Tips for Staying Out of Fair Housing Trouble
If you want to make a stronger commitment to fair housing and reduce your potential
liability, develop office policies to ensure equal professional service throughout your
organization.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development regulations require that every real
estate office post the HUD fair housing poster, available from your local HUD office, in a
prominent place.
But displaying the poster is just the first step in making a commitment to fair
housing. In its Fair Housing Handbook, a resource for training and orientation regarding
the Fair Housing Act, NAR offers these best practices:
Implement an equal professional services model. Provide the same level of service to
all your clients and customers. Develop a consistent approach to greeting people, showing
homes, qualifying prospects, getting listings, conducting open houses, record keeping, and
following up with clients and customers.
Develop a written fair housing policy. It should contain an affirmative commitment to
equal opportunity and require all staff to be familiar with your formal policy. You could
ask all staff members to sign statements acknowledging their intent to comply.
Provide fair housing training. Everyone who has contact with prospective buyers,
sellers, landlords, or tenants should regularly receive basic training.
Designate a fair housing officer. An in-house officer can develop and maintain office
procedures, provide ongoing training, keep abreast with fair housing developments, serve
as a resource for answers to fair housing-related questions, and track your office's
compliance with your company's fair housing policy.
Discuss fair housing on a regular basis. Such discussions should involve everyone
associated with your company and should include reviewing compliance with your equal
professional service procedures; addressing current fair housing concerns; and providing
updates on any changes in the law, NAR policies, recent court decisions, and relevant
local activities.
Elyse Umlauf-Garneau - originally published
in Today's REALTOR magazine in 1998.