What Is Considered Unlawful Discrimination in a Rental Application Process?

Discrimination in a rental application is unlawful when you reject an applicant, offer worse terms, or word an ad a certain way because of a protected characteristic. The federal Fair Housing Act protects seven: race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, and familial status (having a child under 18 in the household, or being pregnant). Many states and cities add more, such as source of income, age, marital status, and sexual orientation. You can still screen on income, credit, rental history, and other business criteria, subject to federal, state, and local screening limits.

In California, before using credit history for an applicant with a housing subsidy, you must give them an opportunity and reasonable time to submit lawful, verifiable evidence of ability to pay their share of rent. If the applicant submits that evidence, you must consider it instead of credit history.

Which characteristics are protected?

Two of the seven federal classes have legal definitions that decide who is covered:

• Familial status covers a household where a child under 18 lives with a parent, a legal custodian, or someone either of them designates in writing. It also covers anyone who is pregnant or in the process of getting legal custody of a child.
• Disability means a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity, a record of one, or being regarded as having one. Current illegal drug use is not covered. Applicants with disabilities have extra rights, covered in whether you can refuse to lease to a person with a disability.

State laws add more classes. California and New York show how far they can go:

Source-of-income laws stop you from rejecting an applicant because part of the rent comes from a Housing Choice Voucher (often called Section 8) or other assistance. A March 2026 compilation by the Poverty & Race Research Action Council lists 19 states plus Washington, D.C., with statewide laws, including California, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Virginia, and Washington. More than 100 cities and counties have their own, though Florida, Indiana, Missouri, Texas, and several other states bar local governments from passing them. New York's voucher protection is in dispute: a state appeals court held it unconstitutional in March 2026, and the compilation reports that the law still stands while the case is appealed.

What practices count as discrimination?

Each of these is illegal when it is based on a protected characteristic:

• Refusing or stalling. Rejecting an application, refusing to negotiate, or saying a unit is rented when it is still available.
• Different terms. Charging a higher deposit or rent, adding a cosigner requirement, or offering a shorter lease to some applicants.
• Uneven screening. Running credit checks, asking for pay stubs, or asking for proof of legal status only for certain applicants, or waiving a minimum income for one group.
• Steering. Pointing families with children to one building or floor, or telling an applicant they would be more comfortable somewhere else.
• Ads and statements. HUD's rules cover listings, signs, application forms, and what you say on the phone. "Adults only," "perfect for a single professional," "Christian household," and "English speakers only" all signal who is welcome. Choosing where to advertise so a group never sees the listing also counts. For wording that describes the unit instead of the tenant, see how to market your rental property.
• Disability rules. Refusing a reasonable change to a rule, such as a no-pets policy, that a person with a disability needs, or refusing to let a tenant make reasonable physical changes at their own expense.

Intent is not always required. A rule that sounds neutral can be challenged if it falls much harder on one national origin or race. In a 2022 New York case, a federal court let a challenge to a policy of renting only to people who speak and read English go forward as both intentional discrimination and an unjustified effect on those groups. See whether you can refuse an applicant who does not speak English.

Which applicant questions are lawful?

The safe rule is to ask every applicant the same questions, tied to whether they can pay rent and follow the lease.

HUD's disability rules list the questions you may ask: whether the applicant can meet the requirements of tenancy, whether they currently use illegal drugs, and whether they have been convicted of manufacturing or distributing them. Ask them of every applicant, including those with no apparent disability.

Occupancy questions are lawful, but a limit stricter than the local code that keeps out families with children can be familial status discrimination. See how occupancy limits work.

California protects citizenship and immigration status, so leave questions about legal status off California applications and ask for proof of identity and income instead.

Do small landlords have to follow these rules?

The Fair Housing Act exempts two kinds of rentals from most of its rental-discrimination rules:

• A single-family house rented by an owner who owns no more than three single-family houses, if the owner does not use a broker or agent.
• A unit in a building with four or fewer units when the owner lives in one of them.

Racial discrimination remains prohibited under 42 U.S.C. 1982 even when either exemption applies. Neither exemption covers advertising. An exempt owner who posts "no kids" still breaks the federal ad rule. State laws can also reach rentals the federal law skips. New York's owner-occupied exemption stops at two-family buildings, so an owner living in a three- or four-unit building in New York is covered by state law.

What changed at HUD in 2025 and 2026?

In a July 17, 2026 notice, HUD's Office of General Counsel withdrew 13 fair housing guidance documents, effective September 25, 2025. They include its 2016 guidance on criminal records screening, its 2016 guidance on applicants with limited English proficiency, its 2021 guidance applying the Supreme Court's Bostock decision to treat sexual orientation and gender identity as sex discrimination, and its 2024 guidance on source-of-income rules.

The Fair Housing Act and HUD's regulations did not change, and applicants can still sue in federal or state court. State agencies, such as California's Civil Rights Department, enforce their own lists of protected classes regardless of what HUD does.

How do you screen without discriminating?

1. Write your criteria before you list the unit. Set the minimum income, credit standard, rental history, and occupancy limit, and give every applicant a copy. The qualities that make a good tenant are a starting point for what to measure.
2. Process applications in the order received. Offer tenancy to the first qualified applicant with a complete application, as Seattle's First-in-Time rule requires of covered landlords.
3. Use one application form and one set of questions. Remove questions about birthplace, marital status, or health.
4. Record the reason for each denial in terms of your lawful written criteria. Colorado caps required annual income at twice annual rent, or twice the tenant's annual share if subsidized. In California, base an income requirement for an applicant with a housing subsidy only on the tenant's share of rent.
5. Review ad wording for words that describe people instead of the property.

State rules on screening fees, criminal history, and credit checks vary. What laws landlords must follow covers the other federal and state rules that apply once you start renting.