Fair housing appears on every exam form, and the questions are surprisingly predictable.
The seven federal protected classes
Race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability, familial status. Race has NO exemptions — the Civil Rights Act of 1866 covers every property, every transaction.
The three named violations
- Steering: guiding buyers toward or away from neighborhoods by protected class.
- Blockbusting: inducing panic selling ("they're moving in — sell now").
- Redlining: lenders refusing or pricing loans by neighborhood demographics.
Practise this in Cinna RENational and state questions for 25 states, each with a rationale, plus timed mock exams.See how Cinna RE works
Start free Exemptions (and their limits)
The FSBO exemption (≤3 homes, no agent, no discriminatory ads) and "Mrs. Murphy" (owner-occupied ≤4 units) exist — but NEVER for race, and never once a licensee is involved. Senior housing (62+, or 55+ with the 80% rule) may lawfully exclude families with children.
Disability rules
Reasonable ACCOMMODATIONS (rule changes, like assistance animals despite a no-pet policy — no pet deposit) vs reasonable MODIFICATIONS (physical changes at the tenant's expense). Know which is which.
Cinna RE's fair-housing bank drills the scenarios — including the "what should the agent do"
questions where the only right answer is refusing the discriminatory instruction.