California Tenant/Landlord Rights and Responsibilities
Week Two May 18-24, 2020
Instructions: Copy and paste this worksheet into your Final Warm-up document in Schoology.
Click the link to watch each video. After you have watched the entire video through, go back and
read each question below the video link. Rewatch the video a second time, stopping as needed to
answer each question. Highlight your answers in yellow. Feel free to use this slideshow as an
additional resource.
Monday, May 18: An Overview of the Fair Housing Act (be prepared to pause the video often
to answer the questions below):
1. When was the Fair Housing Act passed into law?
2. What does the Fair Housing Act recognize?
3. At the time the law was passed, how did society react?
4. What is “white flight” as it relates to housing?
5. In the 1970s, Patt Combs was showing a house to an African American couple. What
were the neighbors’ reactions?
6. What was the purpose of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB)?
7. How did community organizations respond to the formation of NAREB?
8. Why was the Fair Housing Act later amended? What does it now include?
9. Does housing discrimination still exist today?
10. How many states prohibit housing discrimination against members of the LGBTQ+
community?
11. The highest number of reported acts of housing discrimination are agianst which
population?
Tuesday, May 19: Here is a video displaying the Top 10 Fair Housing Act misinterpretations
and mistakes (be prepared to pause the video often to answer the questions below):
1. In Fair Housing terms, what is discrimination?
2. Is housing discrimination often intentional?
3. What housing discrimination mistake is often made with children?
4. Can a potential tenant be denied a rental application? Why or why not?
5. What Fair Housing mistakes are often made in the parking lot?
6. Explain the differences between a service animal and a pet. Can a landlord deny tenants
the opportunity to have service animals in the unit?
7. Hoarding is an often misinterpreted phenomenon in the Fair Housing Act. Specifically,
what does the Fair Housing Act label hoarding as? Why is this label significant?
8. What is the number one Fair Housing mistake as identified by this video? What are its
ramifications?
Wednesday, May 20: Take a look at this website that outlines the Rental Housing Rights for
Disabled Tenants and answer the questions below:
1. Who Qualifies as Disabled under the Fair Housing Acts?
2. What types of disabilities are protected under this act?
3. What kinds of questions is the landlord prohibited from asking?
4. How must landlords treat trenants with an identified disability?
5. There are four categories of questions that a landlord may ask his/her tenant that are
considered non-discriminatory. What are they?
6. A landlord may not exclude an applicant because of fear or speculation that the mentally
ill person poses a danger, but what can the landlord assess about this tenant?
7. What is the Right to an Accommodation?
8. Under the Right to an Accomodation, what is meant by “there must be a relationship
between the modification and the disability”?
9. What is The Right to Make a Modification?
10. Why may it be necessary for a tenant to provide proof of a disability? (Think in terms of
requesting modifications).
Thursday, May 21: “Housing Discrimination in California: What is it and what can tenants do
about it?” Read through this website and answer the questions below:
1. When does housing discrimination take place?
2. How many acts of housing discrimination were reported in 2016?
3. In California, what two laws govern housing discrimination?
4. What is the Unruh Act?
5. List four acts that are considered to be housing discrimination.
6. How do some landlords use online advertisements to discriminate against prospective
tenants?
7. Describe four exemptions to the Fair Housing Act for rental units.
8. Why do fair housing exemptions in California take precedent over the federal exemptions
outlined in the Fair Housing Act?
9. What are the impacts of housing discrimination?
10. What should tenants do if they suspect they are being discriminated against?
Friday, May 22: How to File a Housing Discrimination Complaint (be prepared to pause the
video often to answer the questions below):
1. How is the woman in the video discriminated against in terms of fair housing?
2. Provide two examples of housing discrimination.
3. What three often subtle acts of discrimination listed in the video (around 1:04 mark)?
4. Who can you contact if you need help filing a housing discrimination complaint?
5. Through which United States department can you file a discrimination complaint?
6. What is the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) responsible for?
7. List four ways you can file a housing discrimination complaint through HUD.
8. How long of a time window do you have to file a complaint after the act of
discrimination occured?
9. In terms of housing discrimination, who are the respondents?
10. How long does the process of filing a discrimination complaint take?
11. If HUD determines that discrimination did not take place, what can you do?
