Section 348-8-04 - DISCRIMINATORY HOUSING PRACTICESIt is unlawful to engage in discriminatory housing practices based on the protected class status or perceived protected class status of a buyer or renter or prospective buyer or renter of a covered dwelling/dwelling unit, a person residing in or intending to reside in said dwelling/dwelling unit, or any person associated with any of these persons.
A.Real estate practices prohibitedIt shall be unlawful to:
(1) Refuse to sell or rent a dwelling after a bona fide offer has been made, or to refuse to negotiate for the sale or rental of a dwelling because of protected class status.(2) Discriminate in the terms, conditions or privileges of sale or rental of a dwelling, or in the provision of services or facilities in connection with sales or rentals, because of protected class status.(3) Engage in any conduct relating to the provision of housing which otherwise makes unavailable or denies dwellings to persons because of protected class status.(4) Make, print or publish, or cause to be made, printed or published, any notice, statement or advertisement with respect to the sale or rental of a dwelling that indicates any preference, limitation or discrimination because of protected class status.(5) Represent to any person because of protected class status that a dwelling is not available for sale or rental when such dwelling is in fact available.(6) Engage in blockbusting practices in connection with the sale or rental of dwellings because of protected class status.(7) Deny access to or membership or participation in, or to discriminate against any person in his or her access to or membership or participation in, any multiple-listing service, real estate brokers' association, or other service organization or facility relating to the business of selling or renting a dwelling or in the terms or conditions of membership or participation, because of protected class status.B.Unlawful refusal to sell or rent or to negotiate for the sale or rental(1) It shall be unlawful for a person to refuse to sell or rent a dwelling to a person who has made a bona fide offer, because of protected class status, or to refuse to negotiate with a person for the sale or rental of a dwelling because of protected class status.(2) Prohibited actions under this section include, but are not limited to: (a) Failing to accept or consider a bona fide offer because of protected class status.(b) Refusing to sell or rent a dwelling to, or to negotiate for the sale or rental of a dwelling with, any person because of protected class status.(c) Imposing different sale prices or rental charges for the sale or rental of a dwelling upon any person because of protected class status.(d) Using different qualification criteria or applications, or sale or rental standards or procedures, such as income standards, application requirements, application fees, credit analysis or sale or rental approval procedures or other requirements, because protected class status.(e) Evicting tenants because of their protected class status or because of the protected class status of a tenant's guest.C.Discrimination in terms, conditions and privileges and in services and facilities(1) Using different provisions in leases or contracts of sale, such as those relating to rental charges, security deposits and the terms of a lease and those relating to down payment and closing requirements, because of protected class status.(2) Failing or delaying maintenance or repairs of sale or rental dwellings because of protected class status.(3) Failing to process an offer for the sale or rental of a dwelling or to communicate an offer accurately because of protected class status.(4) Limiting the use of privileges, services or facilities associated with a dwelling because of protected class status of an owner, tenant, or a person associated with them.(5) Denying or limiting services or facilities in connection with the sale or rental of a dwelling, because a person failed or refused to provide sexual favors.D.Other prohibited sale and rental conduct(1) It shall be unlawful, because of protected class status, to restrict or attempt to restrict the choices of a person by word or conduct in connection with seeking, negotiating for, buying or renting a dwelling so as to perpetuate, or tend to perpetuate, segregated housing patterns, or to discourage or obstruct choices in a community, neighborhood or development.(2) It shall be unlawful, because of protected class status, to engage in any conduct relating to the provision of housing or of services and facilities in connection therewith that otherwise makes unavailable or denies dwellings to any persons.(3) Prohibited practices under this section generally refer to unlawful steering practices that include, but are not limited to:(a) Discouraging any person from inspecting, purchasing, or renting a dwelling because of protected class status of persons in a community, neighbor-hood or development.(b) Discouraging the purchase or rental of a dwelling because of protected class status by exaggerating drawbacks or failing to inform any person of desirable features of a dwelling or of a community, neighborhood, or development.(c) Communicating to any prospective purchaser that he or she would not be comfortable or compatible with existing residents of a community, neighborhood or development because of protected class status.(d) Assigning any person to a particular section of a community, neighborhood or development or to a particular floor of a building because protected class status.(4) It shall be unlawful, because of protected class status, to engage in any conduct relating to the provision of housing or services and facilities in connection therewith that otherwise makes unavailable or denies dwellings to persons. Prohibited sales and rental practices under this section include, but are not limited to: (a) Discharging or taking other adverse action against an employee, broker, or agent because he or she refused to participate in a discriminatory housing practice;(b) Employing codes or other devices to segregate or reject applicants, purchasers or renters, refusing to take or to show listings of dwellings in certain areas because of protected class status, or refusing to deal with certain brokers or agents because they or one or more of their clients are of a particular protected class status;(c) Denying or delaying the processing of an application made by a purchaser or renter or refusing to approve such a person for occupancy in a cooperative or condominium dwelling because of protected class status;(d) Refusing to provide municipal services or property or hazard insurance for a dwelling or providing such services differently because protected class status.E.Discriminatory advertisements, statements and notices(1) It shall be unlawful to make, print or publish, or cause to be made, printed or published, any notice, statement or advertisement with respect to the sale or rental of a dwelling which indicates any preference, limitation or discrimination because of protected class status, or an intention to make any such preference, limitation or discrimination.(2) The prohibitions in this section shall apply to all written or oral notices or statements by a person engaged in the sale or rental of a dwelling. Written notices and statements include any applications, flyers, brochures, deeds, signs, banners, posters, billboards or any documents used with respect to the sale or rental of a dwelling.(3) Discriminatory notices, statements and advertisements include, but are not limited to:(a) Using words, phrases, photographs, illustrations, symbols or forms which convey that dwellings are available or not available to a particular group of persons because of protected class status.(b) Expressing to agents, brokers, employees, prospective sellers or renters or any other persons a preference for or limitation on any purchaser or renter because of protected class status.(c) Selecting media or locations for advertising the sale or rental of dwellings which deny particular segments of the housing market information about housing opportunities because of protected class status.(d) Refusing to publish advertising for the sale or rental of dwellings or requiring different charges or terms for such advertising because of protected class status.F.Discriminatory representations on the availability of dwellings(1) It shall be unlawful because of protected class status, to provide inaccurate or untrue information about the availability of dwellings for sale or rental.(2) Prohibited actions under this section include, but are not limited to: (a) Indicating through words or conduct that a dwelling which is available for inspection, sale, or rental has been sold or rented because of protected class status.(b) Representing that covenants or other deed, trust or lease provisions which purport to restrict the sale or rental of dwellings because of protected class status, preclude the sale or rental of a dwelling to a person.(c) Enforcing covenants or other deed, trust, or lease provisions which preclude the sale or rental of a dwelling to any person because of protected class status.(d) Limiting information, by word or conduct, regarding suitably priced dwellings available for inspection, sale or rental, because of protected class status.(e) Providing false or inaccurate information regarding the availability of a dwelling for sale or rental to any person, including testers, regardless of whether such person is actually seeking housing, because of protected class status.G.Unlawful inquiries(1) It shall be unlawful to make an inquiry to determine whether an applicant for a dwelling, a person intending to reside in that dwelling after it is sold, rented or made available, or any person associated with that person, is a member of a protected class or, with regard to an individual with a physical or mental disability, to make inquiry as to the nature or severity of a disability of such a person. However, this paragraph does not prohibit the following inquiries, provided these inquiries are made of all applicants, without regard to their protected class status: (a) Inquiry into an applicant's ability to meet the requirements of ownership or tenancy.(b) Inquiry to determine whether an applicant is qualified for a dwelling available only to persons who are members of a protected class, including, without limitation, dwellings available to persons with physical or mental disabilities or to persons with a particular type of physical or mental disability.(c) Inquiry to determine whether an applicant for a dwelling is qualified for a priority available to persons who are members of a protected class, including, without limitation, dwellings available to persons with physical or mental disabilities or to persons with a particular type of physical or mental disability;(d) Inquiring whether an applicant for a dwelling is a current illegal abuser or addict of a controlled substance;(e) Inquiring whether an applicant has been convicted of the illegal manufacture or distribution of a controlled substance.H.Blockbusting(1) It shall be unlawful, for profit, to induce or attempt to induce a person to sell or rent a dwelling by representation regarding the entry or prospective entry into the neighborhood of a person or persons of a particular protected class status.(2) In establishing a discriminatory housing practice under this section it is not necessary that there was in fact profit as long as profit was a factor for engaging in the blockbusting activity.(3) Prohibited actions under this section include, but are not limited to: (a) Engaging, for profit, in conduct (including uninvited solicitations for listings) which conveys to a person that a neighborhood is undergoing or is about to undergo a change in the protected class status of persons residing in it, in order to encourage the person to offer a dwelling for sale or rental.(b) Encouraging, for profit, any person to sell or rent a dwelling through assertions that the entry or prospective entry of persons of a particular protected class status, can or will result in undesirable consequences for the project, neighborhood or community, such as lowering of property values, an increase in criminal or antisocial behavior, or a decline in the quality of schools or other services or facilities.I.Discrimination in the provision of brokerage services(1) It shall be unlawful to deny any person access to or membership or participation in any multiple listing service, real estate brokers' organization or other service, organization, or facility relating to the business of selling or renting dwellings, or to discriminate against any person in the terms or conditions of such access, membership or participation, because of protected class status.(2) Prohibited actions under this section include, but are not limited to:(a) Setting different fees for access to or membership in a multiple listing service because of protected class status.(b) Denying or limiting benefits accruing to members in a real estate brokers' organization because of protected class status.(c) Imposing different standards or criteria for membership in a real estate sales or rental organization because of protected class status.(d) Establishing geographic boundaries or office location or residence requirements for access to or membership or participation in any multiple listing service, real estate brokers' organization or other service, organization or facility relating to the business of selling or renting dwellings, because of protected class status.94-348 C.M.R. ch. 8, § 04