Discrimination when renting a flat in Czechia

A flat offered to the public in Czechia falls under the Anti-discrimination Act (antidiskriminační zákon). A landlord or an agency still chooses their tenant, but not by turning people away for their race, ethnic origin, nationality or another ground the act names. This page explains what the act covers, what it means for adverts that refuse foreigners, which evidence to keep, when the burden of proof shifts and who can help. It isn't legal advice: for your own case, start with the help at the end of the page.

What does the Anti-discrimination Act cover when you rent?

The act gives everyone the right to equal treatment in access to goods and services, housing included, when they're offered to the public, and while they're being provided.¹ A flat advertised on a website, on a notice board or through an agency is offered to the public. The act doesn't cover the rules on entering and living in Czechia themselves.¹

Discrimination can take several forms, and the act counts all of them:²

• Direct: you're treated less well than someone else in a comparable situation because of a ground the act names, for example a landlord who won't show the flat to you because you're Roma.
• Indirect: a rule that looks neutral puts people of one group at a disadvantage, unless it has a legitimate aim and the means are appropriate and necessary.
• Harassment: unwanted conduct linked to a ground that degrades you or makes the setting hostile or humiliating.
• Victimisation: being punished for standing up for your rights under the act.
• Instruction and incitement: telling or pressing someone else to discriminate. The Public Defender of Rights gives the example of a landlord who asks an agency to turn away Roma applicants.³

It's discrimination too when someone treats you less well for a ground they only assume you have.²

A refusal for a reason the act doesn't name isn't discrimination under it.³ The act allows a difference in treatment based on sex, sexual orientation, age, disability or religion or belief in housing if it's objectively justified by a legitimate aim and the means are appropriate and necessary. That exception doesn't extend to race, ethnic origin or nationality.⁴

Can a landlord or an advert refuse foreigners?

The act's grounds include nationality (národnost). It names citizenship (státní příslušnost) as a ground only in matters of the free movement of workers within the EU.⁵ Even so, the Public Defender of Rights says that publishing an advert for your flat and then refusing an applicant just because they're a foreigner is discrimination, in housing offered to the public, on the ground of nationality or citizenship.³ How a court sees a refusal based on citizenship alone can depend on the case.

• An advert that says "no foreigners", or "Czechs only", is the kind of refusal the Public Defender of Rights treats as discrimination. Save it before it's edited.
• An agency is a business selling a service, and the Consumer Protection Act bars sellers from discriminating against consumers.⁶ The Czech Trade Inspection (ČOI) checks goods and services and can fine and order the discrimination to stop, but it can't get you an apology or compensation: only a court can.³
• The landlord's own words count. A message saying why you were refused can be the most useful evidence you have.

What evidence should you keep?

The Public Defender of Rights lists documents, e-mails, recordings and statements from other people as the evidence that helps.³ In practice:

1. The advert: a screenshot with its address and the date, and a saved copy of the page.
2. The messages: every e-mail, chat and text, with dates, and the names of whoever wrote them.
3. Calls and visits: write down straight away who you spoke to, when, and what was said.
4. Witnesses: anyone who heard the refusal or saw the advert, with how to reach them.

Describe exactly what happened, in order, while you still remember it. It's what the Public Defender of Rights asks you for.³

When does the landlord have to prove they didn't discriminate?

Usually, whoever sues has to prove their case. The Civil Procedure Code shifts the burden in some discrimination cases: when you show the court facts from which it can be inferred that you were discriminated against directly or indirectly because of your race or ethnic origin in access to housing, or because of your sex in access to goods and services, the landlord has to prove they didn't break the principle of equal treatment.⁷

For the act's other grounds, the code doesn't shift the burden in housing, so the evidence you keep matters even more.⁷

What can a court order?

You can ask a court to order that the discrimination stops, that its effects are put right and that you're given adequate satisfaction, such as an apology. If that isn't enough, especially when your good name or dignity has been seriously harmed, you can also claim money for the harm, in an amount the court sets.⁸³

You don't have to start with a court. You can also try mediation, write to the Public Defender of Rights, or complain to the authority that checks the area, such as the Czech Trade Inspection for an agency.³

Who can help?

The Public Defender of Rights (veřejný ochránce práv) helps victims of discrimination to bring proceedings.⁹ It assesses whether you may have been discriminated against and explains your rights, can ask the other side for a statement, though they don't have to answer, and may point you to an authority. If it finds discrimination and advises you to go to court, it can arrange a lawyer who acts for free (pro bono).³ Even for a ground it can't take up, it tells you what you can do.¹⁰ You can write to it online at ochrance.cz, by e-mail to podatelna@ochrance.cz, by post or in person at Údolní 39, 602 00 Brno; its information line is 542 542 888 on weekdays from 8:00 to 16:00.³

Non-profits set up to protect victims of discrimination can tell you what legal help exists and help you write your filings.¹¹ The Poradna pro občanství, občanská a lidská práva gives free legal advice and representation, focused on equal treatment and discrimination.¹² For non-EU citizens, the Integration Centre Prague includes help with discrimination in its free consultations.¹³ Free legal help lists them and other free advice, and problems with your landlord covers what to do when the trouble starts after you've moved in.

Sources

1. Anti-discrimination Act (Act 198/2009 Coll.), §1. ↩ ↩²

2. Anti-discrimination Act (Act 198/2009 Coll.), §2, §3 and §4. ↩ ↩²

3. Public Defender of Rights, leaflet on equal treatment, January 2026. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰

4. Anti-discrimination Act (Act 198/2009 Coll.), §7. ↩

5. Anti-discrimination Act (Act 198/2009 Coll.), §2(3). ↩

6. Consumer Protection Act (Act 634/1992 Coll.), §6. ↩

7. Civil Procedure Code (Act 99/1963 Coll.), §133a. ↩ ↩²

8. Anti-discrimination Act (Act 198/2009 Coll.), §10. ↩

9. Public Defender of Rights Act (Act 349/1999 Coll.), §1a and §21d. ↩

10. Public Defender of Rights, "Cítím se být diskriminován". ↩

11. Anti-discrimination Act (Act 198/2009 Coll.), §11. ↩

12. Poradna pro občanství, občanská a lidská práva, poradna-prava.cz. ↩

13. Integration Centre Prague, legal advice. ↩