Race/Color

Housing discrimination due to race or color is unlawful under both federal and state fair housing laws. The FHCCI’s work in challenging housing discrimination due to race or color intersects with several areas. See our pages on Appraisals, Criminal History, Insurance, Lending, Rent to Own/Land Contracts, Sales, and Tenant Screening for additional information.

Race or color based housing discrimination can take many forms including:

  • A rental advertisement stating “must be light skinned.”
  • A housing provider telling a prospective renter, who is Black, that the last unit was just rented when it had not, solely due to the prospective renter’s race or color.
  • A real estate agent steering a white home seeker away from a neighborhood of color.
  • A bank not conducting outreach across its portfolio resulting in very few mortgage loan applications from people of color.
  • A company targeting a neighborhood of color with a predatory lending product because of the demographic make up of that neighborhood.
  • A home insurance company using drones only in neighborhoods of color as a means to require additional upgrades to covered homes.

Government Guidance & Resources:

FHCCI Reports of Interest: 

FHCCI Videos of Interest:

Discrimination due to race or color happens too often in housing transactions. In this video, hear from a FHCCI client who experienced racial harassment in her subdivision.

Visit the FHCCI Data Portal to review Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data for lenders in your county, including lender specific data noting the race, national origin, and/or gender of applicants, denials, and originations.