Articles — source of income discrimination

More Proposed Legislation for Landlords

Posted by Stephen Marshall on

More Proposed Legislation for Landlords

MORE PROPOSED LANDLORD LEGISLATION There’s been a flurry of activity at our state legislature recently, with several new bills being filed that would impact the rental industry. Several of them repetitive, mirroring bills already filed in the other legislative chamber. And most of them are bad. Let’s take a look. LEGISLATIVE UPDATE  Senate Bill 289 – This bill is sponsored by Senator Reggie Thomas from Lexington. It would allow tenants to expunge any eviction judgment based on nonpayment of rent during the Covid-19 pandemic, beginning March 6, 2020. You can read the bill at this link. Senate Bill 357 –...

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A Review of Important Fair Housing Cases

Posted by Stephen Marshall on

A Review of Important Fair Housing Cases

In last week’s post, we reviewed some statistics on housing discrimination complaints filed in 2017. One positive note from that review was that landlords are rarely found to have committed acts of housing discrimination. This week, I want to look at some cases across the country that shed light on some important topics in Fair Housing. One of several lessons from this week’s review: while housing discrimination might be rare, it can be very costly for landlords. Here are four cases that illustrate that point and give us lessons to consider: Case #1 - Fair Housing Center of West Michigan...

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A Response to a Hit Piece on Landlords

Posted by Stephen Marshall on

A Response to a Hit Piece on Landlords

On October 13, 2017, the Lexington Herald-Leader ran a front-page article that was nothing more than a hit piece against Lexington's private rental industry. The article's purpose, other than perpetuating a false narrative against landlords, was to promote a report released by the Lexington Fair Housing Council titled Locked Out: Foreclosure, Eviction and Housing Instability in Lexington, 2005-2016. You can read the report in its entirety here. You'll likely be appalled at the report's tone that landlords are the problem and at its suggestion that landlords profit from evictions and exploit the eviction process for personal gain. In short, the...

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