Due to COVID-related concerns and other issues, last summer was relatively quiet for us in terms of new case filings and settlements. But the fall has brought a flurry of new activity, most significantly a new lawsuit based on a nationwide investigation of the real estate giant Redfin. FHJC has joined the National Fair Housing Alliance and eight other organizations in a complaint that calls out Redfin’s policies of offering significantly different levels of service based on home price and location. It’s a clear example of the Disparate Impact provision of the Fair Housing Act, which has been under attack by the Trump administration. Click here to visit our webpage dedicated to the investigation, including a close-up look at the Long Island portion of the investigation and how it relates to Newsday’s similar findings in last year’s Long Island Divided report.

How much does intention matter when it comes to housing discrimination? Is it okay for a real estate company to use “race-neutral” algorithms that have a discriminatory impact on people or communities of color? Can a real estate company offer different levels of service based on solely on home price and location? That last example is the basis of the Redfin lawsuit, and the subject of a new policy paper written by FHJC’s Fred Freiberg, Britny McKenzie, and Craig Waletzko. “Ending Racism in Residential Real Estate,” discusses the role that the real estate industry played in creating segregated neighborhoods, and calls on real estate firms to examine their own systems, policies, and structures to ensure that they are not treating populations or communities differently or perpetuating segregation.

But it’s not just the real estate industry. In eliminating housing discrimination and building the beloved community, we all have a role to play. To quote from our own report, “If homebuyers or sellers observe or experience real estate companies shirking their responsibility by failing to provide equal service; if people working within the real estate industry observe agents or brokers engaged in discriminatory practices that may be harming consumers or communities; or if your community is not being served by real estate companies in an equitable manner because of its racial make-up; it is time to call out these discriminatory policies and practices and report them. We all have a responsibility to eliminate racially discriminatory policies and practices in the residential real estate market.”