As The Facebook Suit Roils, You Can't Say A Home Is 'Good For Families,' And Other Fair Housing Rules

Yesterday's news that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is suing Facebook for violating the Fair Housing Act was not a surprise to most who work in the housing industry. How the ad tool within Facebook had allowed advertiser to target specific audiences down to race and Zip code (which correlates strongly with economic status) has been a hot topic of discussion for years. These are flagrant ways to violate the Fair Housing Act, but there are also facets to the law that catch many by surprise. A 2016 example shows how a landlord lost in court for refusing to rent to a single mother with a young daughter because the landlord thought the neighborhood wasn't a safe place for them both to live.

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