§ 97.03. PROHIBITED ACTS IN REGARD TO HOUSING.

It is unlawful:

(A) For any person to discriminate on grounds of race, creed, religion, color, sex, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, national origin, age or disability in the sale, lease, or rental of any housing unit or units;

(B) For any broker, agent, salesperson or other person acting in behalf of another to so discriminate in the sale, lease or rental of any housing unit or units belonging to the other person;

(C) For any person engaged in the business of financing the purchase, rehabilitation, remodeling or repair of housing units or in the business of selling insurance with respect to housing units to refuse to provide the financing or insurance or to discriminate with regard to the terms or conditions thereof by reason of the race, color, sex, religion, creed, national origin, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, age or disability of the applicant or because of the location of the unit or units in areas of the city occupied by persons of a particular race, color, sex, religion, creed, national origin, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, age or disability; or to discriminate by treating differently any person or group of persons who desire to purchase, lease, acquire, construct, rehabilitate, repair or maintain real property in a specific urban area because of social, economic or environmental conditions of the area in the granting, withholding, extending, modifying, or renewing, or in the rates, terms, conditions or privileges of any financial assistance or in the extension of services in connection therewith. The bona fide programs of federal, state or local governmental units or agencies, however structured or authorized to upgrade or improve in any manner a specific urban area, shall not be deemed to be a violation of this section;

(D) For any person, having sold, leased or rented a housing unit or units to any person to discriminate with respect to facilities, services or privileges of occupancy by reason of race, color, sex, creed, religion, national origin, age or disability, marital status or status with regard to public assistance;

(E) For any person to make or publish any statement evidencing an intent to discriminate on grounds of race, creed, religion, color, sex, national origin or ancestry, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, age or disability in the sale, lease or rental of a housing unit or units;

(F) For any person to make any inquiry regarding race, color, sex, creed, religion, national origin, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, age or disability or to keep any record or use any form of application designed to elicit the information in connection with the sale, lease, rental or financing of a housing unit or units;

(G) For any person for the purpose of inducing a real estate transaction from which he or she may benefit financially:

(1) To represent that a change has occurred or will or may occur in the composition of the block, neighborhood, or area in which the property is located, in respect of the race, color, sex, creed, religion, national origin, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, age or disability of those living there; or

(2) To represent that this change will or may result in the lowering of property values, an increase in crime, or antisocial behavior or a decline in the quality of schools in the block, neighborhood, or area concerned.

(H) Nothing in this section shall be construed to require any person or group of persons selling, renting or leasing property to modify the property in any way or exercise a higher degree of care for a person having a disability than for a person who does not have a disability; nor shall this section be construed to relieve any person or persons of any obligations generally imposed on all persons regardless of any disability in a written lease, rental agreement or contract or purchase or sale, or to forbid distinctions based on the inability to fulfill the terms and conditions, including financial obligations of the lease, agreement or contract;

(I) The provisions of this section shall not apply to:

(1) The rental of a portion of a dwelling containing accommodations for 2 families, one of which is occupied by the owner; or

(2) The rental by an owner or occupier of a one-family accommodation in which he or she resides of a room or rooms in accommodation to another person or persons if the discrimination is by sex, marital status, status with regard to public assistance or disability.

(J) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to require any person or group of persons selling, renting or leasing property to modify the property in any way or exercise a higher degree of care for a person having a disability than for a person who does not have a disability; nor shall this section be construed to relieve any person or persons of any obligations generally imposed on all persons regardless of any disability in a written lease, rental agreement or contract of purchase or sale or to forbid distinctions based on the inability to fulfill the terms and conditions, including financial obligations, of the lease, agreement or contract.

Penalty, see § 10.99