Fair Housing Information Center

Your Fair Housing Rights

Under Federal Fair Housing laws, fair housing means you are free to choose a place to live without regard to your race, color, national origin, religion, sex, including sexual orientation and gender identity, disability, or familial status. Under Delaware Fair Housing laws, you are also protected without regard to your marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, creed, age, and source of income.

What is Housing Discrimination?

Housing discrimination is treating one person or group of people differently from others on the basis of their belonging to a protected class.

• A landlord refuses to show or rent available housing
• A real estate agent steers you to racially segregated neighborhoods during your home search
• Being told that a unit or apartment building isn’t “right” for you and your family
• Housing advertisements that say “no kids” or “professionals preferred”
• Refusing to make or respond to a request for a reasonable accommodation or to allow a reasonable modification to enable a person with a disability to make full use of a dwelling
• Requiring different terms and conditions for identical properties, for example, charging higher rent or a higher security deposit for different tenants
• Harassment or intimidation

What Actions are Illegal?

• Advertising or making any statement that indicates a limitation or preference. This prohibition against discriminatory advertising applies to all housing, including single-family and owner-occupied housing that is otherwise exempt from the Delaware Fair Housing Act.
• Harassment, coercion, intimidation, threats, or interference with anyone exercising a fair housing right or assisting others who exercise their fair housing rights.