Let's talk about what the Fair Housing Act basically means. Ignore the exceptions for now. Let's say I'm a Colorado real estate broker and someone comes in to buy or sell a house.
Let's take two imaginary people. We'll call them Jang and Vanar, using
names from a "neutral baby name" site. We will say that they are two
people, but beyond that I don't know anything about them: their genders, ages,
nationalities, functionalities, or beliefs. One or both of them could need my
services.
If one or both want to sell a house and I create a legal contract with
them to list and sell the house, I would want to see the house and get the best
value possible, which means showing the house to anyone who qualifies
financially and is interested in that type of housing.
If one or both want to buy a house, and if I have a policy of asking
people to prequalify financially, I would ask the prospective buyer to do that
first. If I am truly acting without discrimination, I treat everyone equally. I
find out what kind of housing is wanted and I try to show places that will
work.
Basically, if we ignore the exceptions (housing for only those over 55
years of age, religious or private clubs, someone convicted of involvement with
illegal drugs), it is not okay to treat someone differently when selling,
buying, renting, leasing, etc., because of their family status, ethnicity, age,
religion, gender, or physical or mental disability. The only way to
differentiate people is on their "ability to pay" or for economic
reasons.
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