Description:

If you’re not a big fan of change, 2025 is not going to be a fun year! Regardless of the results of the elections in November, it is guaranteed that how we comply with fair housing will undergo major changes.

Right now, in various courtrooms around the country, attorneys are arguing for or against enforcing disparate impact theory, implementing the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing requirements, creating additional protected classes, banning criminal background checks, not allowing the use of minimum income, credit, employment history or landlord history in resident selection, the categorization of legitimate fees as “junk fees” and allowing all residents to have pets.

In addition, the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications Commission have joined HUD and the Department of Justice in looking at our operations. Oh, and did I mention that recruitment of both volunteer and paid fair housing testers is at an all-time high?

Join us for this highly informative and up-to-date session as we dive into the most significant stories, cases, penalties, and developments shaping the future of fair housing compliance. Discover what these changes mean for your practice and gain actionable strategies to ensure you’re fully prepared and compliant moving forward!

Session Objectives

• An increasing number of multifamily professionals are becoming defensive about the apparent “weaponization” and “politicization” of fair housing compliance. We’ll review recent HUD/DOJ guidance and enforcement actions and discuss appropriate strategies to minimize risk.
• The increase in money allocated to fair housing enforcement coupled with the increase in the number of fair housing testers has created lots of stress with front-line staff. We’ll share some ways to lower the stress level.
• We’ll look at the recent involvement of the FTC and FCC regarding the use of credit checking services, uniform internet access, algorithms and revenue management software and how the Disparate Impact Theory has driven all of these efforts – and discuss how to effectively and efficiently run our business while maintaining fair housing compliance

Session Highlights

• The increasing use of Disparate Impact Theory to challenge everything we use to evaluate potential residents and what you need to know about the process
• The war on algorithms and where background checks and the entire application process are headed
• How to manage leasing and operations with the ever-increasing number of protected classes
• How the crackdown on so-called “Crime Free” and “Nuisance Laws” are making day to day management more difficult and how to react.
• How the increase in marijuana legalization creates confusion and potential liability and strategies to adopt to minimize disruption and risk.
• What you need to know about the increase in forced acceptance of Housing Choice Vouchers and what your options are.
• And whatever else happens between when this was written and the date of our session!

Who Should Attend

• On-Site and Multi-Site Personnel including Regional
• Area Managers
• Community Managers
• Leasing Managers
• Professionals
• Maintenance/Service Managers/Supervisors
• Training and HR Professionals

Speaker Profile

Doug Chasick, CPM®, CAPS, Adv. RAM, SLE, That Fair Housing Guy™, is the former President of the Fair Housing Institute, Inc. With more than 46 years of investment real estate experience, he began as the Resident Manager of a 524-unit apartment property and has been the President or CEO of five real estate companies, responsible for portfolios of over 28,000 apartments. Doug was awarded his CPM® in 1979 and was a member of the IREM National Faculty for eight years. A Senior Instructor member of the NAAEI Faculty, he leads the Advanced Facilitator Training course, is the co-author of “Outstanding Facilitation Techniques”, and a co-author of the joint IREM & NAAEI “Fair Housing and Beyond” course. He is a licensed Real Estate Broker in Florida, a licensed Expert Fair Housing Instructor in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the recipient of the NAAEI Apartment Career & Education award.