Unless a building or community qualifies as housing only for older persons, its leasing requirements may not discriminate based on a familial status. That is, the requirements may not discriminate against families in which one or more children under 18 live with:

 A parent

  A person who has legal custody of the child or the children

  The designee of the parent or legal custodian, with the parent or custodian’s written permission.

Familial status protection also applies to pregnant women and anyone securing legal custody of a child under the age of 18.

Exemption: Housing for older persons is exempt from the prohibition against familial status discrimination if:

 The HUD secretary has determined that it is specifically designed for and occupied by elderly persons under a federal, state or local government program, or

 It is occupied solely by persons who are 62 or older, or

 It houses at least one person who is 55 or older in at least 80% of the occupied units; has significant services and facilities for older persons; and adheres to a published policy statement that demonstrates intent to house persons who are 55 and older. The requirement for significant services and facilities is waived if providing them is not practicable and the housing is necessary to provide important housing opportunities for older persons.

A transition period permits residents on or before September 13, 1988, to continue living in the housing, regardless of their age, without interfering with the exemption.

Quoted from Fair Housing, It’s Your Right published by U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (HUD-1260-FHEO, July 1990).