Have you seen the logo below? If so, you may or may not know what it means? It’s the Federal Fair Housing Logo and what does it meaning to you when working with a professional real estate agent when buying or selling a home?
As a real estate agent it is against the law for me or any other agent to discriminate. As a home owner, you might be thinking, well it is my house and I will sell it to whom ever I want. That is fine, you can sell it to whom every you want to, so long as you don’t discriminate along the way.
A real estate agent can’t make a property available to one group or class of people while not making it available to another group or class of people. An agent can’t offer one set of terms or conditions to one group of people but not another. Agents are charged with treat all people fairly and equally.
The federal government has define that you can not discriminate base on the seven following criteria.
- Race
- Color
- Religion
- Sex
- Handicap
- Familial Status
- National Origin.
Here are some areas of potential discrimination in real estate as defined by HUD (Department of Housing and Urban Development).
- Refusing to rent or sell a housing
- Refusing to negotiate for housing
- Making housing unavailable
- Deny a dwelling
- Set different terms, conditions or privileges for sale or rent of a dwelling
- Provide different housing services or facilities
- Falsely deny that housing is available for inspection, sale, or renal
- For profit, persuade owners to sell or rent (blockbusting) or
- Deny anyone access to or membership in a facility or service related to the sale or rental of housing
- Threaten, coerce, intimidate or interfere with anyone exercising a fair housing right or assisting others who exercise that right
- Advertise or make any statement that indicates a limitation or preference based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, or handicap.
As an agent working for you, please don’t ask me to violate the law, because I WON’T. If you happen to find an agent who is willing to violate the law for you, then run, run as far away a possible.
It is no laughing matter when the government comes knocking on your door for a fair housing violation. The penalty and fines are hefty.
If you are charged with a violation of Fair Housing laws, its not innocent until proven guilty, it is guilty until proven innocent.
Question: Do you think Fair Housing is something your agent should explain to you before you buy or sell a home?
Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
