How Many Classes Are Protected Under the Fair Housing Act?

Seven classes are protected under the federal Fair Housing Act: race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, and familial status.¹ Anyone selling, renting, financing, insuring, or appraising housing is barred from treating people differently because they belong to one of these groups. The rule reaches landlords, real estate agents, mortgage lenders, homeowner insurance companies, and local governments.²

Congress passed the original Act in 1968 covering race, color, religion, and national origin. Sex was added in 1974. Disability and familial status were added in 1988.

What Each of the Seven Classes Covers

Each class has a specific legal meaning that reaches a little further than the everyday word.

Race and color. The statute lists these separately. Race discrimination turns on ancestry or racial group. Color discrimination turns on skin tone and can occur between people of the same racial group.
Religion. A housing provider cannot refuse to rent or sell to someone because of their faith or lack of faith. All sincerely held religious beliefs are covered.
National origin. A person cannot be denied housing based on the country they or their family came from, their accent, or their ethnic background.
Sex. The statute prohibits sex discrimination. Whether this extends to sexual orientation and gender identity is currently contested at the federal level, discussed below.
Disability. The statute uses the term “handicap” and defines it as a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a record of such an impairment, or being perceived as having one. Current illegal use of a controlled substance is excluded.³
Familial status. This protects households with children under 18, including pregnant individuals and anyone in the process of securing legal custody of a minor.³

These seven apply across the housing life cycle: renting an apartment, buying a home, getting a mortgage, obtaining homeowner’s insurance, or having property appraised.⁴

Where Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Currently Stand

In 2020, the Supreme Court ruled in Bostock v. Clayton County that firing someone for being gay or transgender counts as sex discrimination under Title VII, the federal employment discrimination law. The Court was explicit that it was not ruling on any other statute: “none of these other laws are before us; we have not had the benefit of adversarial testing about the meaning of their terms, and we do not prejudge any such question today.”⁵

In 2021, the Biden administration issued Executive Order 13988, directing federal agencies to apply the Bostock reasoning to other sex-discrimination laws, including the Fair Housing Act.⁶ That order was rescinded when the Trump administration took office in January 2025. HUD’s Secretary then halted enforcement of rules that had extended protections based on gender identity in HUD-funded programs, including shelters.⁷

Federal enforcement of fair housing protections for sexual orientation and gender identity is effectively paused as of 2025. The statutory text hasn’t changed. The Act still prohibits discrimination “because of sex.” How broadly HUD reads that phrase depends on who runs the agency. If you believe you’ve been discriminated against based on sexual orientation or gender identity, your strongest protections may come from state or local fair housing laws.

Disability: More Than a Refusal Ban

Disability protection reaches further than telling a landlord they cannot say no. The Fair Housing Act imposes two extra obligations on housing providers: reasonable accommodations and reasonable modifications.¹

A reasonable accommodation is a change to a rule or policy. Allowing an assistance animal in a building that otherwise bans pets is the classic example. The housing provider absorbs this cost because it’s a policy change, not a physical alteration. A reasonable modification is a physical change to the unit or common areas, such as grab bars or a wheelchair ramp. The tenant generally pays for modifications, and a landlord can require the tenant to restore the unit’s interior when the lease ends.

Familial Status and the Older-Persons Exception

A landlord cannot refuse to rent to a family because they have children, steer families with kids toward certain units, or create rules that keep children out of common areas.²

The main exception is housing for older persons. A community can legally exclude families with children if it meets one of three standards:⁸

The property operates under a state or federal program designed for elderly residents.
Every resident is at least 62 years old.
At least 80 percent of occupied units have at least one resident who is 55 or older, and the community publishes and follows policies showing intent to serve that age group.

A 55-plus community that lets its compliance slip, either on the 80 percent threshold or on the written policies, loses the exemption and must follow familial status protections like any other housing provider. This is one of the more litigated corners of fair housing law.

Who Is Not Covered by the Fair Housing Act

Two property-level exemptions and one for certain private organizations exist. The advertising rule applies even when the exemptions do.

Owner-Occupied Buildings with Four or Fewer Units

Often called the “Mrs. Murphy” exemption, this allows an owner who lives in a building with four or fewer units to choose tenants without following the Act’s non-discrimination rules.⁹ The exemption vanishes the moment the owner moves out or uses a real estate agent.

Owner-Sold Single-Family Homes

An owner can sell or rent a single-family home outside the Act, but only under narrow conditions: they cannot own more than three single-family homes at a time, cannot use a real estate broker or agent, and cannot post discriminatory advertising. For homes the owner doesn’t live in, the exemption is limited to one sale in any 24-month period.⁹

Religious Organizations and Private Clubs

Religious organizations can restrict housing they operate to members of their own faith, and private clubs can limit housing they own to their members, as long as both operate on a noncommercial basis. Membership itself cannot be restricted based on race, color, or national origin.⁸

The Advertising Rule Still Applies

Here’s what trips up otherwise exempt landlords. The ban on discriminatory advertising applies even to properties that qualify for the Mrs. Murphy or single-family exemptions. The statute carves out those exemptions from “section 3604 (other than subsection (c)),” meaning the prohibition on discriminatory notices, statements, and advertisements still applies to everyone.⁹ A landlord renting out a room in their own home can legally reject an applicant based on religion, but they cannot post a listing that says “Christians only.” The selection can be private; the advertising cannot express a preference based on any protected class.¹

State and Local Laws Often Add More Classes

The federal seven are a floor, not a ceiling. Many states and cities add protected classes. Common additions include marital status, source of income, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, military or veteran status, and criminal history. A source-of-income law, for example, prevents a landlord from rejecting an applicant simply because they pay with a housing voucher or public assistance.

These local protections can matter more where federal enforcement is pulling back. Someone facing housing discrimination based on sexual orientation in a city with its own human rights ordinance has a local enforcement path regardless of what HUD is doing. Your state or local human rights agency can tell you which classes are protected where you live.

How to Act If You Believe You Were Discriminated Against

Complaints go to HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, filed online through Form HUD-903.¹⁰ You’ll need the name and contact information for the person or business you’re accusing, the address where the discrimination happened, the date of the most recent incident, and a description of what occurred and why you believe it was discriminatory.

Two deadlines matter. A HUD complaint must be filed within one year of the discriminatory act.¹¹ Going directly to federal court instead gives you two years.¹² Filing with HUD pauses the court clock while HUD processes your complaint.

Retaliation is a separate violation. If a landlord tries to evict you or raises your rent after you file a complaint, testify, or help someone else exercise their housing rights, that retaliation is itself illegal under the Act.¹³

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 3604 – Discrimination in the Sale or Rental of Housing and Other Prohibited Practices
2
Department of Justice. The Fair Housing Act
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 3602 – Definitions
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 3605 – Discrimination in Residential Real Estate-Related Transactions
5
Supreme Court of the United States. Bostock v. Clayton County, 590 US 644 (2020)
6
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General. HUD Developed and Implemented a Plan To Address Executive Order 13988
7
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Secretary Scott Turner Halts Enforcement Actions of HUD’s Gender Identity Rule
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 3607 – Religious Organization or Private Club Exemption
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 3603 – Effective Dates of Certain Prohibitions
10
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Report Housing Discrimination (Form HUD-903)
11
eCFR. 24 CFR Part 103 – Fair Housing Complaint Processing
12
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 3613 – Enforcement by Private Persons
13
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 3617 – Interference, Coercion, or Intimidation