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 Once upon a time in
America, it was acceptable to bar people from certain areas or right to
housing based on their race, color, religion, sex, or handicap. Today,
however, there are laws in place that every homeowner should be aware of
so you don’t mistakenly or innocently break the law. This month I’ll
introduce you to the laws that affect how we sell and finance real estate.The Fair Housing Act This is a federal law administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin. This means that a seller cannot refuse to sell their property based on any of the above criteria. There used to be a time, not too long ago, where a seller could refuse selling their property to someone they had a prejudice against. Now, however, that is an illegal practice. Blockbusting Blockbusting is the law that prohibits someone from soliciting to neighbors when a person from a protected class buys a home in that neighborhood. For instance, it would be illegal for a real estate agent to pass out cards to neighbors while telling them that a minority family is moving into the neighborhood and that they should sell now before the neighborhood gets any worse. |
This tactic to list lots of properties was eradicated with the
Blockbusting law. Steering Steering occurs when a person makes an effort to steer another person from a neighborhood because they won’t “fit in”. For instance, you wouldn’t be allowed to say to a white couple, “You don’t want to live on Main Street, because that’s where all of the Latino’s live”. Or, not telling a black family about a great house for them because it’s in an all white neighborhood. Both of these examples are illegal. Discrimination in Advertising Discrimination in advertising is forbidden as well. HUD doesn’t allow all printed words, no matter how subtle they may be. Some examples are “adult building”, Jewish home, restricted, private, integrated or traditional. All of these words imply segregation and are considered illegal in advertising. If you’d like more information on this topic, you can contact the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (OFHEO), which is under the direction of HUD in Washington, D.C. As always, I’m here to answer any questions you may have. So please feel free to call me.
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