Fair Access to Housing
Laws protect housing seekers from discrimination based on protected characteristics (such as race or disability) and criminal history.
Laws at the Federal, State, and City level protect people who are looking for housing (whether to rent or buy) from discrimination. Learn more below about the laws around discrimination based on protected characteristics or on criminal history. You can also find reports published by Berkeley and Alameda County about the barriers residents face in finding housing free from discrimination.
Housing discrimination based on protected characteristics is illegal
Federal, State, and City of Berkeley laws prohibit housing discrimination on the basis of protected characteristics, including:
- Race or color
- National origin
- Religion
- Sex
- Familial status (families with children)
- Disability
- Ancestry
- Marital status
- Sexual orientation
- HIV/AIDS status
Landlords, property owners, realtors, and other individuals cannot take any of the actions below based on an applicant’s protected characteristic:
- Refuse to rent or sell housing
- Refuse to negotiate for housing
- Make housing unavailable
- Set different terms, conditions, or privileges for sale or rental
- Provide different housing services or facilities
- Falsely deny that housing is available for inspection, sale or rental
- For profit, persuade owners to sell or rent (blockbusting)
- Deny any access to or membership in a facility or service (such as a multiple listing service) related to the sale of housing
- Refuse to make reasonable accommodations in rules or services if necessary for a disabled person to use the housing
- Refuse to allow a disabled person to make reasonable accommodations to his/her dwelling
- Threaten or interfere with anyone making a fair housing complaint
- Refuse to provide municipal services, property insurance or hazard insurance for dwellings, or providing such services or insurance differently
If you think your rights to fair housing have been violated, you can contact one of the agencies below:
- Eden Council for Hope and Opportunity
- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
- California Department of Fair Employment and Housing
Rental housing providers cannot ask about applicants’ criminal history
Rental housing providers in Berkeley cannot ask about or use criminal history and/or criminal background checks in their rental housing advertising, applications, tenant selection process, or decision-making. Specifically, rental housing providers are not allowed to:
- Inquire about criminal history
- Indicate that persons with criminal backgrounds will not be considered for housing, including in rental advertisements, application materials, or verbally
- Refuse to rent or terminate a tenancy based on criminal history
- Require disclosure or authorization for release of criminal history
- Demand higher security deposit or rental amount based on criminal history
- Refuse to allow the addition of an immediate family member based on the family member’s criminal history
- Disqualify tenants from rental assistance programs such as Section 8 based on criminal history (subject to certain exceptions below)
- Treating rental applicants or tenants differently based on their criminal history
For more details and instructions on filing a complaint, please view the Berkeley Rent Board page. You can also read the full ordinance for more details.
Fair housing reports
The Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice report identifies barriers to residents’ ability to choose housing in an environment free from discrimination, presents recommendations that may be adopted to overcome these barriers, and monitors progress in achieving the adopted recommendations. View the reports at the links below:
