Fair Housing phrase guide / National origin
Is “asian neighborhoods” a Fair Housing violation in a listing?
Avoid Flagged as high risk. Most word lists put this on the avoid side.
Why
Describing residents or a neighborhood by nationality or ethnicity states a national-origin preference. HUD's memo gives "no Irish" as an example; describing the neighborhood in ethnic terms creates liability.
Safer wording
There's no one-click rewrite for this one. Describe the property, not the people, and rewrite this part by hand.
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 asian neighborhoods. It deliberately does not fire on: Persian area rug, Spanish-style home.
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.
Sources
- HUD "Achtenberg memo": Guidance Regarding Advertisements Under §804(c), Jan. 9, 1995
- HUD advertising regulation, 24 CFR § 100.75
- Long Island Board of REALTORS®: Fair Housing Advertising Word and Phrase Guidelines (Mar. 2025)
- Fair Housing Advertising Word and Phrase List (New York Press Assn.; source: Oklahoma Press Assn.)
About the 1995 HUD memo
HUD no longer posts the 1995 memo on its website. Oregon REALTORS reported in April 2026 that HUD removed it without notice, and HUD withdrew its April 2024 digital-advertising guidance in September 2025. The Fair Housing Act and HUD's advertising regulation (24 CFR § 100.75) didn't change. Boards and MLS word lists still lean on the memo, which is why it's still cited here, as history and as the clearest explanation of how ads are read.
- Oregon REALTORS: Fair housing compliance after the guidance reset (Apr. 17, 2026)
- LeadingAge: HUD withdraws fair housing guidance documents (Sept. 17, 2025 memo)
Related phrases
All national origin phrases on one page · The 12-check listing checklist
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-people, ListingLint rules v2026.10.2.