
Examples of Violations – There are many ways to violate the fair housing doctrine. Some are blatant, like refusing to rent to people based on their religion or race, or even putting such things on your rental ads. Others are less so, like refusing to accommodate a tenant with a disability, providing different types of housing in different areas for people of different race or creed, and even creating an environment that’s open to sexual harassment or other forms of making a potential or current tenant uncomfortable.
Protecting Yourself with Insurance
If you get accused of violating the fair housing act, you could face fines, legal fees, and even settlement costs. Thankfully, there are some insurance options that can help you fight these accusations. They include:
Tenant Discrimination Liability – This is a type of liability insurance designed for this specific purpose. These policies can help you fight against a discrimination claim, such as one of the many examples listed above. It may pay settlement costs, as well as legal fees and other expenses as you fight to settle the claim.
Errors and Admissions Insurance – If you own a real estate firm that owns and rents out multiple properties, you might be eligible for errors and omissions insurance. This policy can help if you accidentally place specific wording on your ads that violates the fair housing laws, as well as cover a number of similar circumstances.
General Liability – While general liability policies don’t necessarily cover fair housing violations, they can provide monetary assistance should a potential tenant get hurt while viewing the property.
Have Questions? Contact Charlotte Insurance
Want to learn more about fair housing violations and insurance coverage? Contact Charlotte Insurance. Our agents can explore and explain all available options and put together the insurance coverage plan your business needs.