Housing Discrimination
Exec. Law § 296 — refusing to sell or rent, or setting different terms, because of a protected characteristic or lawful source of income
Selling, renting and the terms. An owner, landlord, managing agent or anyone else with the right to sell or rent a home, and their agents, may not refuse to sell or rent it, or discriminate in its terms, conditions, facilities or services, because of race, creed, color, national origin, citizenship or immigration status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, military status, sex, age, disability, marital status, status as a victim of domestic violence, lawful source of income or familial status.
Saying a home is not available for inspection, sale or rent when it is, and an advertisement, application form or question that expresses a limitation on those grounds, are prohibited too.
The rules on refusing and on terms do not reach:
- A rental in a two family building where the owner lives in one of the homes.
- Restricting all the rooms in a home to people of the same sex.
- A room rented by the occupant, or by an owner who lives in the home.
- As to age and familial status only, housing restricted to people sixty-two or older and their spouses, or housing for at least one person fifty-five or older in each unit.
Retaliating against a person for opposing a practice the article forbids, filing a complaint, or requesting a reasonable accommodation is unlawful here as well.
Sources for this section (1)
- Exec. Law § 296 — Unlawful discriminatory practices
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of October 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed New York attorney.