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April is Fair Housing Month -- What you should know about Fair Housing, Part 2

By
Real Estate Agent with North Texas Top Team, REALTORS (Plano, Murphy, Wylie) TX Lic# 055794

This year marks the 42nd anniversary of the 1968 landmark Fair Housing Act. Each year in April REALTORS® recognize the significance of this event and reconfirm our commitment to upholding fair housing laws as well as our commitment to offering equal professional service to all in their search for real property.

What everyone should know about Fair Housing
The sale and purchase of a home is one of the most significant events that any person will experience in his or her lifetime. It is more that the simple purchase of housing, for it includes the hopes, dreams, aspirations, and economic destiny of those involved.

Responsibilities
The home seller, the home seeker, and the real estate professional all have rights and responsibilities under the law.

For the Home Seller: As a home seller or landlord you have a responsibility and a requirement under the law not to discriminate in the sale, rental and financing of property on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin. You cannot instruct the licensed broker or salesperson acting as your agent to convey for you any limitations in the sale or rental because the real estate professional is also bound by law not to discriminate. Under the law, a home seller or landlord cannot establish discriminatory terms or conditions in the purchase or rental; deny that housing is available, or advertise that the property is available only to persons of a certain race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin.

For the Home Seeker: You have the right to expect that housing will be available to you without discrimination or other limitations based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin

This includes the right to expect:

•·     Housing in your price range made available to you without discrimination

•·     Equal professional service

•·     The opportunity to consider a broad range of housing choices

•·     No discriminatory limitations on communities or locations of housing

•·     No discrimination in the financing, appraising, or insuring of housing

•·     Reasonable accommodations in rules, practices and procedures for persons with disabilities

•·     Non-discriminatory terms and conditions for the sale, rental, financing, or insuring of a dwelling

•·     To be free from harassment or intimidation for exercising your fair housing rights.

For the Real Estate Professional: Agents in a real estate transaction are prohibited by law from discriminating on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin. A request from the home seller or landlord to act in a discriminatory manner in the sale, lease or rental cannot legally be fulfilled by the real estate professional.

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Melissa Hailey, Broker-Owner
REALTOR, CRS, GRI, SFR, TAHS, TREC-Approved Real Estate Instructor

North Texas Top Team, Realtors, LLC
  
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