Change Your Jurisdiction
Fair Housing Course
Fair Housing is not just an educational requirement for real estate professionals; it is an efficient remedy for what is likely to be an increasingly pervasive and litigious issue. There are three reasons why fair housing issues are likely to become more prevalent in Minnesota than ever before.
- Increasing population of visible minorities – according to the University of Minnesota, Minnesota has the fastest growing population in the Midwest. Approximately 62% of Minnesota’s total gain in population between 2000 and 2005 is attributable to growth in minority groups. The state’s Hispanic population is anticipated to grow by 98% from 2000 to 2015. The Minneapolis-St. Paul area ranks a notable third in total African immigrants only surpassed by Washington, D.C. and New York. Minnesota also hosts the largest Hmong, Somali and Liberian communities in the country. Furthermore, the Minneapolis area has one of the largest Native American urban populations in the US.
The chances the average real estate licensee will help visible minorities buy or sell a home has increased, and is likely to continue to increase in Minnesota for the foreseeable future.
- Prevalence of ‘non-visible’ minorities – while visible minorities may be top-of-mind in terms of fair housing issues, this does not mean real estate licensees can in any way relax their adherence to state and federal laws while dealing with other members of the real estate community. In fact the purpose of the laws is to ensure equal and consistent application of the fair housing laws. A significant percentage of Minnesotans have unique characteristics that may not immediately signal that an individual is a member of a minority group. For example a prospective client’s disability, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, and familial status are all issues that an unwitting real estate agent could stumble upon during the course of business and could, if handled incorrectly, generate a fair housing complaint.
The definition of what constitutes a minority status has always been broad, and real estate professionals cannot likely distinguish which clients are minorities. The best advice is to know and follow the law consistently with all clients.
- Increased public education and surveillance – there has been significant progress in educational campaigns to educate consumers about their rights and the processes through which they can lodge a fair housing complaint. The availability of information about fair housing rights on the internet, combined with the newsworthiness of fair housing issues for the media makes a potentially volatile combination for real estate licensees who rely to a great extent on their public reputation. Relying on the defense that a potentially discriminatory behavior was your office or firm’s standard operating procedure is not an acceptable defense. All licensees are expected to know and follow Fair Housing laws.
CE Network has developed a Minnesota Department of Commerce approved 3 credit course to address the Fair Housing issue. Nationally recognized real estate instructor Deborah Long, DREI, CRS, Ed D walks learners through real life examples and provides concrete direction for minimizing this risk. The course is available after completion for three years to ensure that learners have a handy resource they can access online 24/7 anywhere they have an internet connection.
