I was in the process of updating the online fair housing continuing education courses offered by my school (www.123ConEd.com), when I came across this Fair Housing Act case that was just settled eleven days ago (February 17, 2009). Because fair housing is such an important topic, I thought that I'd post a summary of this case.
On February 17, 2009, the United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”) settled a fair housing steering case brought against RE/MAX East-West, a real estate firm in Elmhurst, Ill., and one of its former real estate agents, John DeJohn. The defendants agreed to pay $120,000 to settle allegations that they had illegally steered prospective home buyers towards and away from certain neighborhoods based on race and national origin.
The lawsuit originated from a complaint filed by the National Fair Housing Alliance (“NFHA”) with the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”). Testing conducted by NFHA of RE/MAX East-West in 2004 and 2005 revealed that Mr. DeJohn had steered an Hispanic tester towards homes in predominantly African-American or Hispanic neighborhoods, but had encouraged a similarly situated white tester to look at listings in predominantly white neighborhoods. Both testers had contacted Mr. DeJohn about the same advertised listing. According to the DOJ’s complaint, Mr. DeJohn also told the white tester, "I don’t care if you are a bigot. If we go to an area and you don’t like it, just let me know. I can’t be a bigot but you can be one," or words to that effect. After an investigation, HUD found reasonable cause to believe that unlawful discrimination had occurred and referred the matter to the DOJ, which filed a lawsuit in federal court on July 18, 2008.
The settlement requires the defendants to pay $120,000 to the NFHA. The settlement also requires RE/MAX East-West to hire a qualified organization to provide fair housing training to its agents and to maintain records and submit periodic reports to the DOJ. Mr. DeJohn is no longer working as a real estate agent and his Illinois real estate license expires in April 2009. However, the settlement requires Mr. DeJohn to comply with similar training and reporting requirements if he decides to become a real estate agent again in Illinois or any other state.
The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, familial status, national origin and disability. Unlawful steering by real estate agents frustrates the rights of people to make fully informed housing choices and perpetuates segregated housing patterns. This case make clear that real estate companies and their agents who steer buyers to different neighborhoods based on race or nationality have violated the Fair Housing Act and can be held liable for large monetary fines. The elimination of racial steering was a principal goal of the Fair Housing Act, when it was signed into law in 1968.
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