A Minnesota rental property owner advertises a 2-bedroom apartment as available but tells certain inquirers it is already rented (when it is not). When this is done based on protected class characteristics, it is called:

Explanation

Falsely telling prospective tenants a unit is unavailable when it is actually available, specifically to avoid renting to members of a protected class, is a direct fair housing violation. This pretextual denial is one of the most common and clearly illegal forms of housing discrimination. Fair housing testers often identify this practice by sending matched pairs and comparing the information they receive.