Unfortunately, I realize that there will always be people who are hateful. And I suppose the housing industry offers no exception to this reality. However, all vile comments against the hater aside, this hate is illegal. After almost 50 years since the Fair Housing act was written into our civil rights at the urging of President Johnson, you would have thought all Landlords and property managers across the county would have gotten the message that discrimination in housing opportunities is not only illegal, it's risky business. Being a bigot and mean person on the inside is vile, but an active mean bigot in the housing industry is a recipe for a well-deserved class action lawsuit.
Well into my adult life and after years working in the housing industry, I had never even heard that cities across the nation had been strategically planned by officials for segregation. I was under no rose-colored impression that discrimination wasn't still alive and kicking (I did, after all, evict a tenant for racially motivated intimidation against neighbors), but I was shocked to learn that housing discrimination was orchestrated by larger powers than individual hate. Seriously, years ago, banks and local government were in cahoots to keep minorities "in their place", or gentrify neighborhoods. A couple of years ago at museum I was blown away to see the maps that city planners had used in Portland, Oregon, when they worked to push minorities to the North and East of the city center in the early formation of Portland. And as naive as I was decades ago, I guess am still as blind-sided by the fact that housing discrimination is alive and proliferating by so-called professionals.
The video below "A Matter of Place" is an interesting and poignant documentary about discrimination in the housing industry and how it has evolved and morphed over the decades in America. I encourage every landlord, property manager, real estate agent and human to watch it.
A MATTER OF PLACE from Fred Freiberg on Vimeo.
For reference, the Federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, age and familial status (and be informed, some cities and states add in other areas, such as ancestry, sexual or gender orientation, marital status, health conditions such as A.I.D.S, veteran status as a protected category.)
This means that you can not, based on the above protected classes of people...
- Refuse to sell or rent a dwelling
- Create terms, conditions or privilege of the sale or rental of a dwelling
- Advertise the sale or rental of a dwelling indicating preferences of discrimination
- Coerce, threaten, intimidate, or interfer with a person's enjoyment or exercise of housing rights based on discriminatory reasons
- Retaliate against a person or organization that aids or encourages the exercise or enjoyment of fair housing rights
Be a professional and find your best tenant based on the facts. Create a legal and thorough Criteria For Residency that sets acceptance standards for credit, criminal, rental history and employment. Find a trusted Tenant Screening company (such as Rentec Direct) and perform background checks across the board on all of your applicants. Utilizing a credit report, eviction search, social security validation report and criminal background check are solid resources to determine if an applicants will be a great renter.
Janell is a member of Rentec Direct, web-based property management software. For more information about Rentec Direct, click here.
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