What is the exam-ready answer?
| Official syllabus topic | State Laws and Rules: Fair Housing Laws |
|---|---|
| Official PSI group | State Laws and Rules |
| Published group count | 16 of the 52 Georgia questions |
| Exam portion | Georgia salesperson supplement |
| Source edition | PSI Georgia Candidate Information Bulletin dated July 1, 2026 |
The Rule
PSI publishes 16, 21, and 15 items for the three Georgia groups. It does not publish a guaranteed subtopic count. The statute, current GREC rule, contract, or other cited primary authority controls each lesson.
The lesson
Georgia questions reward the Georgia rule. A national rule that sounds right can still be the wrong answer when the question names a Georgia statute, document, role or procedure.
Federal baseline
The Fair Housing Act protects race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, and disability in covered housing activities.
Georgia license rule
Rule 520-1-.13 prohibits specified representations and conduct by licensees, including neighborhood-change claims based on protected characteristics.
Two consequences
The same act may be investigated under federal fair housing law and treated as a Georgia licensing violation. The enforcement paths are distinct.
Exemptions are narrow
A federal exemption does not automatically permit discriminatory advertising, and a licensee's participation can remove or limit reliance on exemptions.
Decision rule
Georgia rule and national contrast
Worked Georgia example
Scenario. A licensee tells an owner that families with children will lower neighborhood property values and recommends rejecting them.
Reason it through. Familial status is federally protected, and Rule 520-1-.13 expressly targets representations that protected-class presence will lower values.
Answer. The statement and recommendation violate fair housing duties and can support Georgia license discipline.
Common exam traps
- Inventing statewide protected classes
- Assuming an exemption permits discriminatory ads
- Treating preference language as harmless
- Forgetting the separate licensing consequence
Original practice questions with detailed explanations
These are original instructional questions mapped to the July 1, 2026 PSI outline. They are not copied from PSI or a live examination. Choose an answer before opening the explanation.
Question 1A licensee tells a seller that families with children will lower neighborhood property values and advises rejecting their offers. What follows?
- A. Nothing, because familial status is protected only in rentals
- B. Only a federal issue, because GREC does not police housing bias
- C. Only a Georgia license issue, because no offer was refused yet
- D. Possible federal liability and Georgia license discipline
Show answer and explanation →
Answer: D. Possible federal liability and Georgia license discipline
Familial status is federally protected, and GREC's fair housing rule expressly targets claims that a protected group's presence will lower property values. The same conduct can bring federal liability and Georgia license discipline on separate paths. The federal-only answer misses that GREC treats the conduct as a licensing violation too.
Question 2Which characteristic is a protected class under the federal Fair Housing Act?
- A. Disability
- B. Age
- C. Marital status
- D. Source of income
Show answer and explanation →
Answer: A. Disability
The federal Act protects race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, and disability. Age and marital status are not protected classes under federal or Georgia law. Marital status looks plausible because it sounds like familial status, but familial status concerns children in the household.
Question 3An owner who qualifies for a federal fair housing exemption asks a licensee to run an ad saying 'no families with kids.' What is the problem?
- A. None, because the owner's exemption covers the ad
- B. None, if the ad runs only on the owner's own website
- C. The exemption does not cover discriminatory ads
- D. Only the wording, which is fine as 'adults preferred'
Show answer and explanation →
Answer: C. The exemption does not cover discriminatory ads
A federal exemption does not automatically permit discriminatory advertising, and a licensee's participation can remove or limit reliance on the exemption. The licensee also risks Georgia license discipline for the ad. The exemption answer looks plausible because the owner does qualify, but exemptions are narrow.
Ready to move on?
You are ready for the next lesson when all of these are true.
- Explain Georgia Fair Housing Law and Federal Overlap in one clear answer without notes.
- Separate Federal baseline from Georgia license rule using a fresh example.
- Apply the decision rule to a new fact pattern and name the fact that controls the result.
- State the Georgia-specific point or explain why the national rule applies unchanged.
- Answer every practice question and explain the rule each rejected option misapplies.
- Revisit this topic later in mixed practice without category labels.
Recommended next lesson
Continue with Georgia Broker and Qualifying-Broker Supervision. Fair housing compliance is part of what a broker must teach and watch for, and the next lesson covers the broker's duty to instruct affiliated licensees, written affiliation agreements, and responsibility for support staff.
Return to the State Laws and Rules hub for the complete official branch and the full lesson list for this Georgia group.