Law keeps housing door open to all
By Jean Newton
Treat everyone equally. That's the mantra of Joan Banks, chairwoman of the Fair Housing Committee, when she speaks to new Silicon Valley Association of Realtors members about housing discrimination. With the primary function of educating new Realtors on the laws and rules of which they need to be aware to conduct business appropriately, Banks can't stress the importance of the word "equality" enough.
"New Realtors are not always aware that there is a whole vocabulary in real estate for fair housing. It's important for them to understand the law, since there could be serious financial ramifications or the loss of their license if they don't," said Banks, an independent San Jose Realtor, formerly with Fine Homes and Estates Seville-Contempo in Saratoga.
With April designated as Fair Housing Month, the Silicon Valley Association of Realtors joins other Realtor associations around the nation to mark the 31st anniversary of the enactment of the federal fair housing law. April is set aside to help raise public awareness of the law by highlighting how the Fair Housing Law, Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, as amended, prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, creed, national origin, sex, familial status and handicap and encourages fair housing opportunities for all citizens.
"The federal fair housing act protects one of our most important civil rights, the right to housing free from discrimination," said Penny Pompei, executive vice president of the Silicon Valley Association of Realtors. "To Realtors, fair housing means equal access, and equal housing opportunity opens doors. A person's ability to rent or own should be limited only by how much he or she can afford."
While Title VIII celebrates more than a quarter century in existence, the concept that all persons are entitled to equal protection under the law actually derives from the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, passed after the Civil War. The guarantees of the 14th Amendment were restricted, however, for more than 100 years by U.S. Supreme Court interpretations that approved of "separate but equal" schools and other public accommodations, and that sanctioned racial discrimination by private employers and property owners.
In 1968, Congress made clear, once and for all, that discrimination in housing based upon race, color, religion or national origin is against the law. In 1974, Congress also prohibited discrimination based on sex. Recognizing that enforcement of Title VIII had not been adequate, Congress amended it in 1988 to prohibit discrimination against handicapped persons and families with children. It also authorized the federal government to bring cases against persons accused of discriminatory housing practices. The amended law also provides the same statutory protection to victims of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), that it affords to handicapped individuals.
"What we, as Realtors, are really doing is enforcing the 14th amendment," Banks said. "Many younger people entering the real estate profession today have no experience with what it was like in say the 1960s. We've come a long way."
Banks recalls a term from the past called "redlining" when lenders would only grant loans in certain areas, making it difficult to find funding for certain groups of people. She also remembers listing a property in Southern California in the 1960s where specific areas were labeled "restricted" or "unrestricted" regarding minorities.
"California is really unique, however, when it comes to multicultural diversity. We've lived with diversity for so long it is second nature. We all have neighbors with diverse backgrounds and our children go to school with children from many different cultures, so we are a step ahead in California, especially in the Bay Area," Banks said.
That's not so true of other parts of the country, said Banks. She has attended the National Association of Realtors course entitled "At Home with Diversity: One America," developed in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and finds Californians are way ahead in their experience in dealing with minority groups. The program helps real estate professionals learn how to work with buyers of different minority groups, cultures and ethnic backgrounds, and offers encouragement for more people of diverse ethnic backgrounds to become real estate practitioners.
What Banks tells Realtors during educational programs on fair housing is to watch out for subtle forms of discrimination. For instance, she cautions Realtors to maintain fiduciary responsibility throughout the transaction by always charging the same fees for everyone. Advertisements should always be property specific, not person specific. Information phone calls should be returned in the order received, instead of putting a person with a heavy accent at the bottom of the list.
There are checks and balances. A federally funded program provides the manpower to check out discrimination cases by sending a "mystery shopper" to investigate suspected discrimination. For example, a 30-year old African American male and a 30-year old Caucasian male with identical qualifications will both apply to rent an apartment, as a test to see if there is preferential treatment. Property owners can be heavily fined for infractions.
"Realtors,who are in property management, or property owners, need to be very careful to document attempts to rent and the process for tenant selection. It all comes back to the main message, which is to treat everyone equally," said Banks.
In 1996, the National Association of Realtors and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development entered into a fair housing partnership to jointly identify, address, and promote fair housing. The partnership agreement replaced the voluntary affirmative marketing agreement, which focused on monitoring compliance with the law. The new partnership emphasizes a cooperative approach to address the nation's fair housing concerns, by permitting individual Realtors, local boards and state associations of Realtors to support a collaborative plan to make a public commitment to fair housing.
According to Silicon Valley Association of Realtors Executive Vice President Penny Pompei, April is "a time to celebrate fair housing month and the strength that diversity brings to our communities and nation. The time has long since passed when a person's qualifications to own or rent property depend upon the color of their skin their religion, their sex or national origin. Our organization is dedicated to eliminating discrimination."
The California Association of Realtors contributed to this article.
|
Los Gatos, California Since 1881
