If you're looking for an apartment or already living in one, it's important to know how you might be protected against illegal discrimination where you live.
The Fair Housing Act (FHA), a federal law, doesn't protect every group of people against discrimination. For example, the FHA doesn't include such protected classes as age, marital status, military status, sexual orientation, or source of income, and more.
Almost every state, as well as the District of Columbia, has its own fair housing law, which at least offers apartment dwellers an additional option to pursue in the event they feel they were treated differently when it comes to housing decisions. Many of these states have chosen to go beyond the FHA, offering protection to a wide range of people who wouldn't have a claim under federal law.
Click on your state below to find out whether it has any additional protected classes:
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
