Federal rules for property managers

You may not refuse to rent, set different terms, steer, or advertise a preference based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, or disability. Property managers are liable for their own acts and for those of leasing staff and vendors acting for them. Owners can also be held liable for what their manager does.

• Adopt written, uniform screening criteria and apply them to every applicant in the same order.
• Review every ad, listing and social post for words or images that state or imply a preference, such as 'perfect for singles' or 'no kids'.
• Log every reasonable accommodation and modification request with dates, decision and reason.
• Train every leasing, maintenance and accounting employee on fair housing at hire and every year.
• Keep application and denial records for at least two years, the federal private lawsuit window.

Recent change: The statute did not change. HUD withdrew many of its interpretive guidance documents in September 2025, but private lawsuits and state agencies still enforce the Act.

HUD withdrew its 2024 guidance on digital and AI-driven housing ads, its 2016 and 2022 criminal records guidance, and several other fair housing documents, effective September 17 and 25, 2025. The April 2024 tenant screening guidance does not appear in either published withdrawal list, so its status is unclear. The Fair Housing Act itself still applies to ads and screening.

• Do not cite the withdrawn HUD documents as your legal basis in policies or training decks.
• Keep criminal history screening narrow and tied to resident safety or property risk, since courts and states still accept disparate impact claims.
• Check state and city rules on criminal history, credit and eviction records, which often go further than federal law.
• Review ad targeting settings on social platforms so audiences are not limited by age, sex, family status or location proxies.

Recent change: Federal Register notices on April 6, 2026 and July 17, 2026 confirmed the withdrawals. HUD said enforcement continues for conduct that violates the text of the Act.

The Fair Housing Act still requires reasonable accommodations, including waiving a no-pet rule when needed for a person with a disability. HUD withdrew its 2013 and 2020 assistance animal notices in September 2025. A May 22, 2026 HUD enforcement memo says HUD will charge cases only for animals trained to provide disability-related help, but private lawsuits, state agencies and Section 504 claims can still cover emotional support animals.

• Keep a written accommodation policy that does not deny emotional support animal requests by default.
• Respond to every request in writing and within a set timeframe.
• Check your state law, since many states have their own emotional support animal and documentation rules.
• For HUD-assisted properties, follow Section 504 and the HUD pet rules for assisted housing, which still exempt assistance animals.
• Do not charge pet rent or pet deposits for an approved assistance animal until counsel confirms your state position.

Recent change: FHEO-2020-01 and FHEO-2013-01 were withdrawn effective September 17, 2025. HUD issued a new enforcement memo on May 22, 2026 limiting its own charges to trained animals.

HUD's rule says a neutral policy, such as a blanket screening cutoff, can violate the Fair Housing Act if it has an unjustified discriminatory effect. HUD proposed in January 2026 to remove the rule and leave the question to courts. The Supreme Court recognized disparate impact claims under the Act in 2015, so courts can still hear them.

• Write down the business reason for each screening criterion, such as minimum income or criminal history lookback.
• Avoid blanket bans when a narrower rule would meet the same goal.
• Review outcomes by protected class where you have the data, and adjust criteria that screen out groups without a clear need.
• Track the final HUD rule and your state law, since several states codify disparate impact on their own.

Recent change: HUD proposed removal on January 14, 2026 and published a supplemental proposal on August 10, 2026 with comments due October 9, 2026. No final rule was found as of October 6, 2026.

Source of income is not a protected class under the federal Fair Housing Act, so federal law does not require a private owner to accept Housing Choice Vouchers. Many states and cities do require it. A blanket voucher refusal can still raise disparate impact risk.

• Map each property to its state and city source of income rules.
• Remove 'no Section 8' language from ads in every market, even where vouchers are not protected.
• Apply the same income test to the tenant's share of rent where local law requires it.
• Train leasing staff on how voucher inspections and HAP contract timing affect move-in dates.

Recent change: HUD withdrew its November 2024 guidance on source of income restrictions and its February 2024 source of income testing memo in September 2025.

The ADA does not cover private apartments themselves, but it does cover places open to the public, such as a leasing office, model unit used for sales, and public parking. Those areas must be accessible, and service animals (trained dogs) must be allowed there.

• Audit leasing offices for an accessible route, entrance, counter and restroom.
• Allow service dogs in public areas and ask only the two permitted questions.
• Make your website and online application usable with screen readers.
• Remove barriers that are readily achievable and log what you fixed.

Section 504 bans disability discrimination in programs that receive federal money, which includes public housing and project-based Section 8 properties. It adds accessibility and accommodation duties beyond the Fair Housing Act, including a share of accessible units in covered developments.

• Confirm which properties receive federal financial assistance.
• Name a 504 coordinator and post a grievance procedure where required.
• Track accessible units and offer them first to households that need the features.
• Pay for reasonable modifications in covered properties unless it is an undue burden.

Recent change: HUD's May 2026 assistance animal memo says it does not address how HUD handles Section 504 or ADA complaints.

If you deny, charge more, require a cosigner or a bigger deposit based on a credit, eviction or criminal report, you must send an adverse action notice. You need a permissible purpose to pull a report, and you must dispose of report data securely.

• Send an adverse action notice naming the screening company, its contact details, the right to a free copy within 60 days, and the right to dispute.
• Include the credit score and key factors when a score was used.
• Get applicant authorization before you order a report.
• Shred or securely delete report data under the FTC Disposal Rule.
• Use a screening vendor that can explain how it matches records to the right person.

Recent change: In May 2025 the CFPB withdrew dozens of guidance documents, including its 2024 background screening advisory opinion. The statute and its adverse action duties did not change.

The FDCPA covers third parties who collect consumer debts, such as collection agencies and eviction attorneys. A property manager collecting current rent for an owner is usually not covered, but a firm that takes over accounts already in default can be. Regulation F sets rules on validation notices, call frequency, and email and text collection.

• Check whether you collect any accounts that were already delinquent when you took them over, such as after a portfolio acquisition.
• Make sure your collection agency and eviction attorneys send Regulation F validation notices.
• Limit collection calls to seven attempts in seven days per debt if you are covered.
• Give an easy opt-out on collection emails and texts.

You need prior express consent to send automated or prerecorded calls and texts to a cell phone, and prior express written consent for marketing ones. Marketing calls and texts are limited to 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. local time. In a private lawsuit, a court can award $500 per violation or the actual loss, whichever is greater, and up to three times that amount if the violation was willful or knowing (47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(3)).

• Collect a clear consent checkbox for texts on applications and leases, kept separate for marketing.
• Keep proof of consent with a timestamp for every number.
• Scrub marketing lists against the National Do Not Call Registry and your internal do-not-call list.
• Send marketing texts only between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. in the recipient's time zone.

Recent change: The 11th Circuit vacated the FCC one-to-one consent rule on January 24, 2025 in Insurance Marketing Coalition v. FCC, so it never took effect.

Since April 11, 2025, you must honor an opt-out made by any reasonable means, such as a 'stop' reply, within 10 business days. The 'revoke all' part, which would make one opt-out apply to all your robocalls and texts, was delayed to January 31, 2027. On September 30, 2026 the FCC adopted an order (FCC 26-67, released October 1) that lets callers name one exclusive opt-out method and limits 'revoke all' for informational messages.

• Process every opt-out within 10 business days across all systems that text or call that number.
• Recognize stop, quit, end, revoke, opt out, cancel and unsubscribe as opt-outs.
• Separate informational texts, such as maintenance notices, from marketing texts in your messaging tool.
• Watch for the 2026 order's effective date before you rely on an exclusive opt-out method.

Recent change: The FCC delayed 'revoke all' twice, most recently on January 6, 2026 to January 31, 2027. The September 30, 2026 order takes effect 30 days after Federal Register publication, which had not happened as of October 6, 2026.

Commercial emails, such as owner acquisition campaigns and resident upsell offers, must have honest headers and subject lines, a physical mailing address, and a working opt-out. Opt-outs must be honored within 10 business days.

• Add your physical postal address to every marketing email.
• Include a one-step unsubscribe link and honor it within 10 business days.
• Keep marketing lists separate from transactional resident notices.
• Hold vendors who send email for you to the same rules, since you remain liable.

The FTC treats advertising a low rent while hiding mandatory monthly fees as deceptive. In December 2025 Greystar agreed to pay $24 million to settle FTC and Colorado claims over hidden fees. The FTC opened a rental housing fee rulemaking in March 2026 but has not proposed rule text.

• Show total monthly price, including every mandatory fee, wherever you advertise or quote rent.
• List each fee's amount and purpose before you take an application fee.
• Drop fees that are not optional and are not tied to a real service.
• Audit listing syndication feeds so fees show on third-party sites too.

Recent change: Greystar settlement announced December 2025. The FTC published an advance notice of proposed rulemaking on March 13, 2026; comments closed April 13, 2026.

If you market vacation or other short-term rentals, any price you show must be the total price including mandatory fees, such as cleaning and resort fees. Taxes and shipping can be shown separately. The rule does not cover long-term residential leases.

• Show the all-in nightly or stay price first and most prominently on short-term rental listings.
• Fold mandatory cleaning, service and booking fees into the advertised price.
• Disclose the nature, purpose and amount of any optional fee before checkout.
• Check the channels and booking engines you use for compliant price displays.

Recent change: The rule took effect May 12, 2025. Civil penalties apply per violation.

U.S.-formed companies, including property management firms and owner LLCs, no longer have to file beneficial ownership reports with FinCEN. Only companies formed under foreign law and registered to do business in a U.S. state must file, and they do not report U.S. persons.

• Stop collecting BOI data from U.S. owner LLCs for FinCEN filings.
• Flag owners whose entity was formed outside the United States and tell them they may still need to file.
• Check state laws, such as New York's LLC Transparency Act, which have their own reporting rules.

Recent change: FinCEN exempted domestic companies by interim final rule in March 2025, and made it permanent in a final rule effective August 14, 2026.

Before a tenant signs a lease for housing built before 1978, you must give the EPA pamphlet 'Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home', disclose any known lead paint or hazards and records, and include a signed lead warning in the lease. Agents, including property managers, share liability for compliance.

• Flag every pre-1978 unit in your system.
• Attach the lead disclosure form and pamphlet to every lease and renewal where new information exists.
• Pass along any lead inspection or risk assessment reports the owner has.
• Keep signed disclosures for at least three years.
• Follow HUD's Lead Safe Housing Rule for federally assisted units.

Recent change: EPA lowered dust-lead hazard and clearance levels in a final rule effective January 13, 2025, with compliance by January 12, 2026 in EPA-run states. This affects lead inspections and abatement results you may need to disclose.

Paid work that disturbs paint in pre-1978 housing must be done by an EPA Lead-Safe Certified firm using a certified renovator and lead-safe work practices. If your own maintenance staff do the work, your firm needs firm certification and the worker needs renovator certification.

• Get firm certification if your maintenance team works on pre-1978 units.
• Hire only Lead-Safe Certified contractors and keep copies of their certificates.
• Give tenants the 'Renovate Right' pamphlet before work starts and keep the receipt.
• Keep RRP records for each job for three years.

Recent change: EPA updated its small entity compliance guide in March 2026. The core rule did not change.

NSPIRE replaces older HUD inspection standards for public housing, project-based multifamily housing, and the voucher programs. Units with vouchers must pass inspections to keep receiving housing assistance payments. Smoke alarm and carbon monoxide alarm requirements already apply.

• Confirm which standard applies to each assisted unit: HQS or NSPIRE.
• Install carbon monoxide alarms where there are fuel-burning appliances or attached garages.
• Test smoke alarms at every turn and work order visit.
• Run a pre-inspection walk using the NSPIRE deficiency list before the PHA or REAC visit.

Recent change: HUD extended the voucher program (HCV, PBV, Mod Rehab) NSPIRE compliance date to February 1, 2027. Scoring of some affirmative requirements for public housing and multifamily was pushed to October 1, 2026.

For 'covered properties', you must give at least 30 days' notice before requiring a tenant to vacate. Covered properties include those in federal housing programs, such as vouchers or LIHTC, and those with a federally backed mortgage, such as Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA or VA loans. The provision has no sunset date, but courts split on whether it applies only to nonpayment cases.

• Ask every owner whether the property has a federally backed mortgage or takes vouchers, and store the answer.
• Use a 30-day notice to vacate for nonpayment at covered properties.
• Ask eviction counsel how courts in your state read the scope of the rule.
• Re-check covered status when an owner refinances.

Recent change: State appeals courts continued to issue conflicting rulings in 2024 and 2025 on scope. Congress has not amended the provision.

Owners of project-based rental assistance properties and public housing agencies must give written notice at least 30 days before filing an eviction for nonpayment. The notice must include specific information, and you may not file if the tenant pays in full within the 30 days.

• Use a HUD-compliant 30-day nonpayment notice template at PBRA and public housing sites.
• Include the itemized amount owed, a cure date, and recertification and hardship information.
• Stop the filing if the tenant pays the full amount in the window.
• Watch for HUD's final rule on repeal before changing notices.

Recent change: HUD issued an interim final rule on February 26, 2026 to repeal the 30-day notice. After a lawsuit, HUD delayed it indefinitely on March 13, 2026 and treated it as a proposed rule, with comments due April 27, 2026. No final repeal was found as of October 6, 2026.

After a foreclosure, the new owner must give bona fide tenants at least 90 days' notice before requiring them to leave. Tenants with a lease can generally stay to the end of the term, unless the buyer will live in the unit.

• Watch for lender or foreclosure notices on managed properties and alert the owner right away.
• Give the new owner tenant lists and lease copies so 90-day notices go out correctly.
• Honor existing leases and voucher contracts through the transition.
• Check state law, which may give longer notice.

In covered housing, such as Housing Choice Vouchers, project-based Section 8, public housing and LIHTC, you may not deny or evict someone because they are a survivor of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault or stalking. You may split the lease to remove the abuser and must keep survivor information confidential.

• Give the HUD-5380 Notice of Occupancy Rights and HUD-5382 certification form at application, move-in, and with any eviction or termination notice.
• Use the current forms, which expire January 31, 2028.
• Adopt an emergency transfer plan for covered properties.
• Store survivor documentation separately with limited access.

Recent change: HUD updated forms HUD-5380 and HUD-5382 in February 2025. HUD withdrew its October 2023 VAWA legal determination in September 2025; the statute and regulations still apply.

If you rent to voucher holders you sign a HAP contract and must follow its lease addendum, rent reasonableness and inspection rules. HOTMA changes how income and assets are counted at certification. Multifamily owners had to comply for certifications effective on or after January 1, 2026, and most public housing agencies must comply by January 1, 2027.

• Use the HUD tenancy addendum with every voucher lease.
• Send rent increase requests to the PHA in the time the HAP contract requires.
• For assisted multifamily sites, use HOTMA-compliant income and asset forms now.
• Expect PHA income calculations and tenant portions to shift as agencies move to HOTMA by 2027.

Recent change: HUD Notice H-2025-03 set January 1, 2026 for multifamily. Notice PIH 2026-15, issued May 14, 2026, set January 1, 2027 for most PHAs.

A servicemember who gets permanent change of station orders or deployment orders of 90 days or more can end a residential lease early with written notice and a copy of the orders. You may not charge an early termination fee. You also need a court order to evict a servicemember or family when rent is at or below the yearly threshold, which is $10,542.60 per month for 2026.

• Accept SCRA termination notices and set the end date 30 days after the next rent due date.
• Refund any prepaid rent and the deposit as required, with no early termination fee.
• Check the Defense Manpower Data Center site before any default judgment and file the military status affidavit.
• Never use self-help eviction or hold belongings of a servicemember.

Recent change: The Department of Defense set the 2026 eviction protection rent threshold at $10,542.60 per month, effective January 1, 2026.

Property managers usually file Form 1099-MISC to report rents paid to each owner, and Form 1099-NEC for vendors paid for services. For payments made in 2026 and later the threshold is $2,000 per payee, up from $600. Payments for calendar year 2025 still use the $600 threshold.

• Collect a Form W-9 from every owner and vendor before the first payment.
• Report owner rents in box 1 of Form 1099-MISC when total rents reach the threshold.
• Report non-employee vendor payments, such as handymen and cleaners, on Form 1099-NEC.
• Apply backup withholding when a payee does not give a valid TIN.
• Update your accounting software thresholds to $2,000 for 2026 payments.

Recent change: The One Big Beautiful Bill Act of July 4, 2025 raised the threshold to $2,000 for payments after December 31, 2025, indexed for inflation after 2026.

Payment platforms file Form 1099-K only when a payee gets more than $20,000 across more than 200 transactions in a year. Payments you make by card or a payment app that issues a 1099-K do not also need a 1099-MISC or 1099-NEC from you.

• Note which vendor and owner payments go through card networks or payment apps.
• Avoid double reporting the same payment on a 1099-NEC and a 1099-K.
• Tell owners that rent collected through online portals may or may not produce a 1099-K under the higher threshold.

Recent change: The One Big Beautiful Bill Act retroactively restored the $20,000 and 200-transaction threshold, ending the planned drop to $600.

A property manager who pays rent to a nonresident alien or foreign company is a withholding agent. You must withhold 30% of gross rent unless the owner gives a valid Form W-8ECI with a U.S. taxpayer ID to treat the rent as effectively connected income.

• Ask every owner for a W-9 or the right W-8 form before the first distribution.
• Withhold 30% of gross rent for foreign owners who have not given a valid W-8ECI.
• Deposit withheld tax on time and file Forms 1042 and 1042-S each year.
• Re-collect W-8 forms before they expire.

A security deposit you plan to return is not income to the owner when received. It becomes income in the year the owner keeps any part of it. Advance rent and a deposit used as final month's rent are income when received.

• Hold deposits in a separate liability account, not in owner income.
• Record kept deposit amounts as owner rental income in the year you apply them.
• Label 'last month's rent' clearly in the lease so it is treated as advance rent.
• Include applied deposits in owner year-end statements and 1099 totals.

A business that receives more than $10,000 in cash in one transaction or related transactions must file Form 8300 within 15 days. Rent collected in cash on one lease can count as related transactions over a 12-month period.

• Track cash and money order receipts per lease for the year.
• File Form 8300 electronically within 15 days once cash for a lease passes $10,000.
• Send the payer a written statement by January 31 of the next year.
• Consider not accepting cash, if state law allows, to reduce reporting and theft risk.