> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.layerlens.ai/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.layerlens.ai/more-in-this-section-2/compliance-9.md).

# Real estate and PropTech compliance

Real estate AI compliance centers on **anti-discrimination + consumer credit law + state real-estate licensing + landlord-tenant law**. The protected-class surface is wide and active enforcement is the norm.

## Regulatory frame

| Regime                                                  | Applies when                                 | Evaluation-evidence shape                              |
| ------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Fair Housing Act (42 USC § 3601-3619)**               | Housing transactions, advertising, financing | Protected-language hard rule; disparate-impact testing |
| **ECOA (Reg B)**                                        | Consumer credit decisions                    | Adverse-action notice; bias audit                      |
| **FCRA (15 USC § 1681)**                                | Consumer reports                             | Accuracy, dispute rights, adverse-action notice        |
| **RESPA / Reg X**                                       | Mortgage settlement                          | Disclosure timing; affiliate-relationship transparency |
| **TILA / Reg Z**                                        | Mortgage disclosures                         | APR, costs, loan-estimate accuracy                     |
| **HMDA / Reg C**                                        | Mortgage originators above threshold         | Demographic data collection and reporting              |
| **PAVE task force / proposed AVM rule**                 | AVMs in lender mortgage decisions            | Bias testing, governance, randomized sampling          |
| **CFPB authority**                                      | Consumer-finance overlap                     | UDAAP scrutiny on AI                                   |
| **State broker licensing**                              | Licensed salespeople / brokers               | Supervisory evidence                                   |
| **State landlord-tenant law**                           | Residential rentals                          | Habitability, just-cause, security deposit             |
| **Source-of-income, criminal-record, ban-the-box laws** | State / local                                | Per-jurisdiction screening rules                       |
| **Privacy laws (CCPA, GDPR, etc.)**                     | Per-jurisdiction                             | DSR, consent, retention                                |
| **NAR rules / MLS rules**                               | NAR-affiliated brokers                       | Code of Ethics; MLS-specific rules                     |

## Fair Housing Act

42 USC § 3601-3619. Prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including sexual orientation and gender identity per HUD), disability, familial status, national origin in:

* Sale, rental, financing of dwellings
* Advertising of dwellings
* Steering, blockbusting, redlining

**HUD has specifically focused on AI-driven listing language and tenant screening.**

**Stratix evaluation evidence:**

* Protected-language hard rule + judge for indirect references
* Steering-language judge for neighborhood characterization
* Disparate-impact monitoring on tenant screening, AVM, recommendation surfaces

## ECOA / Regulation B

For credit decisions in mortgage and consumer-finance:

* No discrimination on FHA bases plus age, marital status, public-assistance income
* Adverse-action notices required with specific reasons
* Disparate-treatment and disparate-impact theories both apply

**Stratix evaluation evidence:**

* Reason-code rule on every adverse output
* Group-fairness scorer
* Audit trail of inputs / model version / decision

## FCRA

For tenant screening companies and others producing consumer reports:

* Accuracy obligations (maximum-possible-accuracy standard)
* Consumer dispute rights with reinvestigation
* Adverse-action notice on use to deny housing or credit
* Permissible-purpose limits

FTC and CFPB have enforcement authority and have used it.

**Stratix evaluation evidence:**

* Accuracy rule per item
* Adverse-action triggering rule
* Dispute-routing rule for tenant disputes

## PAVE task force / AVM proposed rule

PAVE (Property Appraisal and Valuation Equity) task force findings drive an active rule-making track:

* Federal banking regulators + CFPB + FHFA proposed AVM rule under FIRREA Title XI
* Quality control standards include nondiscrimination
* Random-sample testing
* Conflict-of-interest controls

**Stratix evaluation evidence:**

* Demographic-fairness scorer on AVM outputs
* Random-sample audit pipeline
* Governance documentation per AVM use

## RESPA / TILA / HMDA

For mortgage origination:

* **RESPA** — settlement-cost disclosure, anti-kickback
* **TILA** — APR, finance-charge accuracy
* **HMDA** — demographic data collection, public reporting

**Stratix evaluation evidence:**

* Disclosure-content rule per applicable form
* HMDA data routing rule

## CFPB UDAAP

CFPB has used UDAAP (Unfair, Deceptive, Abusive Acts or Practices) authority to investigate AI in consumer finance. Particularly:

* Algorithmic discrimination as UDAAP
* "Black-box" decision-making lacking adverse-action specificity
* Dark patterns in consumer-finance funnels

## State broker licensing

State real estate commissions regulate licensees. AI tools used by licensees do not exempt licensees from supervisory and disclosure obligations. State-by-state:

* Required disclosures the AI cannot draft autonomously
* Continuing-education requirements that touch AI use
* Discipline for misrepresentations whether AI-generated or not

## State landlord-tenant law

Massive variance. Examples:

* **CA** — strict just-cause eviction; rent control in many cities; security-deposit returns within 21 days
* **NY** — strong tenant-rights regimes in NYC; rent-stabilized stock
* **WA** — just-cause statewide; specific source-of-income protections
* **TX** — landlord-friendly default; specific habitability rules

**Stratix evaluation evidence:**

* Jurisdiction-aware tenant-rights rule
* Habitability auto-escalate rule

## Source-of-income, criminal-record, ban-the-box laws

State and local laws affecting tenant screening:

* Source-of-income protections in 100+ jurisdictions (cover Section 8, SSDI, etc.)
* Criminal-record limits (HUD 2016 guidance binding for federally-funded housing; state/local stronger)
* Ban-the-box analogs for housing

## Privacy laws

CCPA / state privacy / GDPR — same framework as [retail compliance](/more-in-this-section-2/compliance-10.md).

## NAR rules / MLS rules

For NAR-affiliated brokers:

* NAR Code of Ethics
* Multiple-Listing Service rules (varies by MLS)
* Recent class-action settlement (commission rules) creates new obligations

## Recommended setup

1. Pro tier minimum; Enterprise for brokerages, screening companies, lenders
2. SSO + RBAC for licensee / supervisor / compliance roles
3. Hard rules: protected-class language, agent/loan-officer review gate, FCRA accuracy, jurisdiction-aware tenant rights
4. Group-fairness scorers on every consumer-affecting AI output
5. PAVE-aligned random sampling for AVMs
6. Audit retention matching the longer of state broker / FCRA / fair-housing requirements (default 5 years)
7. State-form refresh at least quarterly
8. DPA executed; tenant data residency where contracted

## See also

* [Real estate scenarios](/more-in-this-section-2/scenarios-9.md)
* [Real estate eval patterns](/more-in-this-section-2/eval-patterns-9.md)
* [Concept: Multi-tenancy](/7.-observe-see-whats-happening/multi-tenancy.md)
* [Enterprise](/4.2-industry-use-cases/real-estate.md)


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