16 Fair Housing & Application Screening Practice Questions & Answers

1. 1. During a tour, a prospect asks the leasing consultant, "What kind of people live in this community?" Under federal fair housing law, what is the consultant's correct response?

   • A.Point out the building where the residents most like the prospect live and take her to tour that section first.
   • B.Refer the question to the manager, who is permitted to discuss the makeup of the resident population with prospects.
   • C.Decline to characterize the residents and describe the homes, amenities and services offered to every applicant.✓ Answer
   • D.Describe the resident population in general terms so the prospect can decide whether she would fit in here.

   Answering the question by describing who lives there channels the prospect toward or away from the property or a part of it on the basis of a protected class, which is steering, and it is steering even when the prospect asked and the consultant meant to be helpful. The lawful move is to decline the characterization and redirect to features and benefits that are described identically to every prospect.

   Source: Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. 3604(a)-(b); 24 CFR 100.70 (steering)Report a problem with this question

2. 2. A consultant greets a prospect and begins qualifying him. Under federal fair housing law, which question may be asked of every prospect?

   • A.Where were you and your family originally from before you moved here?
   • B.Is there a medical condition we should plan around in the home?
   • C.How many people in total will be living in the apartment home?✓ Answer
   • D.Do you have any children who would be living here in the home with you?

   The number of occupants is a non-protected fact that relates to the community's published occupancy standard and is asked of every prospect in the same words, so it qualifies without revealing class membership. The other three seek information about familial status, national origin and disability, and a consultant may not ask them of anyone.

   Source: Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. 3604(b)-(c)Report a problem with this question

3. 3. A caller with a foreign accent asks whether any two-bedroom homes are available and is told there are none. Ten minutes later the same consultant quotes two available two-bedroom homes to a different caller. Under federal fair housing law, how is the first call best characterized?

   • A.Retaliation, because a protected inquiry was handled less favorably than the inquiry that followed it.
   • B.Blockbusting, because a caller was discouraged from entering the community on the basis of national origin.
   • C.Ordinary sales discretion, because a telephone inquiry is not an application and no home was actually withheld.
   • D.Misrepresentation of availability, because a home was described as unavailable when it was in fact rentable.✓ Answer

   Federal law separately prohibits representing that a dwelling is not available for inspection or rental when it is in fact available, and that prohibition applies to telephone, text, email and chat contacts exactly as it applies in the office. Blockbusting is inducing owners to sell by telling them a protected class is moving in, and retaliation requires an earlier protected activity, so neither fits.

   Source: Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. 3604(d)Report a problem with this question

4. 4. A prospect who uses a wheelchair says she wants a two-bedroom home with a den. Three such homes are available: one on the ground floor and two on upper floors served by an elevator. What should the consultant do?

   • A.Show the ground-floor home first and mention the upper-floor homes only if she asks about them.
   • B.Show all three available homes and let the prospect decide which one meets her own needs.✓ Answer
   • C.Ask about the extent of her mobility limitations, then show the homes that fit the answer she gives.
   • D.Show only the ground-floor home, since it is plainly the home best suited to her mobility needs.

   Every prospect must be shown all available homes that meet the need she herself stated; pre-selecting homes because of an assumption about what a person with a disability can use is steering, even when it is meant kindly. Asking about the extent of a disability is separately barred, because a housing provider may not inquire into the nature or severity of a person's condition.

   Source: Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. 3604(f); 24 CFR 100.70Report a problem with this question

5. 5. A management company is deciding who must receive fair housing training and where the rules apply on site. Under federal fair housing law, which statement is accurate?

   • A.They reach the leasing staff and the apartment homes themselves, since that is where the rental decisions get made.
   • B.They reach the employees who sign the lease documents, because liability follows the person whose signature appears there.
   • C.They reach the leasing office during business hours, which is when prospects and applicants are on site doing business.
   • D.They reach every employee and contractor and every part of the property, the leasing office and common areas included.✓ Answer

   The statute bars discrimination in the terms, conditions, privileges, services and facilities of a rental, which covers the whole property and every interaction on it, and a company and an owner can be held liable for the discriminatory act or statement of any individual employee or agent. That is why maintenance technicians, groundskeepers and contractors are trained alongside the leasing staff.

   Source: Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. 3604(b) and 3617; 24 CFR 100.7 (liability)Report a problem with this question

6. 6. In practice, how is a community's day-to-day fair housing compliance most commonly checked?

   • A.Federal inspectors visit each community on a fixed schedule and review its application files.
   • B.The agency that issued the screening report surveys the applicants who were denied a home.
   • C.Testers pose as prospects and compare the information and the treatment each one receives.✓ Answer
   • D.Owners file an annual compliance report explaining how each vacant home came to be rented.

   Compliance is verified largely through on-site testers who make matched inquiries and compare what each was told about availability, rent, terms, tour length and follow-up. Courts have held that a tester has standing to sue over false information even though the tester had no genuine intention of renting, which is why every inquiry must be handled the same way.

   Source: Havens Realty Corp. v. Coleman, 455 U.S. 363 (1982); Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. 3613Report a problem with this question

7. 7. Under federal fair housing law, which of the following is NOT one of the protected classes?

   • A.Disability, including a condition that limits a major life activity
   • B.National origin, including the country that a person's family came from
   • C.Familial status, including a household with a child under 18 in it
   • D.Source of income, including a voucher that pays part of the rent✓ Answer

   The federal statute protects seven classes: race, color, religion, national origin, sex, familial status and disability. Source of income and voucher participation are not among them, so a refusal to accept a voucher does not by itself violate the federal act, but many state and local laws do protect it, and the community's own jurisdiction must be checked before any policy is applied.

   Source: Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. 3604; definitions at 42 U.S.C. 3602Report a problem with this question

8. 8. Under federal fair housing law, familial status protection covers which of these households?

   • A.A pregnant applicant who will live in the home alone until the birth✓ Answer
   • B.An adult applicant whose grown children visit on most weekends
   • C.A retired couple who want a community with no children living in it
   • D.Two adult roommates who are both named on the very same lease

   Familial status covers a household with a person under 18 living with a parent or guardian, a pregnant person, and anyone in the process of securing legal custody of a minor, so the pregnant applicant is protected before the child is born. The protection does not run the other way: a preference for a community without children is exactly what the class forbids.

   Source: Fair Housing Act, familial status definition, 42 U.S.C. 3602(k)Report a problem with this question

9. 9. A community approves applicants who meet its published criteria, but the consultant asks applicants who speak limited English for a co-signer even when they already meet those criteria. Under federal fair housing law, what is the problem?

   • A.It is prohibited, because it imposes different rental terms on the basis of national origin.✓ Answer
   • B.It is prohibited, because a guarantor may never be added once the criteria are published.
   • C.It is permitted, because a co-signer only strengthens the file and denies no one a home.
   • D.It is permitted, provided the consultant offers the same option to any applicant who asks.

   Requiring a co-signer, a larger deposit or a shorter term from some applicants and not others is discrimination in the terms and conditions of a rental when the line tracks a protected class, and limited English proficiency is treated as a marker of national origin. A guarantor requirement is lawful when it is a written tier of the criteria applied to every applicant whose file falls short in the same way.

   Source: Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. 3604(b)Report a problem with this question

10. 10. A consultant tells a caller, "This is really a quiet community for mature adults." The owner believes the remark is harmless because no one was refused a home. Under federal fair housing law, what is the correct analysis?

    • A.The statement is unlawful only where the community has not been established as housing for older persons.
    • B.The statement is itself a violation, because indicating a preference as to familial status is prohibited on its own.✓ Answer
    • C.The statement is lawful, because a spoken remark is not advertising and the rule reaches published notices.
    • D.The statement is lawful, because a violation requires proof that some prospect was actually turned away.

    The statute separately bars any notice, statement or advertisement indicating a preference, limitation or discrimination based on a protected class, judged by how an ordinary listener or reader would understand it, and no refusal and no discriminatory intent is required. The rule covers spoken words on a tour or a phone call as fully as it covers printed and online advertising.

    Source: Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. 3604(c)Report a problem with this question

11. 11. A community qualifies as housing for older persons under federal law. What does that status change?

    • A.It exempts the community from the familial status provisions but from no other class.✓ Answer
    • B.It exempts the community from the familial status and the disability provisions alike.
    • C.It exempts the community from fair housing law for as long as the status is maintained.
    • D.It exempts the community from the advertising rules, so age preferences may be stated.

    The housing for older persons exemption waives only the familial status provisions, and the community must still comply as to race, color, religion, national origin, sex and disability. The exemption also has to be earned and documented through published intent to operate as older persons housing and reliable verification of the occupants' ages.

    Source: Housing for Older Persons exemption, 42 U.S.C. 3607(b); 24 CFR 100.303-100.307Report a problem with this question

12. 12. A prospect is ready to fill out an application. When should the community's rental criteria be given to him?

    • A.Before or when he applies, in writing and in the same form given to all applicants.✓ Answer
    • B.Only if he asks for them, because they are internal underwriting standards of the firm.
    • C.After the screening report comes back, so the decision can be explained by the criteria.
    • D.At lease signing, together with the community policies that the lease document incorporates.

    Rental criteria have to be written, objective, applied uniformly and disclosed before or at the time of application, so that every applicant knows the same standard in advance and pays a fee knowing what he is being measured against. Disclosing them up front is also the strongest evidence that a later denial rested on the stated standard rather than on who the applicant is.

    Source: Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. 3604(b); NAAEI CALP Exam Blueprint, rental criteria taskReport a problem with this question

13. 13. Based partly on the screening report it ordered, a community approves an applicant but requires a security deposit larger than its standard amount. Under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, what does the community owe the applicant?

    • A.A copy of the screening report, which satisfies the duty whenever an applicant is approved.
    • B.Nothing at all, because the deposit was set by company policy and not by the screening firm.
    • C.Nothing at all, because the applicant was approved and no application was actually denied.
    • D.An adverse action notice, because a less favorable term was based in part on that report.✓ Answer

    Adverse action is not limited to an outright denial; it includes any action less favorable to the applicant, such as a higher deposit, a higher rent, a co-signer requirement or a shorter term, taken in whole or in part on the basis of a consumer report. Because the report contributed to the decision, the notice is due even though the applicant got the home.

    Source: Fair Credit Reporting Act sec. 615(a), 15 U.S.C. 1681m(a); adverse action defined at 15 U.S.C. 1681a(k)Report a problem with this question

14. 14. A community denies an application based on the screening report it received. What must the adverse action notice tell the applicant?

    • A.The screening company's name, a full copy of the report attached to the notice, and a written promise to reconsider it.
    • B.The screening company's name and contact details, that it did not make the decision, and his right to a free copy and to dispute.✓ Answer
    • C.The items in the report that fell short, the score assigned to him, and the criteria that a future application will face.
    • D.The name of the employee who decided, the date the report was ordered, and how long the denial stays on file here.

    The notice must identify the consumer reporting agency by name, address and telephone number, state that the agency did not make the decision and cannot explain it, and tell the applicant of his right to a free copy of the report from that agency and his right to dispute what it contains. The housing provider is not required to attach the report or to explain which line item failed.

    Source: Fair Credit Reporting Act sec. 615(a), 15 U.S.C. 1681m(a)Report a problem with this question

15. 15. An applicant asks the community to make an exception to its occupancy rule so a live-in aide can share his one-bedroom home. His disability is not obvious and neither is the reason for the request. What may the community request from him?

    • A.Nothing further, because federal law forbids a housing provider to ask about a disability at any point.
    • B.A written statement of the nature of his condition, its severity, and how long it is expected to last.
    • C.Reliable information that he has a disability and that the aide is needed because of that disability.✓ Answer
    • D.His medical records and the name of the physician who treats the condition behind the request.

    When neither the disability nor the disability-related need is obvious, the provider may seek reliable third-party verification limited to two points: that the person meets the definition of disability, and that the requested change is needed because of it. Asking for medical records or for the nature, severity or duration of the condition goes past that limit and is itself a violation.

    Source: Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. 3604(f)(3)(B); 24 CFR 100.204Report a problem with this question

16. 16. A community's policy prohibits animals, but it approves an assistance animal as a reasonable accommodation for a resident with a disability. Which charge may the community apply to that resident?

    • A.A pet fee equal to the one paid by residents who keep household pets
    • B.The cost of repairing any actual damage the animal causes to the home✓ Answer
    • C.A refundable pet deposit held until the animal moves out of the home
    • D.Monthly animal rent for as long as the animal lives in the apartment

    An approved assistance animal is not a pet, so waiving the animal policy is the accommodation itself and no pet fee, pet deposit or animal rent may be charged for it; charging them would make the accommodation cost the resident money that other residents do not pay for equal access. The resident does remain responsible for any actual damage the animal causes, on the same terms as anyone else.

    Source: Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. 3604(f)(3)(B); 24 CFR 100.204Report a problem with this question

Practice questions only — not real exam items, and not affiliated with or endorsed by the National Apartment Association or NAAEI. Questions are written to the domains and tasks of the published CALP Exam Blueprint. This bank covers the leasing consultant's own work; the property-manager credential and the maintenance technician credential are separate banks on this site. Landlord-tenant law — notice periods, deposit limits and return deadlines, entry rules, fees and eviction procedure — is set by each state and often by each city, and is deliberately out of scope here; fair housing is covered at the federal level, and your state or city may protect additional classes. Exam format, eligibility, and scoring are set by NAAEI and change from time to time; confirm the current requirements before you register. Official CALP exam blueprint →