By Mark Zinman | Zona Law
Question: We have a 10-plex that suffered a gas cut-off last week. We want to provide a
concession to the affected residents, but we don’t want to violate any fair housing laws. Is it
okay to just provide a concession to the affected residents?
Answer: Great question. It is always a good idea to question whether you are complying with
fair housing laws any time you treat tenants differently. You are providing a concession to select
residents because they were impacted by something that happened at the property. In other
words, you are treating tenants who were impacted differently than those who were not
impacted: this is an objective standard not tied to any protected class, and therefore would not
run afoul of fair housing laws. All too often property owners randomly treat residents differently
and don’t think about the potential fair housing implications. Therefore, it’s always good to ask
the question.