Fair Housing & Resident Rights for Public Safety Professionals
Four courses (FH-PS-101 to FH-PS-104), 16 institutional professional-development hours. Matcom University institutional professional development. Not HUD, MCCR, MPCTC or other external approval, not legal licensure and not authorization to practice law. Legal instruction requires qualified legal or compliance review before publication.
Who it's for
Security officers, special police officers, protective services supervisors and related public safety staff who work at or around residential properties, including public, subsidized and privately managed housing. The course is also suitable for academy cadets preparing for residential security assignments.
Program director: Walter Lee
What you'll be able to do
- Explain the purpose and scope of the federal Fair Housing Act and name the seven federal protected classes: race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status and disability.
- Identify patrol, access control, complaint handling and enforcement practices that can treat residents unequally or limit their use and enjoyment of housing.
- Describe physical, sensory, intellectual, developmental, and psychiatric disabilities in functional, non-diagnostic terms and identify the access barriers each may encounter in housing settings.
- Distinguish Fair Housing Act obligations (federal) from Maryland law, Baltimore City law, ADA public-access rules, and other accessibility requirements, and identify which questions belong to counsel or compliance staff.
- Differentiate residents, authorized occupants, guests, and other persons using lease, occupancy, and management records, and identify who holds authority to decide each person's status.
- Apply conduct-based, neutral enforcement standards to visitor and property-rule situations and document the specific conduct, the rule relied upon, and the verified source of authority.
- Draft an objective incident report that records event times, locations, observed conduct, statements, notifications, and actions taken, using the sample forms and fictional scenarios provided.
- Distinguish allegations, direct observations, and conclusions in written narratives, and rewrite entries so that each is clearly attributed and labeled.
Drawn from the learning objectives of the required courses.
Schedule
- 1. FH-PS-101 Fair Housing Foundations for Public Safetyabout 1 week · 4.0 h cumulative
- 2. FH-PS-102 Disability, Accommodations & Accessible Responseabout 1 week · 8.0 h cumulative
- 3. FH-PS-103 Resident Enforcement, Emergency Calls & Nonretaliationabout 1 week · 12.0 h cumulative
- 4. FH-PS-104 Documentation, Complaint Response & Supervisory Accountabilityabout 1 week · 16.0 h cumulative
Estimated pace at about 6 study hours per week. Instructor-led cohorts set their own dates.
Upcoming cohorts
No cohorts are scheduled yet. Contact training@matcomops.org to ask about the next start date.
Curriculum
- Step 1 · FH-PS-101Fair Housing Foundations for Public Safety4 h · 4 modules
Fair Housing Foundations for Public Safety (FH-PS-101) helps security and protective services professionals recognize how everyday patrol, access control, complaint handling and rule enforcement can affect residents' equal use and enjoyment of housing. Learners study the purpose of the federal Fair Housing Act and its seven protected classes. They then compare Maryland protections and learn why local requirements, such as Baltimore City's, must be confirmed with a verified jurisdiction reference sheet. The course separates the authority of police, special police, private security and property management. It trains learners to apply rules based on documented conduct and lawful authority, escalate discriminatory instructions, and avoid stereotypes. Four modules end with fictional case exercises and a 15-question assessment. This is Matcom University institutional professional development. It is not HUD, MCCR, MPCTC or other external approval, not legal licensure and not authorization to practice law. Legal content requires qualified legal or compliance review before publication, and local policy review is required before any form is used operationally.
Matcom University institutional professional development. Not HUD, MCCR, MPCTC or other external approval, not legal licensure and not authorization to practice law. Legal instruction requires qualified legal or compliance review before publication.
- Step 2 · FH-PS-102Disability, Accommodations & Accessible Response4 h · 4 modules
Disability, Accommodations & Accessible Response (FH-PS-102) prepares security and special police professionals to recognize disability-related access needs in residential and housing-related settings and to respond respectfully within the limits of their authority. Learners distinguish fair housing obligations from other accessibility requirements, identify accommodation requests that surface in ordinary conversation, record and route them promptly to the authorized decision-maker, and avoid promising, approving, or denying anything outside assigned authority. The course also covers assistance animals, individualized safety review based on observed facts, and the limits of an officer's role in documentation. Scenario work addresses accessible entrances, challenged caregivers, noise complaints, and animal disputes, followed by a 15-question assessment. All people, properties, and cases are fictional. This is Matcom University institutional professional development; it is not HUD, MCCR, MPCTC, or other external approval, is not legal licensure, and is not authorization to practice law. Legal content requires qualified legal or compliance review before publication, and local policy review is required before any form is used operationally.
Matcom University institutional professional development. Not HUD, MCCR, MPCTC or other external approval, not legal licensure and not authorization to practice law. Legal instruction requires qualified legal or compliance review before publication.
- Step 3 · FH-PS-103Resident Enforcement, Emergency Calls & Nonretaliation4 h · 4 modules
Resident Enforcement, Emergency Calls & Nonretaliation (FH-PS-103) prepares security and protective services personnel to enforce property rules fairly, act only within verified authority, and protect residents' ability to seek emergency help. Learners distinguish residents, authorized occupants, guests, and others, document the factual and legal basis for restrictions, and route disputed occupancy questions to the proper decision-maker. The course explains why possession disputes require civil process, why security staff never assist lockouts or removals without verified legal process, and how to respond to immediate threats within lawful authority. It also covers recognizing domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking concerns, protecting sensitive survivor information, and identifying interference, intimidation, and retaliation using federal and Maryland sources. All people, properties, and cases are fictional. This is Matcom University institutional professional development, not HUD, MCCR, MPCTC, or other external approval, not legal licensure, and not authorization to practice law; qualified legal or compliance review is required before publication.
Matcom University institutional professional development. Not HUD, MCCR, MPCTC or other external approval, not legal licensure and not authorization to practice law. Legal instruction requires qualified legal or compliance review before publication.
- Step 4 · FH-PS-104Documentation, Complaint Response & Supervisory Accountability4 h · 4 modules
This Matcom University course prepares security and special police personnel and their supervisors to document incidents, receive fair housing complaints, and review enforcement decisions in residential settings. Learners practice writing objective reports that separate observation, allegation, and conclusion, preserving evidence under employer policy and legal hold, and receiving discrimination complaints respectfully without demanding proof. The course distinguishes federal, Maryland, and Baltimore City sources and teaches routing through approved channels with current agency referral information, always directing learners to verify filing deadlines before relying on them. Supervisory modules cover comparing treatment of similar incidents, examining visitor bans, removals, and ID demands, spotting patterns without treating statistics alone as proof, correcting post orders, and documenting nonretaliation measures. A fictional capstone and 25-question final examination close the course. This is Matcom University institutional professional development; it is not HUD, MCCR, MPCTC, or other external approval, not legal licensure, and not authorization to practice law. Legal content requires qualified legal or compliance review before publication.
Matcom University institutional professional development. Not HUD, MCCR, MPCTC or other external approval, not legal licensure and not authorization to practice law. Legal instruction requires qualified legal or compliance review before publication.
To graduate you must pass every required course (orientation, lessons, knowledge checks, assignments, practical sign-offs, practice exam, and a final exam at 80% or higher), meet the elective rule, and complete the capstone.