Fair Housing Compliance and Complaint Checklist: A Practical Checklist

Summary. A two-sided checklist — the complainant's first week, forum choice, and filing; the provider's compliance program from criteria through algorithm audits; and the respondent's first forty-eight hours after a complaint arrives.

For doctrine, see Fair Housing and Lending Discrimination. For the workflow, see Bringing and Defending a Fair Housing Claim.

PART ONE — COMPLAINANT

Phase 1 — The first week

Written account today: date · time · address · every name and title · phone/email used · exact words in quotation marks · who else was present.
Screenshot the listing with date and price; re-screenshot if it stays up.
Preserve: texts · emails · voicemails (export them — carriers delete) · the application · fee receipts · the denial · the adverse action notice · the appraisal · the lease · written rules.
Comparators identified: who was treated differently, when, and how you know. Get names and numbers now.
Do not confront. Ask normal follow-up questions in writing and preserve the answers.
Both deadlines calendared: 1 year (HUD) · 2 years (court).

Phase 2 — Fair housing organization

Local private fair housing organization located and called in week one.
Intake completed; testability assessed.
Paired testing designed and run while the unit is still available.
Tester reports (contemporaneous, per contact) obtained.
Organizational standing considered (Havens Realty) if the organization's resources were diverted.

Phase 3 — Forum choice

Basis identified: federal only (race, color, religion, sex, familial status, national origin, disability) vs. state/local only (source of income, marital status, age, criminal history, immigration status, veteran status).
Purely local basis → file with the state or local agency, not HUD.
HUD administrative (§ 3610): free · no lawyer · investigator with subpoena power · 1-year deadline.
Private action (§ 3613): 2 years · uncapped punitive damages · fees · no exhaustion.
HUD filing tolls the 2-year court deadline — filing preserves options rather than spending them.
42 U.S.C. § 1982 added in any race case (no exhaustion, no exemptions, often longer period).
ECOA added where credit is involved (15 U.S.C. § 1691) — also protects marital status, age, and public assistance income.
§ 3605 added for lending, brokerage, or appraisal.

Phase 4 — Filing and proof

Complaint narrative chronological and factual; dates, names, exact words; no characterizations.
Disparate treatment proof assembled: comparators · testers · statistics · departure from written criteria.
Disparate impact proof assembled: the specific policy · statistics · robust causal link (Inclusive Communities) · a less discriminatory alternative.
Accommodation case: disability · knowledge · reasonable and necessary · refusal — the written exchange is the case.
Damages record built: out-of-pocket · before-and-after witnesses for emotional distress · evidence of malice or reckless indifference for punitive.
Settlement asks include non-monetary terms: the housing · policy change · named-provider training · monitoring · neutral reference.

PART TWO — COMPLIANCE PROGRAM

Phase 5 — Screening criteria

Written criteria published before advertising and applied identically to every applicant.
Income standard states that all lawful sources count, including housing assistance.
No blanket criminal exclusion. Individualized assessment: nature and severity · time elapsed · relationship to safety at the property · rehabilitation evidence.
Arrests without conviction excluded entirely.
Eviction-record screening does not treat dismissals, tenant wins, and settlements as losses.
Deviations from criteria documented and justified in writing.
Applications and screening results retained on a defined schedule.
FCRA adverse action notice on every screening-based denial, higher rent, or co-signer requirement.

Phase 6 — Advertising

Text and images describe the property, not the ideal occupant.
No preference, limitation, or discrimination — including "perfect for a single professional," "no children," "adult community" (unless a qualifying older-persons exemption applies and is documented), "Christian home," "English speakers."
Targeted digital advertising audited: audience selection and platform optimization must not limit delivery by protected characteristic.
Photographs reflect a range of residents.
Equal housing opportunity logo and statement included where required.

Phase 7 — Occupancy and rules

Occupancy standards tied to local code, not stricter.
"Family" not defined so as to exclude group homes or unrelated adults (City of Edmonds).
Rules on children (pool hours, play areas, supervision) reviewed for familial status exposure.
Rules enforced uniformly, with enforcement logged.
Guest, noise, and common-area policies not applied selectively.

Phase 8 — Reasonable accommodations and modifications

Written accommodation policy with a named recipient and a stated response deadline.
Interactive process record for every request — granted or denied.
Documentation requested only where disability and need are not obvious; no medical records, no diagnosis, no registry certification.
Assistance animals: no pet fee, no pet rent, no pet deposit, no breed or weight restriction.
Denials only for undue financial and administrative burden or fundamental alteration, documented with figures.
Modifications permitted at tenant expense in private housing; provider pays in federally assisted housing.
Restoration conditions, where imposed, limited to the interior and reasonable.
Direct-threat determinations based on individualized assessment of current conduct, never diagnosis or stereotype.

Phase 9 — Design and construction (post-13 March 1991 multifamily)

Accessible building entrance on an accessible route.
Public and common-use areas accessible.
Doors usable by a person in a wheelchair.
Accessible route into and through the unit.
Switches, outlets, and thermostats in accessible locations.
Bathroom wall reinforcement for later grab bars.
Usable kitchens and bathrooms.
Accessibility assessment performed before acquiring any covered property — the obligation runs with the building and successors inherit it.
Compliance verified at design and again in the field; permits and certificates of occupancy are not a defense.
Section 504 (federally assisted) and ADA (public/common areas) obligations checked separately; strictest standard governs.

Phase 10 — Algorithms and vendors

Screening/pricing tool inputs, weights, and thresholds documented.
Any individual decision explainable from the file (required for adverse action notices and for defending the practice).
Matched-profile testing run internally, differing only on a proxy (zip code, name, income source).
Vendor contract reviewed — indemnity does not reach a HUD charge or an injunction; the model is your liability.
Validation or fair lending analysis obtained from the vendor and reviewed.

Phase 11 — Training and records

Annual documented training for everyone who touches applicants — including part-time leasing staff and answering services.
Attendance and content retained.
Retention schedule for: applications · screening results · waitlists · call and showing logs · communications · accommodation files · enforcement logs.
Complaint channel that reaches someone other than the person complained about.
Self-testing program structured with counsel; privilege scope confirmed.

PART THREE — RESPONDING TO A COMPLAINT

Phase 12 — First 48 hours

Litigation hold issued: tenant/applicant files · screening reports · leasing software and call logs (these purge on short cycles) · emails and texts including staff personal devices · showing logs · maintenance records · security video · accommodation correspondence. Auto-deletion suspended.
Insurer notified — GL, E&O, EPL, and any fair housing endorsement.
Fair housing counsel retained (not general litigation counsel).
Accused employee separated from the complainant; not fired reflexively.
No contact with the complainant; no adverse action of any kind (§ 3617 retaliation is an independent claim).

Phase 13 — Investigation and position statement

Objective records pulled before interviews (timestamps, logs, criteria in effect that day).
Staff interviewed separately and promptly.
The honest question asked internally: is it true?
Pattern check: were others treated the same way?
Position statement: chronological · documented · ONE reason, not alternatives · comparator files attached · corrections described where a mistake occurred.
Position statement contains no speculation about motive and no attack on the complainant.

Phase 14 — Resolution

Conciliation evaluated honestly against uncapped punitive exposure and a running fee clock.
Consent terms negotiated as hard as the money: scope of policy revision · training provider and schedule · reporting term · retrofit schedule and security.
Policy actually changed, with a documented date.
Training delivered and documented.
Recurrence check run across the portfolio.