Fair Housing: Know Your Rights

At Live.Laugh.Real Estate, we have always been—and will always be—committed to upholding fair housing. Understanding the history, the language, and how it shows up in real estate today is critical to creating a more equitable future

A Brief History of Fair Housing

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a major victory for the civil rights movement, ending segregation and banning discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

The Fair Housing Act of 1968, passed shortly after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., extended those protections to the housing industry—prohibiting discrimination in the sale, rental, or financing of homes.

Essential Fair Housing Vocabulary

To fully engage in and promote fair housing, it’s important to understand the common terms used in this space:

Discrimination – Treating someone unfairly based on protected characteristics. In housing, this includes unequal treatment in renting, selling, financing, or offering different terms or services.

Protected Classes – Federally, these include race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, and disability.

Reasonable Accommodation – Adjustments made in housing policies to ensure individuals with disabilities can fully enjoy their home, like allowing service animals or installing grab bars.

Redlining – Denying loans or insurance based on neighborhood demographics rather than individual qualifications. This practice historically impacted communities of color.

Steering – When agents direct clients toward or away from certain neighborhoods based on protected class characteristics.

Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing – HUD-funded agencies must actively promote fair housing and reduce segregation—not simply avoid discrimination.

Source of Income Discrimination – Refusing to rent to someone based on how they earn their income (e.g., housing vouchers or child support). Some areas have laws prohibiting this.

Blockbusting – Pressuring homeowners to sell quickly—often below value—by inciting fear that people of another race or group will move into the neighborhood. This is illegal under the Fair Housing Act.

Fair Housing Today

Unfortunately, fair housing violations still occur. From biased appraisals to steering and unequal treatment, real-world examples continue to surface. Check out these two articles that detail recent events of a bi-racial couple's recent home appraisal experience, and the investigation of 93 real estate agents in Long Island and their fair housing practices.

What REALTORS® Stand For

The National Association of REALTORS® states:

"Fair housing is more than a list of dos and don’ts. It’s about providing equal service, recognizing our role in protecting homeownership, and embracing opportunity for all."

As agents, we commit to:

• Providing equal professional service to all

• Educating ourselves and our clients

• Creating inclusive marketing

• Documenting fair and transparent service

• Celebrating diversity

• Upholding both the letter and the spirit of the law

Resources to Learn More:

• History.com: GI Bill & Black Veterans

• Demos.org: How the GI Bill Left Out Black Americans

• NYTimes: Japanese Internment and Housing

Fair housing is foundational to what we do—because everyone thrives when they feel at home home.