Fair Housing - Issues and Testing 

Everyone is, or should be, aware of the fair housing laws and the protections they provide against discrimination. But because not every pays attention, either through lack of knowledge, or intentionally ignoring them, testing is conducted throughout the country in most large cities and smaller communities, and even some rural areas. 

The NAR session on the Fair Housing laws and testing was pretty interesting and worth sharing. Here are some of my top learnings from this meeting

 

Fair housing discrimination occurs in three major areas: (1) ACCESS - email, phone calls, appointments, how people are or are not qualified; (2) TERMS AND CONDITIONS - information, screening; and (3) STEERING - to or from certain neighborhoods. 

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Discrimination is prohibited by race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability and familial status. Sexual orientation is not protected federally yet, but is prohibited in 18 states. 

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You can be held liable for directly committing discriminatory acts in housing or vicariously (e.g., a broker).

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Damages can be punitive, compensatory, civil penalties (government related) and non-monetary 

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Testing, using trained anonymous testers representing a number of scenarios (e.g., race, age, marital status, national origin) occurs widely, and is done randomly as well as in response to complaints or suspicions. Testers are trained on what to say, what information to share, how much money they say they want to spend, and so on in order to represent realistic situations. Some may get to the point of making an offer. Findinds by testers are recorded in writing. 

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Major testing studies are done every 10 years - this is one of them. These findings while showing some improvement in the last study, still show significant discrimination on the part of African Americans and other minority groups.

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Statements like "I shouldn't tell you this," "I would get in trouble for sharing this," and similar are red flags. Obvious? Yes. But they happen a lot. 

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Don't say anything remotely negative about the schools.

 

Just some food for thought. There are so many ways that agents or other RE professionals could discriminate against someone, either by not thinking and treating everyone the same way, or intentionally.

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 If I can provide more information about Carlsbad real estate and surrounding areas, or the housing market in general, or otherwise assist you in your homes search, please contact me by phone or text at or email me at JDowler@remax.net.

All content copyright © 2010 Jeff Dowler Carlsbad Homes and Real Estate Tidbits