New York Fair Housing Notices and Disclosure Duties

Separate rules require fair housing posting at brokerage offices and branch offices, a homepage link on covered real estate websites, display at open houses and availability at open houses and showings. These duties do not replace the individual first-contact delivery rule.

What are the New York fair housing notice requirements?

The same Department information appears in more than one workflow, but “deliver,” “display,” “link” and “make available” are different verbs. Read the duty that matches the setting.

Official source map

The operative text is in 19 NYCRR sections 175.28 and 175.29, published by the New York State Department of State.

• Section 175.28 covers individual delivery, property scope and record retention.
• Section 175.29 covers offices, branch offices, websites, open houses and showings.

The current Department file checked for this article is DOS-2156, revised November 2025, titled New York State Housing and Anti-Discrimination Disclosure Form.

The notice summarizes New York Human Rights Law protections and ways to report discrimination. The underlying definitions and protected categories appear in Executive Law section 292, while prohibited housing practices appear in Executive Law section 296.

Use the current form supplied by the Department. A saved copy can become outdated when contact information, statutory categories or the revision date changes.

Who is responsible for providing the notice?

Section 175.28 places responsibility on the real estate broker to ensure that each associated individual licensed under Article 12-A provides the notice. The person making the substantive contact may be a salesperson, associate broker or broker.

The rule therefore creates two operational responsibilities:

1. the licensee must recognize the trigger and provide the notice correctly
2. the supervising broker must build and monitor a system that makes compliance happen

A brokerage should not leave the task to whichever person remembers. Forms, electronic templates, transaction records and training should be part of the supervision process.

Who must receive the disclosure?

The prospective parties named in section 175.28 are:

• purchaser
• tenant
• seller
• landlord

This is broader than a buyer-and-renter handout. A prospective seller or landlord also needs the notice at first substantive contact.

The duty is tied to prospective transaction parties, not only to people who later sign an agency agreement, submit an offer or complete a lease.

Worked example: prospective landlord

A property owner calls a brokerage to discuss listing an apartment and says the owner wants only tenants with wage income.

The conversation is substantive and involves a prospective landlord. The licensee should provide the fair housing disclosure, reject the discriminatory instruction and involve the supervising broker. Waiting until a listing agreement is signed misses the purpose of first-contact delivery.

What is first substantive contact?

The regulation uses the phrase but does not provide a universal minute, script or communication count. A passing greeting is different from a meaningful discussion about a person's real estate needs, property, service or transaction.

Examples that can indicate substantive contact include:

• discussing a buyer's or tenant's property criteria
• discussing a seller's or landlord's proposed listing
• answering transaction-specific questions
• arranging a showing after discussing the person's needs
• discussing availability, qualification or terms
• receiving information that will guide the licensee's service

Do not postpone the notice until the first offer, lease application, listing agreement or agency agreement. By then, the licensee may already have used sensitive information to shape service.

A practical trigger rule

Deliver the notice when the conversation moves from a general greeting or generic marketing inquiry into the person's actual property, housing needs or proposed transaction.

This operational rule does not rewrite the regulation. It helps a licensee avoid treating a long substantive exchange as preliminary contact.

Worked example: text inquiry

A prospective tenant texts, “Is 14 Main Street available, and can I use a housing voucher?” The salesperson replies with application details and proposes a showing.

The exchange concerns a specific property, qualification and service. The salesperson should not wait for the showing to provide the section 175.28 notice.

How may the notice be delivered?

Section 175.28 permits:

• email
• text
• electronic messaging system
• facsimile
• hard copy

Oral disclosure does not satisfy the rule. A salesperson can explain the notice, but the explanation must accompany or follow an authorized delivery rather than replace it.

When can a link be used?

An electronic message may contain a link to the notice. The same communication must also tell the recipient that the link contains information about the New York State Human Rights Law.

A bare URL or a button labeled only “Click here” does not include the required context.

A clearer message is:

New York requires real estate licensees to provide this notice. The link contains information about the New York State Human Rights Law and housing discrimination protections: [current Department notice].

The brokerage should insert the current Department URL and preserve the sent message.

What record must be kept for electronic delivery?

For delivery by email, text, electronic messaging system or fax, the licensee must maintain a duplicate copy of the disclosure for at least three years.

A useful electronic record should show:

• recipient
• delivery address or number
• date and time
• message text
• link or attachment used
• exact notice version
• sending licensee and brokerage

The rule says duplicate copy. A contact-management checkbox stating “sent” does not itself preserve the notice or message that was delivered.

Better electronic evidence

Store a non-editable sent-message record or export together with the notice version. If the message used a link, retain the message text and identify which Department form the link resolved to at delivery.

This is operational guidance, not a new statutory format. The goal is to make the required duplicate meaningful in a later audit or complaint.

What record must be kept for hard-copy delivery?

When the notice is provided on paper, the broker, associate broker or salesperson must obtain a signed acknowledgment from the prospective party and retain the signed notice for at least three years.

The current DOS-2156 contains fields identifying the providing licensee and brokerage and acknowledgment lines for the buyer, tenant, seller or landlord.

The signature acknowledges receipt. It does not make the person a client, create an agency relationship, approve dual agency or waive a discrimination claim.

What if the person refuses to sign?

Do not withhold service or argue that the person must agree with the notice. Section 175.28 provides a refusal procedure.

The broker, salesperson or associate broker must set out, under oath or affirmation, a written declaration of the facts concerning when the notice was provided and retain that declaration for at least three years.

The declaration should accurately identify:

• who received the notice
• date, time and method
• property or transaction context
• notice version
• the refusal to sign
• the licensee making the declaration

Do not pre-sign a generic refusal form or state that the person refused when no notice was delivered. The declaration records actual facts under oath or affirmation.

Worked example: refusal at a listing meeting

A prospective seller accepts the paper notice but refuses to sign because the seller dislikes signing preliminary forms.

The licensee should not treat refusal as agreement or cancel service automatically. The licensee should complete the sworn or affirmed declaration with the real delivery facts and preserve it for the required period.

Which real property transactions are covered?

Section 175.28 applies to all real property described by the regulation, whether or not it is used or intended wholly or partly as a residence and regardless of unit count. The text includes:

• residential property
• condominiums
• cooperative apartments
• vacant land, including unimproved land for future dwellings
• commercial property

Do not limit the Department notice to apartment rentals. The disclosure rule's property scope is broader than the federal Fair Housing Act's dwelling definition.

Where must the office notice be displayed?

Section 175.29 requires a broker to display and maintain the Department fair housing notice at every office and branch office.

If the office window is used for listings or other postings, the notice must be prominently displayed there and visible to people on the adjacent sidewalk.

If the office or branch is not accessible from the sidewalk, or another applicable law prohibits the posting, the notice must be prominently posted where the business license is posted under Real Property Law section 441-a(3).

“We have it in a drawer” is not display and maintenance.

Office audit questions

• Is the notice the current Department version?
• Is every branch covered?
• Is the window rule triggered by other window listings or postings?
• Can a person on the adjacent sidewalk see it when required?
• If the alternative location is used, is it where the business license is posted?
• Has fading, construction or furniture made the notice unreadable?

What must appear on a real estate website?

Websites created and maintained by real estate brokers, associate brokers, salespersons and real estate teams must prominently and conspicuously display a link to the Department notice on the homepage.

The rule is not satisfied by hiding the link several levels deep in a generic legal page. Homepage placement should make the link noticeable and understandable.

Website link versus individual delivery

A homepage link fulfills the website-posting duty. It does not prove that a prospective party received the section 175.28 disclosure at first substantive contact.

Use both systems:

1. persistent homepage link for the public
2. tracked individual delivery when substantive contact occurs

The same distinction applies to a link in an email signature. It can support visibility but should not replace a clear delivery message and retained record.

What is required at open houses and showings?

Section 175.29 uses two different instructions.

At an open house

• display the section 175.29 fair housing notice
• have the section 175.28 disclosure notice available

At a showing

• have the section 175.28 disclosure notice available

The rule does not say that the office-style poster must be displayed at every private showing. It distinguishes open-house display from showing availability.

Availability at the event also does not erase first-substantive-contact delivery. If substantive contact occurred by phone or text before the appointment, provide the individual notice then.

Worked example: open-house sign-in

A visitor enters an open house, views the displayed notice and begins a meaningful discussion about purchasing the property. The salesperson assumes the wall notice completes every obligation.

The display satisfies the open-house posting component. The salesperson still needs to provide the individual disclosure at first substantive contact and keep the corresponding record.

Is this the same as the agency disclosure form?

No. The fair housing notice and agency disclosure answer different questions.

The timing and scope also differ. A transaction can require more than one item. Delivering the fair housing notice does not disclose agency, and an agency form does not satisfy section 175.28.

A clean brokerage workflow

1. Maintain one controlled current form

Link the brokerage system to the current Department file. Record the form revision and the date staff verified it.

2. Define substantive-contact triggers

Train staff with phone, text, portal, social-media, open-house and referral examples. Avoid relying on “use your judgment” without examples.

3. Automate delivery without making it invisible

Prepare approved email and text templates containing the required Human Rights Law context. Automation should produce a sent record and allow staff to verify delivery.

4. Preserve the correct evidence

Store signed paper acknowledgments, duplicate electronic copies and sworn or affirmed refusal declarations in a searchable transaction or prospect record.

5. Audit every display surface

Check offices, branches, windows, individual and team websites, open-house kits and showing materials.

6. Separate the forms in training

Use plain labels such as “fair housing rights,” “agency relationship” and “buyer-service procedures.” Similar timing should not blur different legal purposes.

What should a New York salesperson do?

At the first meaningful transaction conversation:

1. identify whether the person is a prospective buyer, tenant, seller or landlord
2. send or hand over the current Department notice
3. use an approved message that identifies the Human Rights Law information when linking electronically
4. create the correct three-year record
5. follow the refusal procedure when a paper recipient declines to sign
6. complete any separate agency or operating-procedure duty

At every open house, check display and availability before the doors open. At a showing, have the disclosure available even when it was already delivered electronically.

For the current broader rule picture, read Current New York Fair Housing and Agency Rule Changes. For underlying rights, use the Human Rights and Fair Housing study guide and New York State housing protections beyond federal law.

Ten exam-style scenarios

1. A salesperson explains fair housing rights orally but sends nothing. Oral disclosure does not satisfy section 175.28.
2. An email contains only a bare notice link. The message must also explain that the link contains New York State Human Rights Law information.
3. A prospective landlord receives the notice only after signing a listing. The rule uses first substantive contact, not contract execution.
4. A paper recipient refuses to sign. The licensee uses a sworn or affirmed written declaration and retains it at least three years.
5. A brokerage keeps a CRM checkbox but no electronic duplicate. The checkbox does not preserve the required duplicate copy.
6. A team website hides the fair housing link in a deep footer subpage. Section 175.29 requires a prominent, conspicuous homepage link.
7. An office posts listings in its window but keeps the notice by a rear desk. The regulation's visible-window rule applies.
8. A private showing has no wall poster but the disclosure is available. Do not invent the open-house display requirement for every private showing.
9. An open house displays the poster but staff never provide the personal notice after substantive contact. Posting and individual delivery are separate.
10. A salesperson gives the agency disclosure and skips DOS-2156. The agency form does not replace the fair housing notice.

Common misconceptions

“The notice is only for buyers and tenants”

Incorrect. Prospective sellers and landlords are also named recipients.

“The rule covers only residential rentals”

Incorrect. Section 175.28 states a broad real-property scope that includes condominiums, cooperatives, vacant land and commercial property.

“A verbal summary is enough”

Incorrect. The regulation expressly says oral disclosure does not satisfy the requirement.

“A homepage link proves individual delivery”

Incorrect. Website posting and first-contact delivery are separate duties.

“Refusing to sign ends the transaction”

Incorrect. The regulation supplies a sworn or affirmed declaration procedure to record delivery.

“The fair housing form creates agency”

Incorrect. It acknowledges receipt of anti-discrimination information. Agency disclosure is governed separately.

“The notice must be displayed at every private showing”

Incorrect. It must be available at showings. Display is expressly required at open houses.

Frequently asked questions

When must a New York real estate licensee give the fair housing disclosure?

At first substantive contact with a prospective purchaser, tenant, seller or landlord. A general greeting may not be substantive, but a meaningful property or transaction discussion can trigger delivery.

What is the current New York fair housing disclosure form?

The Department file checked on August 27, 2026 was DOS-2156, revised November 2025, titled New York State Housing and Anti-Discrimination Disclosure Form. Recheck the Department before using a saved copy.

Can the fair housing notice be sent by text or email?

Yes. Section 175.28 permits email, text, electronic messaging, fax and hard copy. Keep the required duplicate electronic copy for at least three years.

Can a licensee send a link instead of an attachment?

Yes, if the electronic message also tells the recipient that the link contains information about the New York State Human Rights Law.

How long must fair housing disclosure records be retained?

At least three years for the signed paper acknowledgment, duplicate electronic disclosure or sworn or affirmed refusal declaration.

What happens if a person will not sign the notice?

The licensee must make a written declaration under oath or affirmation stating the facts about when the notice was provided and retain it for at least three years.

Does the rule apply to commercial property?

Yes. Section 175.28 expressly includes commercial property within its notice scope.

Where must a brokerage office post the notice?

Every office and branch must display and maintain it. A window used for listings triggers the visible-from-sidewalk rule. An alternative business-license location applies when the regulation's conditions are met.

What must a real estate website display?

A covered broker, associate broker, salesperson or team website must prominently and conspicuously display a link to the Department notice on its homepage.

Is the fair housing notice the same as the agency disclosure?

No. The fair housing notice explains discrimination rights. The section 443 agency disclosure explains whom the licensee represents.

Sources and verification notes

This article was checked against New York sources available on August 27, 2026. It is educational exam preparation, not legal advice or a substitute for a brokerage's current compliance instructions.

Primary sources reviewed:

• New York Department of State, 19 NYCRR sections 175.28 and 175.29
• New York Department of State, DOS-2156 revised November 2025
• New York Executive Law section 292, Human Rights Law definitions
• New York Executive Law section 296, prohibited housing discrimination
• New York Real Property Law section 441-a, display of business license
• New York Real Property Law section 443, agency disclosure
• New York Real Property Law section 442-h, standardized operating procedures

Verification note: the November 2025 revision date identifies the current Department form checked for this article. The notice regulations took effect earlier and remain the source for delivery, posting and retention duties.