COLUMBUS, Ohio — June is Pride Month, a time to commemorate the Stonewall Uprising of 1969, when LGBTQ+ Americans resisted police harassment and persecution in New York City.
To celebrate and show support for the LGBTQ+ community, many people fly pride flags at their homes and in their businesses. Our viewer, Angela Green, told us about a landlord who requested that his tenants refrain from putting Pride decorations out due to his religion.
THE QUESTION: Is it legal for landlords to ask a tenant to remove flags?
So, we wanted to VERIFY: is it legal for landlords to ask a tenant to remove flags?
THE SOURCE:
- Edward Forman, civil rights lawyer at Marshall, Forman, and Schlien.
THE ANSWER: Yes, landlords can ask a tenant to remove flags.
WHAT WE FOUND:
"You could have a situation where a lease says there's just no flags, political advertisements, or things like that," said Forman.
In most states and municipalities, landlords can legally ban political signs, flags, and decorations if a prohibition clause is written into the lease agreement. Forman said that if it's not written in the lease, most landlords' legal arguments are dead on arrival.
"Generally speaking, if I'm just leasing a place and my lease doesn't say otherwise, I'm permitted to, you know, do anything I want. Which doesn't damage the property, right? I can put up political signs. I can do whatever I like because it's my property. I've rented it, and I've paid money for the use of that," Forman said.
Even then, tenants are protected by federal and city laws, like Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (Fair Housing Act).
"The federal fair housing law under Title VIII forbids discrimination against individuals on the basis of their sexual orientation. In addition, there is a Columbus ordinance that also forbids discrimination against people because of their sexual orientation," Forman said.
According to the U.S. Department of housing and Urban Development, Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (Fair Housing Act), as amended, prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of dwellings, and in other housing-related transactions, because of race, color, religion, sex (including gender identity and sexual orientation), familial status, national origin, and disability. It also requires that all federal programs relating to housing and urban development be administered in a manner that affirmatively furthers fair housing.
If you have something you want us to verify, email us at verify@10tv.com.