Real Estate Chapter 17

Disability

A physical or mental impairment that substantially limits or curtails one or more major life activities.

Familial Status

A protected group under the federal Fair Housing Act, making it illegal to discriminate against a person because he or she is the parent or guardian of a child under 18 years of age.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA

A wide-ranging federal civil rights law, signed in 1990, that prohibits, under certain circumstances, discrimination based on disability.

Public Accommodation

An establishment that is intended to be available to everyone, either as a place of business or commerce or for federal, state, or local government business. It includes hotels, restaurants, retail, gas stations, theaters, museums, etc.

Steering

Channeling prospective buyers or tenants to particular neighborhoods based on their race, religion, national origin, ancestry, or membership in any other protected class.

Fair Housing Act

Common name for Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 and its amendments.

Civil Rights

Fundamental rights guaranteed to all persons by the law. The term is primarily used in reference to constitutional and statutory protections against discrimination based on race, religion, sex, or national origin.

Mrs. Murphy Exemption

States that the rental of a unit or a room in an owner-occupied dwelling with four units or less is exempt from the federal Fair Housing Act. This exemption is provided only when rental advertising is not discriminatory, a real estate agent is not involved, and there is no discrimination based on race or color.

Blockbusting

The illegal practice of inducing owners to sell their homes (often at a deflated price) by suggesting the ethnic or racial composition of the neighborhood is changing, with the implication that property values will decline as a result. Also called Panic Selling or Panic Peddling.

Discrimination

Treating people unequally because of their race, religion, sex, national origin, age, or some other characteristic of a protected class, in violation of civil rights laws.

Redlining

When a lender refuses to make loans secured by property in a certain neighborhood because of the racial or ethnic composition of the neighborhood.