Housing Discrimination

The Massachusetts anti-discrimination laws protect you if you are treated differently or unfairly based on your membership in a protected class by your landlord or condo association, and when you are seeking new housing.

Massachusetts Protected Classes in Housing:

• Age
• Children or Marital Status
• Disability
• Housing Subsidies or Rental Assistance
• National Origin
• Race/Ancestry
• Religion
• Sex or Gender Identity
• Sexual Orientation
• Source of Income
• Veteran Status

As a property owner, landlord, property manager, mortgage lender and/or real estate agent, it is illegal to do the following based on membership in a protected class:

• Refuse to rent or sell or negotiate housing.
• Represent a dwelling as unavailable when it is actually available. This is a discriminatory practice called "steering."
• Providing different lease or sale terms or privileges to different people.
• Setting different conditions or privileges for sale or rental of a property.
• Denying access to or membership in a facility or service related to the sale or rental of housing.
• Imposing different rates and terms on a loan.
• Refusing to make a mortgage loan.
• Discrimination in appraising property.
• Making discriminating inquiries.

If you think you have been a victim of housing discrimination contact:

• Community Legal Aid
• MA Attorney General's Office, Civil Rights Division
• Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination
• United States Housing and Urban Development (HUD)