Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
Federal laws protecting the rights of the disabled in areas as employment and housing.
Disability
A condition that limits one or more of life's major activities.
Blockbusting
AKA Panic Selling The illegal practice of inducing home sales by referencing the movement of persons of a certain race, religion or national origin into or away from an area.
Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA)
Prohibits discrimination in lending based on a person's membership in any of the federally defined protected classes.
Civil Rights Act of 1866
Law enacted following the Civil War prohibiting racial discrimination but not limited to housing. (Upheld in Jones v. Mayer…"Where race in involved no exceptions apply.")
Fair Housing Act
Federal laws prohibiting discrimination in housing (sale or rental) based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, familial status or disability.
Familial Status
Protected class under the Federal Fair Housing acts prohibiting discrimination against families with children, includes pregnant women.
Redlining
Discriminatory practice by lenders, insurance companies, real estate firms and other service providers to deny service in targeted or "redlined" areas for reasons other than the economic qualifications of those residents.
Steering
Discriminatory practice of directing home buyers or tenants towards or away from specific areas based on their membership in a protected class.