Five Tips to Keep You Out of 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.