Fair Housing, Other Disclosures and Occupancy Standards Flashcards
What year was the first fair housing law passed?
1866
Which of the following is not a protected class under the Federal Fair Housing Act?
Age
An alleged violation of the Civil Rights Act must be filed within how many years of the action?
1 year
What was the Tax Reform Act of 1986 designed to do?
To eliminate the tax loop holes and increased incentives to induce home ownership.
Which of the following is a requirement of the Foreign Investment Real Property Tax Act (FIRPTA)?
FIRPTA requires that any foreign investor in real estate in the United States declare that he or she is not a U.S. citizen.
What is “Megan’s Law”?
Allows disclosure of information about sex offenders.
Whose mission is to protect human health, air, water, land and the environment?
Environmental Protection Agency
What was created that established the rules and regulations for the dumping of pollutants into the waters of the United States?
Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972
What does the Keating Memorandum state would be reasonable under the Fair Housing Act for number of persons in a bedroom?
2
In what year was the Fair Housing Act under the Civil Rights Act first revised?
1968
The first Civil Rights Act prohibited discrimination based on
Race color
The Federal Fair Housing Act
was established under the Civil Rights Act, which prohibited discrimination based on race, color, religion, or national origin. The law also gives the right for investigation and prosecution to the Housing and Urban Development.
Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act is also known as
the Fair Housing Act (of 1968).
The Civil Right Act of 1968 prohibited the following forms of discrimination:
Refusal to sell or rent a dwelling to any person because of his or her race, color, religion or national origin.
Discrimination against a person in the terms, conditions or privilege of the sale or rental of a dwelling. Setting more restrictive standards, such as a higher income or having inconsistent policies used to discriminate.
Advertising the sale or rental of a dwelling indicating discrimination based on race, color, religion or national origin, such as skin color
Coercing, threatening, intimidating, or interfering with a person’s enjoyment or exercise of housing rights based on discriminatory reasons or retaliating against a person or organization that aids or encourages the exercise or enjoyment of fair housing rights.
Falsely denying that a rental unit is available.
Refusing to accommodate the needs of handicapped tenants, such as not allowing a guide dog for the visually impaired.
An amendment in 1974 included a person’s
sex as a protected class.
In 1988, familial status and handicap persons were added
Familial status refers to the relationship of people in a family (children and parents), and handicap persons are those with physical conditions that impair them, including those with AIDS and mental disorders.
U.S. Code, Title 42, Chapter 21, Subchapter I, (1982)
All citizens of the United States shall have the same right, in every State and Territory, as is enjoyed by white citizens thereof to inherit, purchase, lease, sell, hold, and convey real and personal property.
An alleged violation of the Civil Rights Act must be filed within one year of the action.
There are two years to file a federal civil court action. Civil penalties are $10,000 for the first violation and $50,000 for any subsequent violation.
Additionally, the Texas Real Estate Commission states:
No real estate licensee shall inquire about, respond to or facilitate inquiries about, or make a disclosure which indicates or is intended to indicate any preference, limitation or discrimination based on the following: race, color, religion, sex, national origin, ancestry, familial status, or handicap of an owner, previous or current occupant, potential purchaser, lessor, or potential lessee of real property.
The Tax Reform Act of 1986
was designed to eliminate the tax loop holes and increased incentives to induce home ownership rather than rental housing by increasing the Home Mortgage Interest Deduction. The Act has changed the aspects of rent, property taxes, and mortgage interest payments to favor homeownership, while eliminating most of the investment incentives for rental housing.
The Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act (FIRPTA)
requires that any foreign investor in real estate in the United States declare that he or she is not a U.S. citizen. If he or she is not a U.S. citizen the taxes owed must be taken out of closing to pay the government.
The Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act
is designed to protect buyers from misrepresentations, fraud and abuse in the sale and/or lease of land.
Megan’s Law requires that states initiate
sex offender registries and crimes against children registries. This is applicable in Texas via The Texas Sex Offender Registration Program which requires a sex offender to register with the local law enforcement authority of the city or county he or she resides in. The law indicates that information can be placed on the Internet and then obtained by the public.
Licensees must also conform to national policies set out by the
Environmental Protection Agency, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Texas Commission on Human Rights lays out reasonable occupancy policy that does not unfairly discriminate against families with children.
