Opening Doors to homeownership

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.

To real estate professionals, fair housing means equal access, and equal housing opportunities open doors. A person's ability to rent or own should be limited only by how much he or she can afford. Fair housing helps keep the real estate industry and our communities healthy by fostering an environment in which more lower- to middle-income Americans-including "new" Americans-can become homeowners.

Fair Housing Advertising Guidelines

History

The Fair Housing Law is more than 30 years old. The concept that all persons are entitled to equal protection of the law derives from the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution passed after the Civil War. The guarantees of the Amendment were restricted, however, for more than 100 years by the 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 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 the enforcement of Title VIII had not been adequate, Congress amended it in 1988 to prohibit discrimination against handicapped persons and families with children, and to authorize 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.

Minority Homeownership

The annual national homeownership rate in 2002 was 67.9 percent which is a record high and an increase of 0.1 percent over 2001. Homeownership also increased for minorities to a record high of 29.9 percent in 2002, an increase of 0.8 percent from 2001.

Although this good news, there still remains a significant gap between the rates of homeownership for whites and for minorities. And herein, lies the REALTORS®' concern and focus.

Keeping abreast of the latest fair housing issues

In addition to the 3-hour class on civil rights Ohio real estate licensees are required to take every three years in order to maintain your license, the Columbus Board of REALTORS® (CBR) offers several other opportunities for you to gain a better understanding of the Fair Housing Law, increase diversity, and to open the doors to homeownership for everyone. CBR activities include:

• classes for our members on the fair housing laws
• real estate career nights/job fairs with specific focus on recruitment of multi-cultural REALTORS®
• multi-cultural real estate grant program
• partnerships with other fair housing organizations

For more information on the Fair Housing Act, visit HUD's Website at http://www.hud.gov.

Fair Housing language

Please check your written agency agreements to ensure that they include the correct language. Agency agreements would include:

• Exclusive Right to Sell Listing Contract (Residential)
• Exclusive Right to Sell or Lease Listing Contract (C/I)
• Exclusive Buyer Representation Agreement

The Fair Housing language as approved March 17, 2000 is as follows:

It is illegal, pursuant to the Ohio fair housing law, Division (H) of Section 4112.02 of the revised code and the federal fair housing law, 42 U.S.C.A. 3601, to refuse to sell, transfer, assign, rent, lease, sublease or finance housing accommodations, refuse to negotiate for the sale or rental of housing accommodations, or otherwise deny or make unavailable housing accommodations because of race, color, religion, sex, familial status as defined in Section 4112.01 of the Revised Code, ancestry, disability as defined in that section, or national origin; or to so discriminate in advertising the sale or rental of housing, in the financing of housing, or in the provision of real estate brokerage services; it is also illegal, for profit, to induce or attempt to induce a person to sell or rent a dwelling by representation regarding the entry into the neighborhood of a person or persons belonging to one of the protected classes.