You are filling out a rental application, and question 12 asks whether you plan to have children. Your stomach drops, because that question feels wrong, and you are not sure whether you have to answer it.
Trust that instinct. There is a specific list of fair housing questions landlords cannot ask, and “do you plan to have kids” sits near the top of it.
The Fair Housing Act bans questions about certain personal characteristics during every stage of renting, from the first showing to the final lease signing. Knowing the list protects you as a renter, and knowing the legal alternatives helps landlords screen the right way.
Fair Housing Questions Landlords Cannot Ask About Family Status
A landlord cannot ask whether you have children, plan to have children, or are pregnant. They also cannot ask about your marital status as a roundabout way of getting at the same information.
Asking whether you are married or single is illegal for the same reason, as is refusing to rent to you because you have kids or steering you toward a ground-floor unit “for the children.”
The one narrow exception is occupancy limits. A landlord can enforce a reasonable limit like two people per bedroom, as long as it applies to everyone equally.
Questions about who will live in the unit are fine. Questions about whether those people include children are not, and the line is thinner than many landlords realize.
If an application asks about family status, leave it blank and keep a copy of the form. That blank, documented question is evidence if you ever need it.
Fair Housing Questions Landlords Cannot Ask About Disability
A landlord cannot ask whether you have a disability, what your diagnosis is, or how severe it is. They cannot ask about medications, treatment, or medical history either.
“Do you have any health problems I should know about?” is illegal even when asked with apparent concern, and so is demanding a doctor note before you have even requested an accommodation.
What landlords can do is describe the essential requirements of the tenancy: paying rent on time, keeping the unit in reasonable condition, and following the lease. If you meet those, your medical details are none of their business.
The only time disability enters the conversation legally is when you request a reasonable accommodation or modification. Then the landlord may ask for limited verification that the request relates to a disability, and nothing more.
Service animals and emotional support animals sit in this category too. A landlord cannot charge pet fees for an assistance animal, though they can follow the standard documentation rules in their state.
Our guide on how to file a fair housing complaint walks through each step if a landlord crosses this line.
The Full List of Banned Topics Under Federal Law
The Fair Housing Act protects seven characteristics: race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, and disability. Questions touching any of these are off limits.
Questions about what country you are from are illegal. A landlord may verify your identity and legal capacity to sign a lease, which is a different question from probing your origin, though landlords often confuse the two.
“What church do you attend?” is illegal, as are questions about religious dress or whether you observe holidays that might affect move-in timing.
Questions about race and color need no elaborate examples. Any question that sorts applicants by race is illegal, including seemingly casual ones about where your family comes from.
Sex includes sexual harassment in housing and, under recent federal guidance, protections related to sexual orientation and gender identity in many contexts. State and local laws frequently go further than the federal baseline.
State and Local Rules That Go Beyond Federal Law
Federal law is the floor, not the ceiling. Many states and cities add protected classes like source of income, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital status, veteran status, and criminal history.
Source-of-income protection is the big one for renters with vouchers, and in those jurisdictions, asking “do you receive housing assistance?” in order to screen you out is illegal.
Criminal history rules vary widely. Some places ban the checkbox entirely at the application stage, while others allow background checks but require an individualized review before any denial.
Because the rules change by zip code, a question that is legal in one city can be illegal across the county line. Both tenants and landlords should check local ordinances, not just federal law.
When a landlord rejects you, the reason matters. See common reasons rental applications get denied to tell a legal denial apart from a discriminatory one.
What Landlords Are Legally Allowed to Ask
Plenty of screening is perfectly legal. Landlords can ask about your income, employment, credit history, rental history, and whether you have ever been evicted.
They can run credit and background checks with your written permission. They can call your previous landlords and your employer to verify what you wrote.
They can ask how many people will occupy the unit and enforce reasonable occupancy standards. They can ask for identification to verify you are who you claim to be.
They can ask about pets, smoking, and vehicles, since none of those are protected characteristics. Breed and size restrictions on pets are generally allowed, with the assistance-animal exception noted above.
If you are denied after a background or credit check, the landlord generally owes you an adverse action notice explaining why. That notice is your window into whether the denial was legitimate.
What to Do If a Landlord Asks an Illegal Question
Do not feel pressured to answer on the spot. You can decline politely, leave the field blank, and continue with the rest of the application.
Write down exactly what was asked, when, and who asked it, while the memory is fresh. Save the application form, emails, and texts.
Testing organizations and fair housing groups exist in most metro areas, and they investigate exactly these complaints. A quick call costs nothing.
You can file a complaint with HUD within one year of the incident, or with your state or local fair housing agency, which sometimes moves faster. Retaliation for filing is itself illegal.
Keep copies of everything you submit. Complaints with dates, names, and documents move, while complaints based on memory alone tend to stall.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a landlord ask if I have children?
No. Questions about children, pregnancy, or plans to have a family are illegal under the Fair Housing Act’s familial status protection.
Can a landlord ask about my disability or medical history?
No, not during screening. Disability only becomes a legal topic if you request a reasonable accommodation, and even then the landlord can only verify the need.
Is it illegal for a landlord to ask where I was born?
Questions about national origin are illegal. A landlord can verify identity and legal capacity to sign a lease, but “what country are you from” crosses the line.
What if the illegal question is just printed on the application form?
It is still illegal. Leave it blank, keep a copy of the form, and consider reporting it, because a printed question reaches every single applicant.
Can I be punished for refusing to answer?
No. A landlord cannot deny you for declining to answer an illegal question, and retaliation for asserting your fair housing rights is itself a violation.
A rental application should measure whether you can pay the rent and follow the lease. The moment it starts measuring who you are, the law is on your side, and now you know exactly where the line is.
