Paste a description and see every phrase that could draw a fair housing complaint, why it flags, and the safe rewrite. The check runs in your browser, and you can email yourself a dated report of the whole thing to keep with the listing file.
Describe the property. Never describe the person you imagine living in it. Almost every flagged phrase in a real estate listing is a version of that one sentence, and an agent who internalizes it stops needing a checker at all.
Flags come in three tiers. A violation describes, prefers, or excludes a protected class, and that is the language that generates actual complaints. A caution is habit phrasing that is lawful but discouraged, or lawful only under a specific exemption you need to confirm. Good marks feature-first language worth keeping, such as step-free entry or a roll-in shower, because naming an accessibility feature is safe and useful.
Common violations and their replacements: perfect for families becomes four bedrooms and a fenced rear yard. Safe neighborhood becomes on a cul-de-sac with no through traffic. Exclusive neighborhood becomes custom homes on half-acre lots. Empty nesters becomes single level and low maintenance. Walking distance becomes a real number, such as 0.3 miles. No children, adults only, no Section 8, young professionals, and married couples preferred come out entirely, because each states a preference about the occupant rather than a fact about the home.
False positives cost more trust than missed phrases, so safe and common language is pinned to stay quiet: family room, single-family home, walk-in closet, walkout basement, master bath, wheelchair accessible, and any measured distance. Two boundaries are worth knowing. Master bedroom is not a federal violation, so it flags as style rather than law. The 55+ label is lawful where the property qualifies for the housing for older persons exemption, so it flags for you to confirm rather than to delete.
Where the rules come from: there is no federal list of banned words. Section 804(c) of the Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. 3604(c), makes it unlawful to make, print, or publish any advertisement about the sale or rental of a dwelling that indicates a preference, limitation, or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin. HUD's implementing regulation, 24 CFR 100.75, applies that ban to every written and oral notice used in a sale or rental. HUD's advertising guidance at 24 CFR Part 109 was withdrawn from the Code of Federal Regulations in 1996 as nonbinding guidance, and HUD has continued to apply it when evaluating advertising complaints. The 55+ label is lawful only where the property qualifies under the housing for older persons exemption at 42 U.S.C. 3607(b).
What a violation can cost: under 24 CFR 180.671 an administrative law judge may assess a civil penalty for each separate discriminatory housing practice, on top of any damages awarded to the complainant, and the maximum rises for respondents with prior violations in the preceding five and seven years. The current amounts are listed on the page. Source of income is not a federal protected class; it is protected by a growing list of state and local laws, California among them.
This tool flags language for review. It is not legal advice, and fair housing rules vary by state and city, with some protected classes being local rather than federal. Run anything you are unsure about past your broker or your brokerage compliance contact.
Fair housing law does not ban a fixed word list. It bans describing, preferring, or excluding people by a protected class. In practice that flags phrases like perfect for families, safe neighborhood, no children, exclusive neighborhood, walking distance, adults only, and no Section 8. The working rule is to describe the property and never the person you imagine living in it.
No. Master bedroom is not a federal fair housing violation. The industry has been moving to primary bedroom as a style choice, so it is worth changing, but it is not the same category of risk as a phrase that describes who should live in the home.
Yes, where the property qualifies for the housing for older persons exemption. That exemption is specific, so confirm the property meets it before the phrase goes in the listing. Outside a qualifying property, an age preference is a violation.
It is the most cited proxy phrase in fair housing training. It says nothing verifiable about the property and is read as a coded comment about who lives nearby. Replace it with the fact you actually mean, such as on a cul-de-sac with no through traffic.
The check itself does not. It runs entirely in your browser, there is no account and nothing to sign up for, and closing the tab erases it. The one exception is the emailed report: if you ask for it at the end, your description is sent so it can be included in the email. Nothing is sent if you do not ask.