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Q: A private—that is, non-federally funded—landlord in California, which has legalized both medical and recreational use marijuana, catches two tenants smoking pot in the clubhouse in violation of the community’s anti-drug use policy. Tenant A has a valid prescription from a physician to use marijuana to treat his PTSD; Tenant B is just a casual user. With both medical and recreational marijuana legal in the state, which, if any, tenant(s) can the landlord evict for violating the community’s anti-drug policy?
HUD recently issued guidance warning landlords of their fair housing liability risks when using digital advertising platforms that utilize artificial intelligence (AI). What’s the best strategy for a landlord who deems it highly beneficial to use an AI-based ad platform to manage the potential liability risks involved?
a. Avoid digital advertising just to be safe
b. Use due diligence to select an advertising platform that’s likely to comply with fair housing law
Q:In response to a neighbor’s complaints about odors coming from a tenant’s apartment, you enter the unit and discover stacks of moldy newspapers, open food containers, unwashed clothing, and other debris strewn about, including in places where they obstruct windows and emergency exits. What should you do?
a. Immediately evict the tenant for creating a nuisance and danger to the health and safety of other tenants.
Q: Your property is located in San Antonio where local ordinance bans military status discrimination. A naval officer has been assigned to a new base and needs a one-bedroom apartment right away. The only one-bedroom apartment that’s currently available is right next door to the unit occupied by a radical peace activist with an erratic personality and history of getting into aggressive confrontations with anybody he believes supports or represents the military.
Hidden flaws in the technology can expose you to fair housing liability.
Like other real estate businesses, you may be using ChatGPT, Bard, Bing, and other generative AI products, a.k.a. chatbots, for marketing purposes, such as developing advertising strategies, analyzing housing markets, and generating property listings, ads, social media posts, and other marketing content. Just recognize that for all their potential benefits, chatbots contain flaws that make them risky to use for marketing and advertising.
Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Representative Scott Peters (D-CA) recently introduced the “Fair Housing Improvement Act” to protect veterans and low-income families from housing discrimination.
Last week’s Pop Quiz posed a question about when you can reject applicants who aren’t U.S. citizens without risking fair housing trouble. The answer was when being a U.S. citizen is required for leasing property under HUD program rules and/or state or local law. But Gwen Volk, president of Gwen Volk INFOCUS, Inc., warns, “That answer may be a bit misleading and cause managers of Section 8 properties to conclude that you have to be a U.S. citizen to qualify.”
Q: I manage a rental property in Maine that doesn’t allow pets. An applicant from New York gave me a note from a New York doctor stating that the applicant needs an emotional support animal as an accommodation for a disability. Can I require the applicant to get a note from a local doctor in Maine?
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