Connecticut Fair Housing
Practice Questions & Answers (2026)
Fair housing is tested on every real estate exam in the country, but Connecticut candidates must know both federal and state-level protections. While Connecticut enforces the seven federal protected classes (race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, and disability), the Connecticut Real Estate Commission also tests how these protections apply in Connecticut-specific rental, sales, and advertising scenarios. Steering, blockbusting, redlining, and discriminatory advertising are all tested — and candidates who think they know fair housing cold often miss the state-specific extensions or the nuanced application scenarios. Review every question here carefully.
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Connecticut Fair Housing — Practice Questions & Answers
125 questions on Fair Housing from the Connecticut real estate question bank. First 10 are free — sign up to unlock all 125.
Q1. Blockbusting is defined as:
Explanation
Blockbusting (also called panic selling) is the illegal practice of inducing property owners to sell or rent by suggesting that the entry of protected-class individuals into the neighborhood will lower property values or increase crime.
Q2. Under the federal Fair Housing Act, which property is generally exempt from the prohibition against familial status discrimination?
Explanation
The Fair Housing Act allows qualified senior housing communities to restrict occupancy to older persons without violating familial status protections. To qualify, at least 80% of occupied units must have at least one resident age 55 or older.
Q3. Steering in real estate means:
Explanation
Steering is the illegal practice of directing prospective buyers or renters toward or away from certain neighborhoods or properties based on the buyer's race, religion, national origin, or other protected class characteristics.
Q4. A Connecticut landlord with 12 units refuses to rent to a qualified applicant because of the applicant's religion. The maximum civil penalty for a first violation of the federal Fair Housing Act can be up to:
Explanation
For a first violation of the Fair Housing Act with no prior violations, the civil penalty can be up to $21,663 (periodically adjusted for inflation). Penalties increase for subsequent violations within 7 years.
Q5. Connecticut's fair housing law expands upon the federal Fair Housing Act by also protecting:
Explanation
Connecticut's fair housing law provides broader protections than federal law, including sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, source of income (including housing vouchers), and other protected classes.
Q6. Redlining in real estate refers to:
Explanation
Redlining is the illegal practice of denying mortgages, insurance, or other services to residents of certain neighborhoods based on race or ethnicity, often by literally drawing a red line around minority neighborhoods on maps.
Q7. Under the Fair Housing Act, a landlord who refuses to make reasonable accommodations for a tenant with a disability has:
Explanation
The Fair Housing Act requires landlords to make reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, and practices for persons with disabilities. Refusing a reasonable accommodation is discrimination under federal and Connecticut state law.
Q8. A Connecticut landlord wants to charge a higher security deposit to a tenant with a service dog, arguing the dog may cause damage. This is:
Explanation
Under the Fair Housing Act and ADA, service animals and emotional support animals are not pets. Landlords may not charge additional deposits, fees, or pet rent for service animals or assistance animals.
Q9. Which of the following advertising statements would violate the Fair Housing Act?
Explanation
Advertising that indicates a religious preference ('Perfect for a Christian family') violates the Fair Housing Act's prohibition on discriminatory advertising based on religion. Advertising must not indicate preference, limitation, or discrimination.
Q10. A Connecticut real estate agent shows a minority buyer only homes in predominantly minority neighborhoods while showing white buyers the same-priced homes in all neighborhoods. This is:
Explanation
Showing buyers only homes in neighborhoods based on the buyer's race (or steering them away from certain neighborhoods) is illegal steering under the Fair Housing Act, regardless of whether buyers seem comfortable with it.
Q11. The Fair Housing Act of 1968 was amended in 1988 to add which two protected classes?
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