§ 25-1452. Discriminatory housing practices - Categories or classes of persons protected - Jurisdiction of Attorney General's Office of Civil Rights Enforcement.

A.  It shall be an unlawful discriminatory housing practice for any person, or any agent or employee of such person:

1.  To refuse to sell or rent after the making of a bona fide offer, or to refuse to negotiate for the sale or rental of any housing, or otherwise make unavailable or deny any housing because of race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, familial status, or disability;

2.  To discriminate against any person in the terms, conditions, or privileges of sale or rental of housing, or in the provision of services or facilities in connection with any housing because of race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, familial status, or disability;

3.  To make, print, publish, or cause to be made, printed, or published any notice, statement, or advertisement, with respect to the sale or rental of housing that indicates any preference, limitation, discrimination, or intention to make any such preference, limitation, or discrimination because of race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, familial status, or disability;

4.  To represent to any person, for reasons of discrimination, that any housing is not available for inspection, sale, or rental when such housing is in fact so available because of race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, familial status, or disability;

5.  To deny any person access to, or membership or participation in, a multiple-listing service, real estate brokers' organization or other service, organization, or facility relating to the business of selling or renting dwellings, or discriminate against a person in the terms or conditions of access, membership, or participation in such an organization, service, or facility because of race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, familial status, or disability;

6.  To include in any transfer, sale, rental, or lease of housing any restrictive covenant that discriminates, or for any person to honor or exercise, or attempt to honor or exercise, any discriminatory covenant pertaining to housing because of race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, familial status, or disability;

7.  To refuse to consider the income of both applicants when both applicants seek to buy or lease housing because of race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, familial status, or disability;

8.  To refuse to consider as a valid source of income any public assistance, alimony, or child support, awarded by a court, when that source can be verified as to its amount, length of time received, regularity, or receipt because of race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, familial status, or disability;

9.  To discriminate against a person in the terms, conditions, or privileges relating to the obtaining or use of financial assistance for the acquisition, construction, rehabilitation, repair, or maintenance of any housing because of race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, familial status, or disability;

10.  To discharge, demote, or discriminate in matters of compensation or working conditions against any employee or agent because of the obedience of the employee or agent to the provisions of this section;

11.  To solicit or attempt to solicit the listing of housing for sale or lease, by door to door solicitation, in person, or by telephone, or by distribution of circulars, if one of the purposes is to change the racial composition of the neighborhood;

12.  To knowingly induce or attempt to induce another person to transfer an interest in real property, or to discourage another person from purchasing real property, by representations regarding the existing or potential proximity of real property owned, used, or occupied by persons of any particular race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, familial status or disability, or to represent that such existing or potential proximity shall or may result in:

a.the lowering of property values,

b.a change in the racial, religious, or ethnic character of the block, neighborhood, or area in which the property is located,

c.an increase in criminal or antisocial behavior in the area, or

d.a decline in quality of the schools serving the area;

13.  To refuse to rent or lease housing to a blind, deaf, or disabled person on the basis of the person's use or possession of a bona fide, properly trained guide, signal, or service dog;

14.  To demand the payment of an additional nonrefundable fee or an unreasonable deposit for rent from a blind, deaf, or disabled person for such dog.  Such blind, deaf, or disabled person may be liable for any damage done to the dwelling by such dog;

15.  a.to discriminate in the sale or rental or otherwise make available or deny a dwelling to any buyer or renter because of a disability of:

(1)that buyer or renter,

(2)a person residing in or intending to reside in that dwelling after it is sold, rented, or made available, or

(3)any person associated with that buyer or renter, or

b.to discriminate against any person in the terms, conditions, or privileges of sale or rental of a dwelling or in the provision of services or facilities in connection with the dwelling because of a disability of:

(1)that person,

(2)a person residing in or intending to reside in that dwelling after it is so sold, rented, or made available, or

(3)any person associated with that person;

16.  For purposes of disability discrimination in housing pursuant to Sections 1451 through 1453 of this title, discrimination includes:

a.a refusal to permit, at the expense of the disabled person, reasonable modifications of existing premises occupied or to be occupied by the person if the modifications may be necessary to afford the person full enjoyment of the premises, provided that such person also provides a surety bond guaranteeing restoration of the premises to their prior condition, if necessary to make the premises suitable for nondisabled tenants,

b.a refusal to make reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices, or services, when the accommodations may be necessary to afford the person equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling, or

c.in connection with the design and construction of covered multifamily dwellings for first occupancy thirty (30) months after the date of enactment of the federal Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 (Public Law 100-430), a failure to design and construct those dwellings in a manner that:

(1)the public use and common use portions of the dwellings are readily accessible to and usable by disabled persons,

(2)all the doors designed to allow passage into and within all premises within the dwellings are sufficiently wide to allow passage by disabled persons in wheelchairs, and

(3)all premises within the dwellings contain the following features of adaptive design:

(a)an accessible route into and through the dwelling,

(b)light switches, electrical outlets, thermostats, and other environmental controls in accessible locations,

(c)reinforcements in bathroom walls to allow later installation of grab bars, and

(d)usable kitchen and bathrooms so that an individual in a wheelchair can maneuver about the space,

(4)compliance with the appropriate requirements of the American National Standard for buildings and facilities providing accessibility and usability for physically disabled people, commonly cited as "ANSI A 117.1", suffices to satisfy the requirements of division (3) of this subparagraph,

(5)as used in this subsection, the term "covered multifamily dwellings" means:

(a)buildings consisting of four or more units if the buildings have one or more elevators, and

(b)ground floor units in other buildings consisting of four or more units,

(6)nothing in this subsection requires that a dwelling be made available to an individual whose tenancy would constitute a direct threat to the health or safety of other individuals or whose tenancy would result in substantial physical damage to the property of others; or

17.a.A person whose business includes engaging in residential real estate related transactions may not discriminate against a person in making a real estate related transaction available or in the terms or conditions of a real estate related transaction because of race, color, religion, gender, disability, familial status, national origin or age.

b.In this section, "residential real estate related transaction" means:

(1)making or purchasing loans or providing other financial assistance:

(a)to purchase, construct, improve, repair, or maintain a dwelling, or

(b)to secure residential real estate, or

(2)selling, brokering, or appraising residential real property.

B.  This section does not prohibit discrimination against a person because the person has been convicted under federal law or the law of any state of the illegal manufacture or distribution of a controlled substance.

C.  No other categories or classes of persons are protected pursuant to Sections 1451 through 1453 of this title.  The Attorney General's Office of Civil Rights Enforcement shall have no authority or jurisdiction to act on complaints based on any kind of discrimination other than those kinds of discrimination prohibited pursuant to Section 1101 et seq. of this title or any other specifically authorized by law.

Added by Laws 1985, c. 289, § 2.  Amended by Laws 1991, c. 177, § 3; Laws 2011, c. 270, § 14, eff. Nov. 1, 2011; Laws 2013, c. 214, § 7, emerg. eff. May 7, 2013.