Putting fair-housing law into practice
Realtor Notebook
By Teresa Boardman, Thursday, November 5, 2009.
Image by thegoldguys.blogspot.com.Last month, Inman News columnist Bernice Ross wrote an excellent column about fair-housing issues. What she wrote were some blatant examples of fair-housing violations. Such violations can still be found in marketing, and there can be subtle violations, too, as following the letter of the law is complicated.
"Family" is one of those words that pose complications for real estate professionals. I try to dot every "i" and cross every "t" when it comes to fair housing and I believe in fair housing, yet the rules that real estate professionals must follow to be fair are confusing.
A real estate blog is a great place to get into trouble with fair-housing enforcement. I have received comments on my blog from fair-housing officials so I know they are out there reading. The comments have been favorable so I know that I am not doing anything illegal.
I don't publish crime rates or demographics. I used to have links to the information, but for now I have taken the links down because I am paranoid that it might just come across that I actually like some neighborhoods better than others for a variety of reasons. It is alright for me to have my own preferences -- I just can't recommend or steer clients into or away from a neighborhood.
I have mastered the art of telling buyers nothing when they ask me if a neighborhood is "good" or "bad." I always start by explaining that those are subjective terms and that I cannot answer a question like that and why I cannot. I like to tell a story about how a client did not want to leave her car on a certain street when we went looking at some houses.
The client did not know that the street was one block from my own home. I listened patiently as she told me what a bad neighborhood it is. It is clear to me that I don't know what a bad neighborhood is, so even if I could give that advice I don't think it would be good advice.
I often wonder if some of my peers handle this differently. After all, the fair-housing "police" are not in my car and they can't hear what I am telling my clients, so I can say anything I like ... but I don't. ...CONTINUED
All rights reserved. This article may not be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever, in part or in whole, without written permission of Inman News. Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright law.
You must login or register to post a comment.
Submitted by Kathy Judy on November 5, 2009 - 2:49pm.
I have fun with this one. Our little rural area was a free zone during WW2 so the Japanese-Americans were allowed to move here instead of being in the internment camps - we have a long history of tolerance (not everybody -like any place we have our share of bigots). We have a large museum here that is focused on the wide variety of people who have come here. The museum was paid for from the War Reparations Act where the government paid a "we're sorry" fee to the Japanese American citizens who were wronged by the governments actions. The Japanese Americans in our area insisted that the money be spent to honor all of the areas cultural mix. Sooooo depending on the person asking the no no question I give them the 10 minute or the 20 minute version of all this. And these questions NEVER come up again.
Submitted by Mia Melle on November 5, 2009 - 3:26pm.
I think the Fair Housing laws are ironically unfair to the point where we have to walk on egg shells in fear that the government is going to sue us over some ridiculous slight of tounge or just casual conversation. I mean, come on! Companies don't even get a warning for an honest mistake from Fair Housing...they just go straight to monetary settlement which is really unfair. There is absolutely nothing wrong with saying a house is "great for families" . I understand it may be a Fair Housing violation but that doesn't mean those laws are right and it's certainly nothing warranting wasting our courts time. This is policitcal correctness gone insane. I really don't think this is what our fore fathers intended for government to do, they are not our parents and this is micro-managing to the extreme! I'm so over it....oh wait, is criticizing the Fair Housing laws a violation of Fair Housing? I wouldn't be suprised. I also think its incredibly unfair that when I go to Fair Housing websites, all I see is "Click here to sue your landlord" buttons...what is up with that? I feel landlords and management companies are completely and blatantly discriminated against and treated extremely unfairly. We are guilty until proven innocent and we are left to fight these ridiculous battles in court spending thousands of dollars when the accuser gets represented for free by legal aid or the state. Where's the fairness there? Where's our advocacy department. Oh yeah, that's right...we don't have one! If we want things changed we have to pay lobbiest millions of dollars to go pay some politician millions of dollars to change the laws. Who has the time or money for that? We are all too busy actually working, trying to support our families and run a company, keep our employees employed, etc. We don't have all day to peruse the internet, studying ways you can squeeze money out of businesses and sue people. These laws are completely abused, absurd, unfair, totally biased and I think they do much more harm than any good. But, that's just my opinion. I feel i should speak it while this is still a semi-free country. My company of course adheres strictly to all the Fair Housing laws and we often have discussions and training sessions in regards to the issues. I do not advocate discrimination in any way shape or form but come on people, we do have brains that we should be able to use. I shouldn't be so afraid of the government suing me that I can't give my opinion of a neighborhood in fear of "steering". That's just stupid. If you can't tell...i'm completely annoyed by this issue.