Woodbridge Property Management Blog

Since most of our managed properties are a short driving distance from the Pentagon, Ft Belvoir, or Quantico, landlords frequently ask us if we can list their property as available to Military personnel only.

Active-duty Military personnel typically make EXCELLENT tenants!  Nearly half of our tenants are currently serving in the Military or are veterans who have proudly worn their uniform earlier.  These tenants often have excellent credit scores (as required to keep their clearances), keep their home well organized (as a result of their training), are well qualified financially (with a strong base pay and housing allowance) and want to reside in a home for 3 years.  Who wouldn’t want such tenants in their home??

However, Fair Housing Laws prevent us from restricting a property to Military-ONLY tenants.  On the surface, it is not clear why this would be the case.  Fair Housing Laws are in place to protect based on:

• Race
• Color
• National Origin
• Religion
• Sex
• Familial Status
• Disability
• Elderliness, Source of Funds, Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, and Military Status (in Virginia)

It would not seem that limiting tenant applications to tho...

When Jill Malloy of Long & Foster Real Estate taught a Fair Housing Zoom Class last week, she opened by saying “Where people are allowed to live influences everything else in their lives.”  Her statement stuck with me all day.

With today’s national crisis around race relations, it is more important than ever for our industry to ensure that Fair Housing Laws are not only adhered to, but also understood and fully embraced.  

One of the first services that we provide to our new landlords is to vet perspective tenants and to do so in compliance with Fair Housing Laws.  This year, Virginia expanded the number of protected classes in our state to fully encompass four additional classes – Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, Status as a Veteran, and Source of Income.   We are committed to ensuring that our application process does not discriminate against these or any of the existing protected classes.  We are committed to INCLUSION and will educate our landlords whenever needed on this critical requirement.

“Where people are allowed to live influences everything else in their lives.&r...