Early in my career, I was presented with a very awkward situation.
My customer stated that they would not ever live on a street that had a certain race living on it! Have you ever had a brush with a fair housing situation that made you uncomfortable? Did you know what to respond, without getting in trouble with HUD? Did you ever feel that you are being tested by a HUD investigator, based on the questions the customer was asking?
I don’t think that we deliberately want discriminate, but we do have to be very careful with how we respond the questions and situations. For instance, if a customer asks to be shown properties where there are lots of kids, it might feel comfortable telling a customer that a particular neighborhood is great for raising children. Did we just promote a neighborhood based on familiar status? Did we just violate the Fair Housing Act? When presented with these situations it’s always best to discuss the Fair Housing Act with the customer and put them on notice that you cannot violate the law. So, when faced with an awkward question try this response, “I can’t answer that question, nor can any other licensee. It would place you in violation of Fair Housing Laws as well as placing me in violation of Fair Housing Laws.”
If you would like more information contact me. I’m Ric Giumenta. You can have a good day or a bad day. It’s your choice. Make good choices.
See you next time!