The California Civil Rights Department (CRD) is responsible for enforcing state fair housing laws that make it illegal to discriminate against or harass someone because of a protected characteristic, such as their gender, race, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, or religion. (For a complete list of protected characteristics, see the section below titled “Protected Characteristics”). The law also requires reasonable accommodations for disabilities and prohibits retaliation against someone for exercising their rights. The law applies to landlords, tenant screening companies, property management companies, real estate agents, home sellers, builders, mortgage lenders, housing authorities, and others. The law applies to all aspects of housing and housing-related services, such as renting, leasing, sales, new construction, mortgage lending, insurance, municipal services, shelters, advertising, and restrictive covenants. Additionally, it is unlawful for cities, counties, or any local government agency to make zoning, land-use decisions, or policies that discriminate based on a protected characteristic.
California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (also known as FEHA) applies to most providers of housing and services related to housing such as landlords, tenant screening companies, real estate agents, home sellers, builders, mortgage lenders, and housing authorities. This law prohibits people or entities that provide housing from discriminating against or harassing tenants, homeowners, residents, their guests, housing or mortgage applicants, home buyers, and others. In addition, another law, the Unruh Civil Rights Act, applies to housing providers that qualify as a business establishment from discriminating against customers on the basis of protected characteristics.
Examples of actions that could be discriminatory if based on a person’s protected characteristic:
California law protects individuals from illegal discrimination and harassment by housing providers based on certain protected characteristics, whether or not someone actually has that characteristic or is perceived to have it. The law also protects against discrimination and harassment that is based on more than one, or intersecting, characteristics. Finally, California law protects people from discrimination and harassment that is based on the protected characteristic of their family member, friend, roommate, or any other associate.
Protected characteristics include::
*If a housing provider qualifies as a business, these characteristics would also be protected under the Unruh Civil Rights Act.
FEHA also provides protections for people and circumstances related to protected characteristics, including:
For more information, please see CRD’s Fair Housing Factsheet and Fair Housing Booklet
State law provides for a variety of remedies for victims of housing discrimination, including:
The Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) covers the sale, rental, or occupancy of most housing accommodations in California, including single-family homes, multi-family homes, condominiums, apartments, short-term rentals, mobile homes, subsidized housing, dormitories, sober living facilities, group homes, residential motels, emergency shelters, homeless shelters, shelters for survivors of domestic violence, recreational vehicles (RVs) used as a home, farmworker housing, and boats used as homes.
Most people and entities that are housing providers or who provide services related to housing must comply with the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). This includes landlords, homeowners, apartment managers, real estate brokers, state or local governments, owners of short-term rentals, appraisers, tenant screening companies, homeowners associations, mortgage lending companies, and public housing authorities.
Generally, housing providers cannot discriminate against families with children. This is called “familial status” discrimination and protections include:
However, housing that has been specifically designed for senior citizens (persons 55 and older in some cases or 62 and older in others) can exclude people based on age, including families with children. To qualify as “senior housing,” a housing accommodation must meet specific legally defined requirements, which may include a minimum number of units, age-based residency limits, and design features.
Yes, but only when the facility or community is:
The Fair Employment and Housing Act defines a disability as a mental or physical impairment, or condition that limits a major life activity. Examples of major life activities include cooking, cleaning, bathing, working, paying bills, and shopping. For example, if a person has a mental health condition that makes it difficult to shop for groceries and clean their apartment, they would be considered to be disabled under California fair housing law.
People that are perceived to have a disability (whether or not they are actually disabled) are also protected under the law. For example, if a landlord discriminates against a tenant because they think the tenant has a mental health condition, this would violate the law, even if the person didn’t have a mental health condition.
Additionally, people who are associated with a person who has a disability are also included in the laws protections. For example, refusing to rent to a tenant that has a family member with a mental health condition that will be visiting the tenant, would violate the law.
Yes. Tenants, residents, and applicants with disabilities are entitled to reasonable accommodations and/or modifications that are necessary to allow them an equal opportunity to use and enjoy housing, including a housing unit and any common areas. The refusal to grant reasonable accommodations and modifications constitutes unlawful discrimination under state and federal law. See below for examples of reasonable accommodations.
A reasonable accommodation is an exception, change, or adjustment in rules, policies, practices, or services that is necessary to allow a tenant, resident, or applicant with a disability to have an equal opportunity to use and enjoy housing.
Examples of reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities include:
Examples of requests that cannot be reasonable accommodations include:
No. A request for reasonable accommodation does not need to be in writing. The person making the request does not need to use any specific words – including “reasonable accommodation” – to make the request as long as they indicate needing an exception, change, or adjustment to a practice or policy because of a disability.
Requests for accommodations must be considered promptly by the housing provider. The time necessary to respond to a request depends on various factors, including whether the accommodation is needed on an urgent basis. Failure to respond to a request for a reasonable accommodation constitutes unlawful housing discrimination.
If a housing provider cannot immediately grant a requested accommodation, they must engage in an “interactive process” with the requestor in an effort to come up with a solution. The purpose of the interactive process is to exchange information to identify, evaluate, and implement a reasonable accommodation that allows the individual with a disability equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling or housing opportunity. If the housing provider determines that they cannot grant the request, they must work with the requestor to try to identify if there is another accommodation that is equally effective in meeting their needs. The interactive process should occur in a timely manner and should be negotiated in good faith.
Yes. However, if the need for a reasonable accommodation or modification is obvious or known, further inquiry is not necessary. If the need is not obvious, the housing provider may only request information that:
A housing provider cannot seek information about:
No. Documentation can come from any reliable third party who is in a position to know about the individual’s disability or the disability-related need for accommodation, such as a health care provider, therapist, social worker, non-medical service provider, member of a peer support group, parent, child, or other relative. Reliable documentation of an individual’s disability and/or their need for a reasonable accommodation or modification can also be provided by the person making the request. This may include proof of receipt of disability-related benefits, such as SSI or SSDI or the requestor’s own credible statement. The determination of whether a third party is reliable is determined on a case-by-case basis and may take into account how the third party is familiar with the individual’s disability and/or the disability-related need for the accommodation.
Yes, but the housing provider must make exceptions to the rule as a reasonable accommodation if it is necessary to allow a person with a disability to have an equal opportunity to enjoy housing. Refusing to allow necessary service animals or emotional-support animals is illegal discrimination. Service animals and emotional-support animals are not subject to breed, size, or weight restrictions ordinarily applied to pets, and tenants cannot be charged pet deposits or pet rent for them.
An emotional support animal (ESA) is an animal that provides emotional, cognitive, or other similar support to a person with a disability to assist them in managing the symptoms of their disability. ESAs are also referred to as comfort animals or support animals. A service animal refers to an animal trained to perform specific tasks to assist an individual with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disability. For example, guide dogs are service animals that assist people who are blind or have low vision with navigation, and signal dogs are service animals that alert individuals who are deaf or hard-of-hearing to sounds. An ESA is not a service animal because the ESA is not specifically trained to assist a person with a disability.
No. In 2021, California enacted Assembly Bill 468, which, among other things, requires a
business selling emotional support dogs and/or ESA vests, tags, or certifications to notify the buyer that an ESA is not specifically trained to be a service dog and is not entitled to the rights and privileges accorded by law to service dogs. AB 468 also places some conditions on health care practitioners providing documentation relating to an individual’s need for an emotional support dog. Importantly, AB 468 expressly does not “restrict or change existing federal and state law related to a person’s rights for reasonable accommodation and equal access to housing,” and the Fair Employment and Housing Act invalidates any state law to the extent it purports to require or permit any unlawful housing discrimination, including the denial of reasonable accommodations. Therefore, housing providers must allow
reasonable accommodations for ESAs under the rules described in these FAQs. This includes existing rules regarding what type of documentation establishes someone’s disability-related need for a reasonable accommodation to have an ESA.
A reasonable modification is different from a reasonable accommodation because it is a physical change or alteration to a tenant’s unit or the common areas associated with the unit. A request for a change or alteration is considered to be a reasonable modification if it is necessary to afford the individual with a disability an equal opportunity to use and enjoy their home. Under most circumstances, the refusal by a landlord, HOA, or other housing provider to allow an individual with a disability the opportunity to make a reasonable modification constitutes unlawful housing discrimination. Some examples of reasonable modifications include:
In most instances, the tenant is responsible for all costs connected to the modification. This may include the cost of restoring the premises to the condition that existed before the modification (other than for reasonable wear and tear). However, a housing provider is required to pay for the modification if:
No. California law protects tenants from discrimination based on how a tenant will be paying rent (“source of income”). This includes the State of California’s COVID-19 Rent Relief Program, Housing Choice (Section 8) vouchers, (SSI) social security disability benefits, or wages earned from a job. Some examples of source of income discrimination include:
Yes. Generally, a housing provider may check the criminal history of an applicant, but there are some limitations. Housing providers cannot consider some types of criminal history including arrests that did not lead to a conviction, records that are sealed or expunged, or records or matters processed in the juvenile justice system. Housing providers are also prohibited from having “blanket bans” of all people with a criminal history.
If a housing provider intends to deny someone’s application based on a criminal conviction, it must be directly-related to someone’s ability to be a good tenant and to not be a threat to the health and safety of others and the property. In determining whether a criminal conviction is directly-related, a housing provider should consider the nature and severity of the crime and the amount of time that has passed since the criminal conduct occurred.
Yes. California’s fair housing laws prohibit housing providers (including their employees or agents) and other tenants from discriminating against or harassing a tenant, resident, home seeker, applicant, homeowner, and others, because of a protected characteristic. Housing providers have a duty to correct and end discriminatory housing practices, including harassment, committed not only by the housing provider but also by third parties (such as other tenants, other residents, or contractors hired by the housing provider) when the housing provider has the legal responsibility or authority to correct it.
No. California’s fair housing laws protect Californians regardless of their citizenship or immigration status. CRD does not inquire about a complainant’s citizenship or immigration status.
In general, a complaint of housing discrimination must be filed within one year from the date an alleged discriminatory act occurred.
If a complaint has been filed with HUD, it will automatically be filed with CRD as well. In most cases, HUD will send the complaint to CRD for investigation. If a complaint is filed with CRD and alleges facts that would violate the federal Fair Housing Act, the complaint is automatically filed with HUD, although CRD will investigate.
No. A person may file directly in court without first filing a complaint with CRD. This is different than filing an employment case, which must first be filed with CRD before a person can file a complaint in court. The time limit for filing in court is two years from the date of the alleged discrimination. If a complaint has been filed with CRD, the two-year time period does not include the time CRD spent processing the case.
CRD does not help people find housing. CRD cannot help with housing issues not related to discrimination, and does not represent tenants in unlawful detainers. When unrelated to discrimination, CRD does not have jurisdiction over:
Predatory lending is primarily a consumer law issue affecting all borrowers. Consumers can best seek relief under the Unfair Competition Law (UCL) by filing complaints against those businesses with the California Attorney General’s Office, which enforces the UCL. Consumers can also file complaints against residential mortgage lenders with the California Department of Corporations, which licenses and regulates lenders. However, if residential predatory lending has occurred because of discrimination against a protected category covered by FEHA, CRD has jurisdiction and should be able to assist those aggrieved borrowers.
