People often wrongly assume that any discrimination by a property manager is illegal. "To discriminate" means simply to distinguish among available choices. Some of these distinctions are lawful; others are not. Thus, in deciding to whom to rent, a property manager may lawfully reject someone with a bad rental, credit or employment record or whose income suggests that s/he will be unable to pay the rent. A property manager may also refuse to rent to a person whose rental history suggests that s/he will not take care of the property or in other ways be irresponsible. These are all perfectly legal bases for discriminating among rental applicants and selecting those likely to be "good" tenants.
Unlawful discrimination is that which is not based upon merit but upon a person’s being one of a particular protected group to which a landlord, for whatever reason, does not want to rent. Federal Law
Federal law protects seven groups ("protected classes") from housing discrimination:
race
color
religion
sex
national origin
disability/handicap (physical or mental)
family status (a family which includes minor children or pregnancy)
