Know Your Rights as a Buyer and Real Estate Agent
by Gipsy
A brief overview of Fair Housing laws and what you can and cannot do as a buyer, seller and real estate agent.
There are two federal laws governing fair housing: the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (the Fair Housing Act of 1968).
The Civil Rights Act of 1866 set the precedence by prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race regarding the sale, purchase, or lease of real or personal property. The Civil Rights Act of 1968, also known as the Fair Housing Act of 1968, took it a step further. First, it expands the definition of discrimination to include race, skin color, religion, sex, and national origin. However, unlike the Civil Rights Act of 1866 it only covers real property and not personal property. Discrimination is defined to include the refusal to sell, rent or conduct business with any person because of the aforementioned criteria. It also includes behaviors such as changing the terms of a contract, lease, or financing based on discriminatory criteria. Finally, discrimination includes advertising the property as unavailable or available to certain buyers based on those criteria. Upon learning of a prospective buyer's or renter's race, religion, sex or national origin, it is also illegal to pretend the property is no longer available.
Two of the biggest complaints, which fall under these acts, include steering and blockbusting. Steering is the practice of encouraging potential buyers to purchase in certain areas based on the race, color, religion, sex or national origin of the buyer. It is the number one reason for complaints filed under the Fair Housing Act of 1968. Attempting to sway an African-American family away from purchasing in a predominantly white neighborhood or only showing a Hispanic couple apartments in neighborhoods with a high Hispanic demographic ratio are examples of steering.
The flipside of this behavior is known as blockbusting. In blockbusting, also known as panic peddling, an agent attempts to create panic selling in a neighborhood by insinuating the racial make-up may soon change. It is an illegal practice designed for financial gain by telling current owners within the neighborhood that a change in racial make-up would cause property values to fall and create an increase in crime, etc.
As a buyer, you should know that your real estate agent cannot disclose certain things. You cannot ask your agent about the racial make-up of the neighborhood, schools or the area's demographics. Sometimes buyers do not understand this and get upset. Believe it or not, some buyers may feel an agent is lying to them by not telling them the neighborhood is racially "stacked against them." But an agent cannot legally discuss anything about a neighborhood's racial make-up, even if in some circumstances you as a buyer feel it would be information imperative to your decision. If this is something important for you to know when making your decision, you will have to find the information on your own, by external research and visual exploration.
As a seller or landlord, this means you can not limit buyers or renters to a certain race (or other discriminatory criteria). By demanding your house or property only be shown to certain racial demographics, you are forcing your real estate agent to break the law. A good real estate agent will turn down the listing before risking permanent loss of their license.
As an agent, it is imperative you know how to deal with these situations when they arise. And they will come up. Be prepared with a calm answer to diffuse a possibly charged situation. Even open-minded individuals might be ignorant as to the implications concerning Fair Housing. Without realizing the discrimination involved, they will ask things you, as an agent, cannot legally comment on. When this happens, calmly inform your client, that the information would violate the Fair Housing Act. You as an agent cannot give information regarding the racial make-up or other discriminatory criteria. Be firm, but polite, and let the matter drop. If your client continues to pressure you on these issues, it is best to inform them they are putting your license in jeopardy and you feel it would be best for them to work with someone else. That should be enough to get them to understand the seriousness of the matter and stop the incriminating questions. ____________________________________________________________________
Article Source: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/184044/know_your_rights_as_a_buyer_and_real.html
