Fair Housing phrase guide / National origin

Is “no migrant workers” a Fair Housing violation in a listing?

Q: Is "no migrant workers" a Fair Housing violation in a listing?

Avoid. "Migrant workers, no" and "Seasonal workers, no" are on the LIBOR prohibited list and the NYPA avoid list. Excluding workers by type is often read as a national-origin limitation.

Avoid Flagged as high risk. Most word lists put this on the avoid side.

Why

"Migrant workers, no" and "Seasonal workers, no" are on the LIBOR prohibited list and the NYPA avoid list. Excluding workers by type is often read as a national-origin limitation.

Safer wording

There's no one-click rewrite for this one. Cut it. State the screening that applies to every applicant: "Credit check required."

What the tag means

Avoid means an explicit preference or limitation, or a phrase on the avoid side of the cited word lists. This is the risk end of the scale, not a style choice.

What ListingLint matches

This rule is tested against its own examples on every change. It catches no migrant workers, and also: Seasonal workers need not apply.

What the law covers here

National origin is a protected class under the federal Fair Housing Act. The lists flag words that describe the people who live somewhere by ancestry, birthplace or language. A building's architectural style, or a restaurant's cuisine, is a different thing, and the rules here treat those separately.

Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. § 3604(c)

Sources

Not legal advice. Word lists can't judge context, and laws differ by state and city, with some protecting more classes than federal law does. If you're unsure about a listing, ask your broker or a fair housing attorney. Rule nat-migrant-workers, ListingLint rules v2026.10.3.