Sales

Real estate sales transactions are covered under fair housing laws like any other housing related transaction. In sales, the most common forms of violations are refusal of services – refusal to sell by owners or refusal to represent by real estate agents – and steering.

Unfortunately, there is a long and ugly history of housing discrimination based upon
outright refusals by sellers, real estate agents, and others to permit members of various
protected classes from engaging in real estate sales transactions. 

Some common fair housing violations in sales transactions:

  • Provide different housing services or facilities;
  • Falsely deny that housing is available for inspection, sale, or rental;
  • Steering due to race, color, or national origin;
  • For profit, persuade owners to sell or rent (blockbusting); or
  • Deny anyone access to or membership in a facility or service (such as a multiple listing service) related to the sale or rental of housing.

FHCCI Videos of Interest:

Government Guidance & Resources:

Cases of Interest:

Reports of Interest:

Racial Covenants:

Equity Theft:

REOs (Real Estate Owned Properties/Foreclosures):

We also encourage you review our Appraisals, Lending, and Insurance pages.

In this FHCCI video, learn about racial covenants and the historic actions of the real estate industry that impacted the ability to become a homeowner due to race, color, national origin, and religion.

In this 2019 documentary, Newsday highlighted evidence they uncovered of widespread discrimination against homebuyers of color on Long Island, NY by the area real estate industry. You can read more about Newsday’s 3-year investigation here.

Via NBC News, learn about racial covenants in this short video: “Racism In Fine Print: How Old Housing Policies Impact Non-white Communities.”