Federal and state fair housing laws ensure equal opportunity in housing for buyers and renters by making it unlawful to refuse to sell to, rent to, or negotiate with any person based on
certain physical characteristics, religion, or family status.
Civil Rights Act of 1866
guaranteed equal rights under the law.
The Fair Housing Act of 1968
Evolution of the Protected Classes of race, color, religion, national origin
The 1974 Housing and Community Development Act
Sex
The 1988 Fair Housing Amendments Act
Persons with physical or mental handicaps; families with children
The 1995 Amendment to the Fair Housing Act
entitled the Housing for Older Persons Act of 1995 (HOPA); 55 and older housing
Protected classes
-race
-color
-religion
-sex
-handicap (physical and mental)
-familial status
-national origin
What are the seven exemptions of The Fair Housing Act?
-Religious organizations; limited
-Private clubs; lodging, allowed to limit the rental or occupancy of noncommercial lodgings to members
-Occupancy standards; putting a maximum occupancy restriction; a landlord can turn someone down based on how many members they will have living with them
-Drug conviction
-Familial status; can exclude children in an older housing community
-single-family housing; the sale or rental of a single-family house by the OWNER will be exempt from coverage, provided the following;
---the owner does not own or have any interest in more than three single-family houses at any one time
---the house is sold or rented without the service of a real estate agent or the facilities of any person in the business of selling or renting dwellings. The exemption will apply to one sale or rental within a two-year period, unless the owner was the most recent occupant.
-Mrs. Murphy's exemption; the act does not cover owner-occupied dwellings designed for occupancy by no more than four families living independently of each other.
The housing provider exempt from coverage under the Fair Housing Act may still be liable for
racial discrimination under the Civil Rights Act of 1866
There are no exemptions applied when a real estate licensee is involved in a transaction.
true
HUD
Housing and Urban Development; The 1988 Fair Housing Amendments Act contains provisions giving HUD the authority to issue rules to implement the Fair Housing Act.
-cannot go against protected classes
Blockbusting
The illegal practice of inducing homeowners to sell their properties by making representations regarding the entry or prospective entry of minority persons into the neighborhood.; panic selling, panic pedding
Steering
Taking someone to an area or away from an area based on race
Redlining
refusal to lend based on race or location; insurance too
The Fair Housing Act defines handicap as what three things?
-a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of a person's major life activities.
-a record of having such an impairment.
-being regarded as having such an impairment.
The 1988 Fair Housing Amendments Act requires that all covered multifamily dwellings after March 13, 1991 be designed...
and constructed with certain accessibility-enhancing features; handicapped accessible, bathroom bars, wheel-chair space kitchen.
Multifamily dwellings
include four or more dwellings, have one or more elevators.
Is AIDS and HIV covered under the handicaps protected classes?
yes
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law on July 26, 1990, by President George H. Bush and was mainly directed to cover housing for handicap.
False; Law was directed to eliminate discrimination towards individuals with disabilities in the social and economic mainstream of society; providing equal opportunities in employment, transportation, access to goods and services offered by both the public and private sector, and communications.
Under the ADA, what are the expressed rules when it comes to real estate?
Places of public accommodations after 1990 or that have remodeled after 1990, must match up to regulations regarding individuals with disabilities; handicap bathroom, ramp, table spacing, etc.
HUD issues on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) housing discrimination complains and laws
vary state by state, most protected.
An aggrieved person who believes illegal discrimination has occurred may file a compliant within one year after the alleged act.
true; the TWCCRD has up to 100 days to drop or file charges.
TWCCRD
Texas Workforce Commission Civil Rights Division; Fair housing complaints are filed with TWCCRD.
A good test question to ask ourselves on equal treatment of an action is...
Are we doing this for everyone?
Under the Fair Housing Initiatives Programs (FHIP)...
real estate offices may be visited by testers or checkers, undercover volunteers who investigate whether customers and clients are treated equally and are offered the same free choice within a given price range.
Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) 1974
First fair housing lending law designed to make credit available to every financially qualified applicant; it does NOT apply to a seller who agrees to carry back a note.
Under the ECOA, rejected applicants must be...
notified in writing and within 30 days, of the basic reasons for denial or termination of credit; unless denial was based on a consumer's credit score.
Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA)
-A federal law that prevents redlining or denial of funds to certain areas; requires that public notices be posted by housing lenders.
is to provide the public and government officials with data to show whether lenders are serving the housing needs of the neighborhoods and communities in which they are located; making sure there is no redlining going on.
Lenders must ask telephone applicants for monitoring info regarding race or national origin, gender, and ethnicity. A borrower is not required to give it.
true
Community Reinvestment Act
The federal law that requires that federally regulated lenders describe the geographic market area they serve. Deposits from that area are to be reinvested in that area whenever practical.
Fair Housing Act prohibits advertising real estate for certain discriminatories based on protected classes; race, religion, sex, etc.
true; section 804(C)
A homeowner or a landlord whose dwelling is exempt from coverage under the Fair Housing Act can discriminate freely when it comes to selling or renting their property.
False; Civil Rights Act.
Fair housing law compliance issues are more complex for the buyer's agent. What is the best thing to do when a buyer asks questions such as:
-is this a safe neighborhood
-what are the crime statistics
-quality of schools
-ethnic composition of the neighborhood
The best way to answer these questions is to provide buyers with info about where they can find the info they seek.
HUD requires that its fair housing posters be displayed in any place of business where real estate is offered for sale or rent.
true
The Texas Real Estate Commission adopted Canons of Professional Ethics and Conduct as part of its Rules. The five canons are:
-Fidelity; represent client's interest
-Integrity; be honest
-Competency; be knowledgeable about national, state, and local issues and conditions.
-Consumer Information Form 1-1; the broker must display a notice concerning the Real Estate Recovery Trust Account.
-Discriminatory Practices; the agent may not discriminate based on legally protected classes.
Which action is permitted under the federal Fair Housing Act?
a.) advertising property for sale only to a special group
b.) refusing to sell a home to a minority individual because of poor credit history
b.
Lawsuits relating to the Civil Rights Act of 1866 must be taken up in what level of court?
federal
An exception that allows discrimination in the rental of rooms or units in an owner-occupied building with no more than four units is provided in
the Fair Housing Act of 1968
The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act requires that lenders disclose the
reason a loan was denied
If a mortgage lender discriminates against a loan applicant on the basis of marital status, it violates what law?
ECOA
The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) requires that lenders
make loans within the communities from which they derive their deposits
The federal Fair Housing Act of 1988 added as protected groups
families with children and persons with handicaps
A real estate broker wants to achieve racial balance in residential housing. As an office policy, he requires that salespersons show prospective buyers from racial or ethnic minority groups only properties that are in areas of town where few members of their groups currently live. Is this ok to do for a broker?
no, because the effect of the policy is discriminatory, it constitutes illegal steering regardless of the broker's intentions.
The famous "separate but equal" doctrine is from which of the following Supreme Court decisions?
