State fair housing agencies

What substantially equivalent means

HUD certifies state and local agencies whose fair housing law provides rights, remedies and procedures substantially equivalent to the federal Act. A complaint filed with HUD in a certified jurisdiction is commonly referred to that agency, which then investigates under its own state statute.

Where state law reaches further

• Narrower exemptions. A property exempt federally is frequently covered by the state statute.
• Seven states have legislated on assistance animals specifically, so the documentation standard is written down rather than inferred.
• Some states impose deadlines on a provider response that the federal Act leaves open.
• State landlord-tenant law now decides the pet fee question, since the federal guidance that answered it was rescinded.

Where there is no state agency

A small number of states have no fair housing statute of their own or no certified agency, so the administrative route runs through HUD, which is the route that narrowed. In those states the practical advice shifts toward taking advice about a private suit earlier than you otherwise would.

Finding yours

Every state page on this site names the state statute and the agency that enforces it, along with the date the entry was last reviewed. Start there rather than with a general search, because the agency names are similar and easy to confuse.