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Historically and statistically, there have been identifiable groups within our society that have received unfavorable treatment with regard to housing. They have been rejected or prevented from renting or buying real property, given different terms, paid higher rents or security deposits, or experienced a lower level of service during tenancy than other groups of people.
Do "Protected Classes" Get Special Rights?
The intention of federal and state fair housing laws is to require that ALL persons be given the same treatment, the same services, and offered an equal opportunity to live in a home of their choice–in other words, the same rights as everyone else. The only exceptions to this are handicapped or disabled persons who have been given several special rights in order to establish equal opportunity.
Are "Protected Classes" the Same Throughout the U.S.?
The protected classes have been identified at the federal, state, and in some cases, local levels of government. There are some variations which allow for differences in the make-up of individual communities. At the federal level there are seven classes:
• race
• color
• religion
• sex
• national origin
• familial status
• handicap
California has added marital status, sexual orientation, age, ancestry, and source of income, while other states have added military status, Section 8 and other groups. Some cities have added their own classes, such as the inclusion of "size" in San Francisco and Santa Cruz.
Which Group Experiences the Most Incidents of Discrimination?
The majority of discrimination cases filed in California and wth H.U.D. focus on disability. Race/color is second and familial status third.
Hare are several things to know about several of the federal "protected classes."
- Color: Not to be confused with race, there can be many shades of skin color within each race. Persons with darker skin tend to experience more frequent incidents of discrimination in housing, as well as in other day-to-day situations).
- Sex: Sexual harassment is covered in this protected class, and is a rapidly growing area of litigation.
- Familial status: Pregnancy is included in this category. The only housing which can generally exclude children is bona fide senior housing.
- Handicap or Disability: This group covers both mental and physical disability. The two special rights extended to the disabled include: 1) the right to make reasonable modifications to a dwelling to enable them to live there comfortably, and 2) the responsibility of management to make reasonable accommodations in order to allow the disabled person to fully enjoy their tenancy. An accommodation, in most cases, involves modifying a policy or rule, such as allowing assistive animals when no pets are allowed, or assigning special parking spaces.
In California, which is often on the cutting edge of legal issues, two additional concepts were added in January, 2000, that pertain to protected classes: perception and association.
- Perception: If someone discriminates against a person, thinking that he or she is from a protected class, but the person isn’t from that protected class, it is considered an act of discrimination.
- Association: Discriminating against someone because his or her friends or guests are from protected classes is also a violation.
Technically, we all belong to some of these protected classes by virtue of being male or female, married or single, our race or other characteristic. If management treats EVERYONE who comes in the door or calls on the phone with equal courtesy and provides the same opportunities to EVERYONE, the need for "protected classes" will be a thing of the past.
(D. J. Ryan is the Director of Client Education and a fair housing specialist in the Fair Housing Department for the law firm of Kimball, Tirey and St. John, with offices in San Diego, Los Angeles, Newport Beach, Ontario, Sacramento, Bay Area and Las Vegas. She served as executive director of the San Diego County Apartment Association from 1977 to 1991, and has been a fair housing trainer and consultant for the past fifteen years. She can be reached at 800-338-6039. )
The above discussion is general in nature and should not be construed as individualized legal advice. Readers are cautioned to seek individualized legal assistance based on a detailed analysis of their particular facts and circumstances. If you have any questions regarding the above material or any other matter involving landlord-tenant issues, you may contact the Law Offices of Kimball, Tirey and St. John, 800-338-6039.
I don’t understand why landlords have to charge such outrageous rent rates? What about all those "poor" college students who can’t live on campus and can’t find affordable housing in the area? What about all the hardworking people who do whatever they can to make ends meet but always end up short? Don’t these people deserve a decent, affordable place to live? Why can’t anyone give these people a "break"?
Becuase that is just how to cookie crumbles Heidi. You want a decent/luxurious place to live? Have you ever heard the saying you get what you pay for? Property Owners put thousands of dollars into their investments to meet/exceed the wants/conveniences/amenities of their tenants and competition alike….are they just supposed to give that all out for free? How are they supposed to make the money back on all the upgrades they put into their apartment interior? Do you have an answer for that? As for you college students….a vast majority of the time completely trash the unit and leave a huge turnover cost to be had when you move out….then leave it to everyone else (including your parents) to foot the bill!!! And last but not least Heidi…poverty is not a protected class…landlords can deny your application if you are not able to afford the rental rate. Honestly until you have truely been on OUR side of the fence as a landlord/property owner….you will NEVER understand how much crap we put up with from tenants and prospective tenants. I suggest people expose themselves to the industry and work part time or full time in an entry position on site….you will be surprised and more thankful in the long run
Heidi, I used to think as you do. But now that I have seen both sides as a property manager and as an owner/landlord myself, I know that you don’t know the half of what landlords and property managers put up with and how little profit there is for great risk and enormous effort.
Many do give tenants breaks, sometimes break after break, at great expense to themselves. I have yet, however, to see a tenant appreciative of it beyond a brief thanks. It’s as if tenants think the landlords owe them free rent.
Would you go to your mechanic and ask him to fix your car for less than the cost of parts? Would you ask a car dealer to lease you a car for less than it cost the dealership? No, you would know better.
Yet many think landlords should charge what the tenant wants to pay, not what it costs to provide the rental property and make a usually very small profit for a lot of work and liability.
And properties are rarely overpriced, because of the competition. These days, almost all landlords are losing money unless they have owned the properties for a very long time.
Property itself is usually expensive and rents are relatively commensurate with property cost. You may know the definition of “market value.” It’s: whatever a willing and able buyer (or renter) will pay.
That means that your property owner must compete with all the other properties within a reasonable distance, so he/she is not getting exorbitant rent or he could not rent out the unit. Everyone would rent one of the other, cheaper ones. So they have a fine balancing act between being overpriced for competition and being unable to pay the bills to keep the place going.
Do you consider that most owners have mortgages, property insurance, property taxes, extensive maintenance costs, vacancies when no rent is coming in, advertising, renovations from time to time, liabilities, property managers who charge a significant fee, and in most cases, many other business expenses.
Against all this expense, they get a few good tenants, some OK tenants, and even with credit and background checks, a lot of irresponsible deadbeats. “I can’t pay the rent; I vacationed on Hilton Head Island.” “I can’t pay because I bought a new 50″ TV.” “I can’t pay because because we have 3 car payments.” or “my roommate left; too bad.”
On top of that, most landlords are decent people who want to give good people a break. People are losing their jobs and unable to pay right and left. Others are sick. Others have sick children, accidents, and many other reasons to be short of funds. But I have never in one case seen anyone who was given a break by the landlord even act particularly appreciative, even for months of rent at the landlord’s expense, let alone think to pay him/her back when things got better for them.
That doesn’t even touch the filth and damage left behind by many tenants. Some don’t care enough about their little deposit to give a second thought to not parking the motor oil-dripping motorcycle on the carpet or letting the kids skateboard on the newly finished hardwood and linoleum or punching holes in the wall and stuffing rocks in the HVAC. Or they get repeat fines from the HomeOwners Association for repeat violations, sometimes mounting to thousands of dollars or park the cars all over the lawn, destroying all the landscaping. If they can lose their little deposit rather than fix this up, that’s fine with them. Who pays? The landlord.
So please remember, Heidi, rental properties are a business, not a charity. And usually a low profit business at that. Your landlord could be a jerk, but more than likely he or she is a decent person just like you trying to provide a service and make a living at the same time.