This post s based on a recent article by Amy Sullivan of www.RealLawCentral.com. If you are a full-time Realtor and haven't thought about this type of housing question, know that it is just a matter of time before you will be faced with having to consider it.
With only 17 states protecting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender homebuyers from discrimination, developers and other real estate pros are finding ways to accommodate the population by sprouting “targeted” communities and Realtor “specialty” groups. But is this new way of protecting one class actually discriminating against another? Read on to find out what one developer had to say about his proposed gay community in Boston and how agents should do business when faced with a local Fair Housing battle of wills.
Natalie Holbrook, a 30-year-old Ypsilanti, Mich., woman, and her life partner were recently shown an apartment by a male employee of the property.
“The last man I showed the apartment to was gay,” he said. When the women mentioned they were a couple, he expressed his explicit feelings toward homosexuality.
“Well, two women don’t bother me. It’s two men. I think it’s gross. I have no problem with you girls. I kind of like it. I can get into that,” he said.
This story, which wound up in the Michigan State News, is a glimpse of the discrimination the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) population faces when it comes to something as simple as finding a place to live.
Gays only?
Some communities have tried to combat the problem by marketing gay-friendly housing to LGBT groups, like the proposed Stonewall at Audubon Circle in Boston, Mass.
The 60-unit condominium community is planned to provide mainly for the needs of older lesbians and gay men, complete with a dining hall and concierge service.
But does targeting gays border a violation of the Fair Housing Act — a federal law that prohibits discrimination in housing on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status or disability by housing providers — by leaving out heterosexuals?
“If a developer came and said, ‘I want to build 40 units just for Afro-Americans or blonde-haired, blue-eyed Irish,’ there would be an uproar,” said Michael Carucci, owner of ERA Boston Real Estate Group. “Where does the fine line of discrimination come in? Maybe I want to move there. It’s right around the corner from work, but I’m married with three children.”
But is this any different than senior communities that only allow those over the age of 55 to reside?
“A senior community is geared toward impairments,” Carucci said. “It’s assisted housing built on an aging issue — not a religious issue, not a racial issue. I think that a gay community pushes the envelope on discrimination.”
“It’s just dangerous putting any kind of label on a community,” Corucci said. “I think (projects like this) are going to put agents in precarious situations. Is this any different than red lining?”
Red lining is the act of steering a class of people to a specific neighborhood with the same class or group (e.g.: a black family to a predominately black neighborhood, a low-income family to a low-income neighborhood, a gay couple to a gay neighborhood).
According to Bryan Greene, deputy assistant secretary for enforcement and programs at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the federal Fair Housing Act does not consider sexual orientation a protected class so gay housing wouldn't be affected by the rule.
However, many states, including Iowa and Connecticut, have issued their own protected classes under a state Fair Housing bill.
"Therefore, it’s always important to check, not only federal law but also state and local law as well," Greene said.
If sexual orientation is a class protected by the state or local Fair Housing Act, it would be illegal for an agent to point a gay couple toward a target community if they did not request it. The agent is also not allowed to dissuade a heterosexual couple from looking at a home in a predominately gay area.
According to Levin, there are legitimate ways to inform clients of the neighborhood demographics without crossing the line of Fair Housing legality.
“Instead of labeling it a gay community,” she said, “you could say, ‘This is a lovely community. The last four or five homes I’ve sold have been to gay couples,’ or ‘The majority of people buying homes here are gay.’”
As for marketing, Corucci believes it’s OK for agents to advertise as a gay community expert or an agent that exclusively sells properties in gay communities.
“If a developer is putting a stamp on the community, I would have to assume that all the marketing would be angled toward the gay community,” he said. “It’s not an ethical or legal violation. It’s target marketing.”
Agents marketing their connection to gay communities, however, must be sure to avoid using words that indicate the community is exclusive to the gay population.
Even if agents aren’t attached to a specific gay community, they can still target the market.
GayRealEstate.com, of parent company Hammerberg and Associates Inc, offers Realtors an opportunity to sign up as a “gay-friendly agent” — without having to be homosexual. The agent is then shipped leads of gay individuals wanting to work with a real estate professional acceptable of their LGBT lifestyle.
“(As gay men and lesbians), we’ve spent our whole lives fighting discrimination,” he told In
Newsweekly. “We have no interest in discriminating now.”
Should there be "gay only" communities?
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Dave great article on an interesting subject. You've really got me thinking. Several of your points I had not considered. I'll be back to read the comments that develop.