Exemptions, and types of discrimination: steering, blockbusting, and unequal treatment

Identify the discriminatory conduct

Steering directs housing choices toward or away from locations because of a protected characteristic. Selecting neighborhoods by a buyer's race is steering; selecting listings by the buyer's stated price and location preferences is legitimate service.

Blockbusting means inducing or attempting to induce sales or rentals for profit through representations about entry of people with protected characteristics into a neighborhood. A broker's warning that a particular national-origin group is moving in, used to obtain listings, fits the federal prohibition even if no owner agrees to sell.

Unequal treatment includes discriminatory terms, services, negotiations, and access. Higher deposits because of religion and falsely claiming an available apartment is rented because the applicant has children are examples. New York also protects characteristics including lawful source of income and marital status. A salesperson must not carry out discriminatory owner instructions.

Apply exemptions narrowly

An exemption under one law does not establish an exemption under every applicable law.

• New York's owner-occupied building rental exception concerns accommodations for not more than two families living independently, with the owner residing in one. It is not a four-unit exception. It does not excuse discriminatory advertising; unlawful discriminatory advertising also ends the stated rental exemption. Certain room rentals and same-sex room arrangements have separate provisions, not a general apartment-rental exception.
• Federal § 3603(b) exemptions preserve § 3604(c)'s discriminatory-advertising prohibition.
• Federal religious-organization housing preferences require qualifying ownership or operation for a noncommercial purpose. The religious preference is unavailable if membership in the religion is restricted by race, color, or national origin. A private club not open to the public may prefer members in noncommercial lodging incidental to its primary purpose.

Senior housing has a limited exception

Federal qualifying older-person housing is exempt from familial-status provisions, not race protections. The federal 62-and-over category requires intended and sole occupancy by persons at least 62. The federal 55-and-over category requires at least 80 percent of occupied units to have at least one occupant 55 or older, policies demonstrating the required intent, and occupancy verification. Reaching the percentage alone is insufficient.

New York's housing provision limits the senior exception to age and familial status. It describes housing exclusively for persons 62 or older and their spouses, or qualifying housing intended and operated for at least one person 55 or older per unit, with federal 55-and-over criteria incorporated.