November 2017 Coach's Quiz
We’ve reviewed some recent court cases to show how communities have fared in defending themselves from fair housing claims. Now you can take the Coach’s Quiz to see what you’ve learned.
INSTRUCTIONS: Each of the following questions has only one correct answer. On a separate piece of paper, write down the number of each question, followed by the answer you think is correct—for example, (1) b, (2) a, and so on. The correct answers (with explanations) follow the quiz. Good luck!
QUESTION #1
You could face a fair housing complaint for race discrimination against someone you’ve never met. True or false?
a. True.
b. False.
QUESTION #2
You could face a fair housing complaint for applying occupancy standards that limit all units to two people per bedroom. True or false?
a. True.
b. False.
QUESTION #3
After getting complaints about barking coming from a resident’s unit, you discover that he has a dog in violation of your no-pet policy. The resident says he needs the dog as an assistance animal, but he doesn’t appear to have a disability. You could trigger a fair housing complaint if you require him to remove the animal immediately or face eviction. True or false?
a. True.
b. False.
QUESTION #4
An applicant for a unit in your community lists his current address as a drug treatment facility. Because of past problems with residents with drug problems, your community is justified in rejecting his application. True or false?
a. True.
b. False.
COACH’S ANSWERS & EXPLANATIONS
QUESTION #1
Correct answer: a
Depending on the circumstances, you could be accused of discriminating against someone based on his race—even if you’ve never met him. It commonly comes up in fair housing testing, where advocates looking for unlawful racial profiling will check for differences in the way that testers are treated because of clues about their race gleaned from the way they sound on the phone or their names or email addresses.
QUESTION #2
Correct answer: a
Across the country, communities have come to rely on the industry standard—“two persons per bedroom”—as a reasonable occupancy standard. It comes from HUD in what’s known as the “Keating memo,” which states that the agency considers two persons per bedroom to be a reasonable standard. Nevertheless, it’s not a hard-and-fast rule, and the agency will consider other factors, including bedroom size and other “special considerations,” which may make the two person/bedroom standard unreasonable under the circumstances.
QUESTION #3
Correct answer: a
Even though the resident violated your community’s rules by having the dog in his unit, you could trigger a fair housing complaint if you refuse to consider his request to keep the dog as a reasonable accommodation. Because his disability isn’t obvious, you may request reliable information to verify that he has a disability and that he has a disability-related need to keep the dog.
QUESTION #4
Correct answer: b
The law banning disability discrimination protects individuals who are recovering from substance abuse, so you can’t reject the application based on your subjective perception of potential problems posed by his prior substance abuse. To the extent that you check references for all applicants, however, you may check his references. If it reveals objective evidence that he poses a direct threat to people or property in the recent past, and the direct threat has not been eliminated, then check with your attorney to determine whether you would be justified in rejecting his application based on direct threat.
See The Lesson For This Quiz
| Takeaway Lessons from Recent Court Rulings on Fair Housing Law |