Is it legal to advertise for a female roommate?

What the Fair Housing Act Means to You In a Housemate Situation. You can’t write an ad that says you want to live with a female, gay person, Christian, or whatever category you might really care about. That’s illegal. The law says you may not make a public discriminatory statement about your preferences.Click to see full answer. Similarly, you may ask, does Fair Housing Act apply to roommates?The Fair Housing Act prohibits landlords/owners from renting or selling a “dwelling” based on race, sex, religion, or national origin. So if the Act applies to roommates, helping people search for roommates of a certain sex is against the law.One may also ask, is it legal to only rent to females? Yes it is if the landlord also lives in the same house. There are all kinds of reasons that the landlord can use to only rent to one gender and most of them are valid. So a widower can say she only wants to rent to another woman is perfectly legal. Secondly, are roommates a protected class? Users are specifically permitted to list their preference for roommate characteristics based on those categories. Two protected classes, of course, are sex and familial status. In addition to the FHA, many state and local fair housing laws prevent discrimination against people based upon their sexual orientation.Is it illegal to not rent to roommates?Some landlords are simply refusing to rent to roommates. Make sure you collect a rental application on each proposed occupant, and run a tenant background check. This is a far safer policy than allowing a “lead” roommate to sublet to their friends. Your lease agreement must be appropriate for roommates.