Under the provisions of the Fair Housing Act of 1968, every one is considered equal when trying to avail a house on rent or purchase. The act provides shield to all the classes against discrimination done by various entities involved in the US real estate industry namely, landlords, real estate agents, developers and realtors. The act was established to stop discrimination against any person on the bases of race or color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status and physical or mental disability. The objective of the act is to prevent the discrimination of the prospective tenants by the landlords or agents in the real estate sector The act was formulated by the HUD (United States federal department of housing and urban development) with the sole objective of enabling a unitary housing that is free of any kind of racial discrimination and provides an equal opportunity to each and every individual to arrange a place of stay for oneself. Fair Housing is also known by the name of Open Housing to portray unrestricted and open access to all individuals to US real estate market. The following section deals with specific elements of discrimination that the Open House act prohibits:
• Discrimination on the basis of race or color – it is illegal in accordance with the provisions of the act to deny housing to an individual on the basis of his race or color. This was the biggest challenge facing the HUD when the act was enacted and continues to be one of the main elements of discrimination in the housing sector.
• Discrimination on the basis of religion - The Open Housing Act prohibits restriction to housing based on the religion of an individual.
• Discrimination on the basis of Sex including Sexual Harassment - The Open House act makes it unlawful to deny housing access to an individual based on sex. The act is also equipped to penalize landlords who are convicted of sexual harassment against women in order to provide them housing access.
• Discrimination based on National Origin - The Act prohibits restriction to housing to an individuals based on his country of birth or the place of origin of his ancestors.
• Discrimination based on familial status - The act provides protection to all families who are trying to rent a house and consists of children of less than 18 years of age. This was enacted in the provision of the act since it was found that most landlords do not prefer tenants with infants and children below 18 years and denied access to such families
• Discrimination based on physical and mental disability - The Open house act covers discrimination against any physical and mental disabilities including blindness, hearing or mobility impairment, HIV infection, mental illness, alcoholism or drug addiction.
The cases related to violations to the Act are dealt by the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO) and HUD's Office of General Counsel. The Act is reviewed on a regular basis to broaden its scope and extend its coverage to other classes which need protection.
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