> 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 compliance — Fair Housing Act, ECOA, FCRA, RESPA, TILA, HMDA, state broker rules, AVM rules, state landlord-tenant law. 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)