Discrimination and fair housing
Fair housing, reasonable accommodations, and how quickly a complaint has to be filed.
Awaiting attorney review
This playbook is written and sourced, but a qualified Virginia reviewer has not signed off on it yet. Use it to understand the landscape and to prepare, not as a legal conclusion, a deadline, or a remedy.
Federal and state fair housing law prohibit discrimination in renting. Complaints run on short clocks, and what you recorded in the moment often decides the case.
What the law says
- The federal Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. § 3604) prohibits discrimination in renting based on protected characteristics, including disability, race, color, religion, sex, familial status and national origin. Virginia has its own fair housing law as well.
- Disability cases often turn on a request for a reasonable accommodation or modification and what the landlord did with it.
- Fair housing complaints have filing deadlines that are much shorter than most people expect, and the deadline can differ depending on where you file.
Steps tenants usually take
- 01Write down exactly what happened, who said it, and when; quote it if you can.
- 02Keep copies of the listing, application, texts and emails.
- 03If you asked for a disability accommodation, put the request in writing and keep the reply.
- 04Contact a fair housing organization or HUD about filing a complaint.
- 05Ask legal aid about the deadline before you wait to decide.
Do not skip these
- Filing deadlines for fair housing complaints are short. Do not wait until you have every document to ask about the deadline.