Familial status

Key Takeaways

• Familial status covers a household where at least one person under 18 lives with a parent or another adult who has legal custody, and it separately covers a person who is pregnant or is securing legal custody of a child.
• Familial status is one of the seven protected characteristics under the federal Fair Housing Act, and Washington covers the same ground under the name families with children status.
• Housing that meets the federal housing for older persons test is exempt from the familial status rules, so a qualifying age-restricted community may lawfully limit children.
• Refusing an offer, quoting different terms, applying a stricter occupancy rule, or failing to mention a listing all count as familial status discrimination when children are the reason.

What It Means

Familial status is the fair housing term for whether a household includes children. It covers any household where at least one person under 18 is living with a parent or with another adult who holds legal custody, and it reaches two situations where no child has arrived yet: a person who is pregnant, and a person who is in the process of securing legal custody. The trait belongs to the household rather than to one named buyer or tenant, so a grandparent raising a grandchild is protected on the same footing as a married couple with a newborn.

Because familial status is a Protected Class, it cannot be the reason for a housing decision, and that reaches well past an outright refusal to sell or rent. Quoting a larger deposit, writing an occupancy rule designed to keep children out, confining families to certain buildings or floors, or quietly leaving a listing out of what you send are all violations when children are the reason. The duty binds sellers, landlords, lenders, and the brokers who work for them.

How It Works in Washington

The federal Fair Housing Act makes familial status a protected characteristic nationwide, so the baseline duty is the same in every state this school serves. In Washington, the same ground is covered by the Law Against Discrimination, which uses the name families with children status. RCW 49.60.222(1) makes it an unfair practice to refuse to engage in a real estate transaction, to refuse to receive or transmit a bona fide offer, to represent that property is not available for inspection, sale, rental, or lease when it is available, or to fail to bring a property listing to a person's attention, when families with children status is the reason. RCW 49.60.040 supplies the definition, including the pregnancy and legal custody situations.

One carve-out matters in daily practice. RCW 49.60.222(6) exempts housing for older persons as defined by the federal fair housing amendments act of 1988, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 3607(b)(1) through (3). A community earns that exemption only by meeting the federal test, so confirm it against Housing For Older Persons before you treat any age restriction as lawful.

Example

Dana Whitcomb lists a four-bedroom home in Everett at $625,000. Priya Raman tours the home with her children, ages 6 and 9, and writes a full-price offer of $625,000 with $12,500 earnest money, which is 2 percent of the price. A second buyer with no children offers $610,000. The seller tells Dana to reject the Raman offer because "children are hard on a house" and to take the lower one instead.

Dana cannot carry out that instruction. Refusing to negotiate, or refusing to transmit a bona fide offer, because of families with children status is an unfair practice, and the broker who executes a seller's discriminatory instruction is liable alongside the seller. The instruction also costs the seller money: taking $610,000 over $625,000 gives up $15,000. Dana's correct move is to present both offers, refuse the discriminatory instruction and document that refusal in writing, and notify her managing broker.

Common Mistakes and Exam Traps

• Familial status and marital status are different traits. Familial status turns on a child in the household, so a single parent and a married couple with children are equally protected, and a childless married couple is not protected by this class.
• The child does not have to be the buyer's biological child. A guardian with legal custody, a person securing custody, and a pregnant person are all covered.
• Housing for older persons is a real exemption but a narrow one. Advertising a subdivision as adult or quiet does not qualify it; only meeting the federal test does.
• Reasonable occupancy limits are permitted, but an occupancy rule written or applied to keep households with children out is a familial status violation.