You have a right to live where you want and can afford to live. The laws that protect your rights are Fair Housing Laws.
Everyone who lives in the United States is protected from discrimination in housing. This includes the sale, rental, and financing of dwellings; lending; home appraisal; insurance and accessibility.
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.
Housing discrimination is treating one person or group of people differently from others on the basis of their belonging to a protected class. The term “protected class” refers to a group of people who are protected by law against illegal discrimination. A protected class is named for the characteristic that people share, such as their gender, race, religion, sexual orientation or national origin.
Housing discrimination can often be subtle, and can come in many forms. Some signs of possible discrimination include:
Housing discrimination may not be as obvious to see as it used to be, but it still exists. HUD estimates that nearly 2,000,000 acts of housing discrimination occur each year, but only 1% of fair housing violations are ever reported.
Learn some signs of housing discrimination here.
Fair Housing laws protect YOU!
Federal Fair Housing laws cover seven protected classes. Delaware’s Fair Housing laws prohibit discrimination on the basis of six additional protected classes. That means Delaware’s Fair Housing laws cover a total of 13 protected classes.
Under the Delaware Fair Housing Act, no one may take any of the following actions in the sale and rental of housing or in mortgage lending based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, familial status, marital status, sexual orientation, age, gender identity, creed or source of income.
See how this family fought housing discrimination here.
Related Topics: Age, Color, Creed, Disability Status, Fair Housing, Fair Housing Information, Fair Housing Laws, Fair Housing Rights, Familial Status, FHIC, Gender, Gender Identity, Housing Discrimination, Marital Status, National Origin, Race, Religion, Sex, Sexual Orientation, Source of Income