For real estate agents, this situation is relatively clear-cut. If you and your agent feel sufficiently threatened that you are inclined to leave, you should leave. In extreme cases, call the police. The agent is obligated to report the incident to his or her supervising broker and the supervising broker is obligated to report the incident to fair housing authorities.
Continue
Did it sell? “No,” your agent will tell you. “It doesn’t appear to have sold.” Did the owner decide to stay? “Not sure,” your agent will say. Did something happen to the seller? “Don’t know.” That’s what makes it hard to prove. People do, occasionally, have a change of heart and decide not to sell their homes.
Continue
The issue arises in a couple of different ways and usually when you are not around. When the sellers first put the home on the market, they might casually suggest to their real estate agent, “Oh by the way, the neighbors would really rather that we didn’t sell to a __________ (black, Hispanic, Asian, Jew, etc.). So let’s not show the house to any of those kinds of people.”
Continue
Those reasons may be accurate but I’d add at least one more: the goal in a housing hunt is to find a house, not to become embroiled in a legal mess or unexpectedly find yourself center stage in Social Engineering Theater.When it comes to something as personal and long term as buying a house, the truth is you probably don’t want to live near people who don’t want to live [...]
Continue
Call this toll free number: 1-800-669-9777. This is the Fair Housing hotline in Washington where you can file a complaint with HUD over the phone. You may go to the HUD Web site at, click on the Fair Housing section, and file a complaint form online.
Continue
If you have a sense that your real estate agent is “steering” you to one part of town or another, there are a couple of things you can do. The first and the most practical solution is to ask your agent if there are any homes in your price range for sale in X neighborhood and, if so, could he show them to you.
Continue
Are you the discriminate or the discriminator? Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (Fair Housing Act), as amended, prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of dwellings, and in other housing-related transactions, based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status (including children under the age of 18 living with parents or legal custodians, pregnant women, and people securing custody of children under the age [...]
Continue
