What is “Chilling” in regards to fair housing laws and why must it be avoided? Fair Housing, Chilling refers to comments or acts designed to discourage applicants in a protected class from renting your properties and is, therefore, intentional discrimination.  They are a form of obvious “steering” read about this in lesson 7.

 

Fair Housing

*Exception – if there has been a recent crime on the property or there is a serious crime that has happened in the neighborhood, the applicant can be informed.  Manager or agent should check on the policy of disclosure of “known risks”.

Most incidents of chilling involve families with children.  Examples of chilling statements include:

If applicant brings up crime, schools, etc., refer them to local authorities or the internet

Seniors or disabled persons are also often “chilled”, sometimes with good intentions. Examples can be:

If you avoid these examples you will have an easier time making a possible applicant welcome to apply for a unit in your property and hopefully avoid the headaches that come from someone reposting you for discrimination which means you could have been breaking fair housing laws.

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