Q: I have a client that owns a rental property above an office space. Because of that, she wants to advertise that it’s for single professionals or couples. How can she advertise that?

A: Fair housing law prohibits advertising a property using any language that indicates a preference, limitation, or discrimination on the basis of a protected class. As familial status is a protected class, you would definitely not want to include any language in the ad that specifically excludes renters with children. The safest thing to remember when advertising a property is to focus on the property itself, not the people whom you want to live there. It would be fine to specifically state that the property is above a business, but you wouldn’t want to go further than that.