Live.Laugh. Real Estate has and always will be committed to upholding fair housing. Understanding the history and how it shows up in today's real estate transactions is important.
History:
The Civil Rights Act of 1964, which ended segregation in public places and banned employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, is considered one of the crowning legislative achievements of the civil rights movement.
The Fair Housing Act of 1968 prohibited discrimination concerning the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race, religion, national origin, or sex. Intended as a follow-up to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the bill was the subject of a contentious debate in the Senate but was passed quickly by the House of Representatives in the days after the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. The Fair Housing Act stands as the final great legislative achievement of the civil rights era.
Vocabulary:
Fair Housing refers to the practice of ensuring that everyone has equal access to housing, regardless of their race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, or disability. It is a fundamental principle that is enshrined in laws such as the Fair Housing Act, which was passed in 1968 to combat housing discrimination.
To fully understand and promote fair housing, it is essential to have a good grasp of the vocabulary used in this field. In this blog, we will cover some of the most important terms that are used in fair housing conversations.
- Discrimination: This refers to the act of treating someone unfairly based on their race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, or disability. Discrimination can take many forms, including denying someone the opportunity to rent or buy a home, providing different terms or conditions for housing based on their protected class, or refusing to make reasonable accommodations for a person with a disability.
- Protected classes: These are the groups of people who are protected by fair housing laws. The seven protected classes are race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, and disability.
- Reasonable accommodation: This refers to a change or exception to a housing rule or policy that is necessary to allow a person with a disability to fully use and enjoy their housing. Examples of reasonable accommodations include allowing a person to have a service animal, making changes to a rental unit to accommodate a wheelchair, or allowing a tenant to install grab bars in a bathroom.
- Redlining: This is the practice of denying loans or insurance to people based on the neighborhood they live in, rather than their financial qualifications. Redlining often disproportionately affects communities of color, as lenders and insurers may view these neighborhoods as risky investments.
- Steering: This refers to the practice of guiding people toward or away from certain neighborhoods based on their protected class. For example, a real estate agent might show a family with children only homes in neighborhoods with a lot of other families with children, rather than showing them homes in all neighborhoods that meet their criteria.
- Affirmatively furthering fair housing: This is a legal requirement for agencies that receive funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). It means that these agencies must take proactive steps to promote fair housing and reduce discrimination, rather than just avoiding discriminatory actions.
- Source of income discrimination: This is the practice of refusing to rent to someone because their income comes from a specific source, such as a housing voucher or child support. Some jurisdictions have passed laws to prohibit source of income discrimination.
- Blockbusting: This is the inducement of homeowners by a real estate licensee to sell their property quickly, and usually for less than what it is worth, by spreading rumors about ethnic minorities moving into the neighborhood and thereby generating business for the real estate licensee. This practice is outlawed by many state laws as well as by the federal Fair Housing Act of 1968.
What is a "protected class" when it comes to housing?
Federal:
- Race, Religion, national origin, or sex.
Colorado:
- Disability (a mental or physical impairment which substantially limits a major life activity)
- Race (includes hair texture, hair type, or a protective hairstyle commonly or historically associated with race, such as braids, locs, twists, tight coils or curls, cornrows, Bantu knots, Afros, and headwraps).
- Creed
- Color
- Religion
- Sex
- Sexual Orientation (which is statutorily defined as "including transgender status" - i.e. Gender Identity)
- Marital Status
- Familial Status
- National Origin
- Ancestry
But do fair housing violations still happen?
The National Association of REALTORS® position statement and expectations of Real Estate Agents:
Fair housing is more than a list of dos and don’ts, rights and penalties, and mandatory continuing education. As stewards of the right to own, use, and transfer private property, fair housing protects our livelihood and business as real estate agents and depends on a free, open market that embraces equal opportunity. Real estate agents recognize the significance of the Fair Housing Act and reconfirm their commitment to upholding fair housing law as well as their commitment to offering equal professional service to all in their search for real property.
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Provide equal professional service without regard to the race, color, religion, gender (sex), disability (handicap), familial status, national origin, sexual orientation, or gender identity of any prospective client, customer, or of resident of any community
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Keep informed about fair housing laws and practices, improving my clients’ and customers’ opportunities and my business.
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Develop advertising that indicates that everyone is welcome and no one is excluded;, expanding my client’s and customer’s opportunities to see, buy, or lease property. Inform my clients and customers about their rights and responsibilities under the fair housing laws by providing brochures and other information.
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Document my efforts to provide professional service, which will assist me in becoming a more responsive and successful real estate agent.
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Refuse to tolerate non-compliance. Learn about those who are different from me, and celebrate those differences.
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Take a positive approach to fair housing practices and aspire to follow the spirit as well as the letter of the law.
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Develop and implement fair housing practices for my firm to carry out the spirit of this declaration.
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