What background knowledge is needed for this Practice Of Real Estate question?

Maryland added 'source of income' as a protected class under the Maryland Fair Housing Act through legislative amendments that reflect a broader national trend of states and localities expanding fair housing protections beyond the seven federal protected classes. The source of income protection was specifically designed to address the widespread practice of landlords refusing to accept housing voucher holders — a practice that disproportionately affected low-income families, racial minorities, and persons with disabilities who rely on government assistance. Maryland's legislature chose to define 'source of income' broadly rather than limiting it to housing subsidies, recognizing that discrimination against recipients of child support or Social Security can be just as economically devastating as discrimination against voucher holders.

What is a good way to remember the answer to this Practice Of Real Estate question?

Remember the phrase 'The exemption has a ceiling, not a floor' — the owner-occupant exemption gives the landlord some room to be selective, but it has a hard ceiling above which certain protections always apply. Picture a house with a glass ceiling: the owner-occupant exemption lets the landlord stand inside the house and make some choices, but through the glass ceiling they can always see the Maryland-specific protected classes floating above — source of income, marital status, and others — which they can never reach up and remove. No matter how well the landlord fits the exemption box, those ceiling-level protections remain intact.

What exam tip applies to this Practice Of Real Estate question?

When an exam question combines the owner-occupant exemption with a Maryland-specific protected class, always analyze them as two separate legal questions: first, does the landlord qualify for the exemption structurally, and second, does the conduct at issue involve a protected class that Maryland preserves even under the exemption. If the answer to the second question is yes, the exemption does not save the landlord. Questions that present a 'perfect' exemption scenario alongside a Maryland-specific protected class violation are almost always designed to test whether you know the exemption's limits — and the correct answer will almost always be that the landlord is still in violation.

How does this Practice Of Real Estate concept apply in real world practice?

A single mother in Baltimore receives $1,200 per month in child support as part of her divorce decree, which she relies on to supplement her part-time income when applying for housing. She applies to rent the second unit in a two-family home where the owner lives upstairs. The owner, who has never used a broker and has no advertising, tells her directly that he does not rent to people who 'depend on child support' because he considers it unreliable income. Even though this landlord meets every structural requirement for the owner-occupant exemption, he has violated Maryland's source of income protection — and the tenant has a valid complaint to file with the Maryland Commission on Civil Rights.

Practice Of Real EstateFair HousingHARD

A Maryland landlord owns a three-unit building in Baltimore City and lives in one unit. He has never used a real estate agent and does not publish any advertisements. He verbally tells a prospective tenant that he will not rent to her because she receives child support payments as part of her income. The tenant files a complaint with the Maryland Commission on Civil Rights. Which of the following most accurately describes the landlord's legal exposure?

Correct Answer

B) The landlord is in violation because child support income qualifies as a lawful source of income, and Maryland's source of income protection applies even to landlords who would otherwise qualify for the owner-occupant exemption.

This is an expert-level question testing the intersection of two Maryland-specific rules. First, 'source of income' under the Maryland Fair Housing Act, Md. Code Ann., State Gov't § 20-701 et seq., is broadly defined to include any lawful source of income — including child support, alimony, Social Security, housing vouchers, and other lawful payments. It is not limited to government subsidies. Second, and critically, Maryland's owner-occupant exemption does NOT permit discrimination based on the state's additional protected classes, including source of income. Even a landlord who meets every structural criterion for the owner-occupant exemption (owner-occupied, four or fewer units, no broker, no discriminatory advertising) cannot use that exemption to refuse a tenant based on source of income. The exemption has explicit limits under Maryland law.

Answer Options

The landlord is fully exempt because he meets all conditions for the owner-occupant exemption: owner-occupied building with four or fewer units, no broker, and no discriminatory advertising.

The landlord is in violation because child support income qualifies as a lawful source of income, and Maryland's source of income protection applies even to landlords who would otherwise qualify for the owner-occupant exemption.

The landlord is exempt because the Maryland Fair Housing Act's source of income protection applies only to government-issued housing subsidies, not private income sources like child support.

The landlord is in violation only if the tenant can demonstrate that the landlord's stated reason was a pretext for discrimination based on another protected class such as sex or familial status.

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