Fair Housing Resources
In honor of Fair Housing Month, we’d like to share some excellent resources for avoiding any kind of discrimination in your career. First, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has an entire section on their website devoted to the topic at www.hud.gov/fairhousing. There, you will find HUD’s brochure, 39 Steps Toward Fair Housing, which offers a timeline of the key moments in the history of Fair Housing in the United States, or HUD’s newsletter, Fair Housing News. You can learn about your rights and those of your clients, as well as unfair lending practices, fair housing laws, recent studies on fair housing, statistics across the U.S., information on applying for grants, and much more.
Another great place to find Fair Housing information is the Fair Housing Blog, by Fair Housing Helper™, which is dedicated to training real estate professionals. Author Ron Leshnower explains:
“The truth is, understanding the difference between fair housing and unfair housing isn’t always clear-cut—even if you’re an intelligent professional with nothing but the best intentions. Fair Housing Blog by Fair Housing Helper™ aims to present a variety of interesting fair housing issues that are as relevant as ever. Avoid costly mistakes by reading the stories of real estate professionals who learned their compliance lessons the hard way.”
Finally, check out the National Association of REALTOR’s Fair Housing Resources page, where you can find discrimination field guides, fair housing toolkits, explanations on acts and initiatives, and more—like NAR’s Fair Housing Month poster showcasing the diversity of our country and the classes protected by the Fair Housing Laws.
As always, Pearl Insurance presents many options for Errors and Omissions coverage for real estate professionals, as well as a large selection of risk management tools—like those devoted to fair housing and avoiding charges of discrimination. For more information, visit www.pearlinsurance.com/eo.
