The Fair Housing Act was signed into law in 1968 by the Lyndon B. Johnson administration and was designed to protect families from discrimination. The act prohibits discrimination based on race, color, disability, religion, sex, familial status, or national origin in the sale, rental, or financing of housing. This Act not only protects individuals from housing discrimination but also protects families of persons with disabilities. The FHA’s goal is to provide equal housing opportunities for all Americans.
In recent years, many communities have been testing their fair housing laws to prevent housing discrimination, but the results have been mixed. In a recent report from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, it was found that “Fair housing testing is not a panacea to the problems of housing discrimination.” In fact, “fair housing testing has been associated with a number of difficulties and frustrations, including the challenges of accurately documenting all incidents of discriminatory behavior, the difficulty in determining whether fair housing testing works by itself, and the over-reliance on self-reporting that may result in invalid or biased data.”
Fair Housing Testing
Fair housing testing is a process in which a house owner is responsible for determining if they have discriminated against a potential customer based on race, color, religion, sex, familial status, national origin, and disability. The Fair Housing Act of 1968 prohibits housing providers from making housing decisions based on any of these protected categories.
Fair housing testing is critical for maintaining a stable and diverse community. It is the process of accurately identifying and preventing housing discrimination. Fair housing testing is an important component of fair housing and helps ensure that all families have access to decent, affordable housing.
How Does Testing Work?
The fair housing testing process often arises when a person with a protected characteristic, such as race or national origin, files a complaint with a fair housing advocacy organization that he/she has been treated unfairly when endeavoring to rent or buy an apartment. The traits that are usually the subject of testing are disability, familial status, race, and national origin.
How Fair Housing Testing Evidence is Used
Fair housing’s job is to ensure that housing is available to everyone. In order to do this, the Fair Housing Act requires that the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) analyze complaints that allege housing discrimination and that HUD investigates those complaints. The Fair Housing Act requires HUD to consider how a person’s complaint was processed before deciding whether HUD will investigate a complaint. HUD’s Fair Housing Enforcement Procedures Manual clearly articulates the process for investigating a complaint.
Fair housing testers are not informed of the tests they are taking part in, and the testers are not allowed to tell anyone about these tests. The reason for this policy is that the testers are being used as a tool for pushing housing discrimination laws.
Final Words
The U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) administers the Fair Housing Act in an attempt to make sure that people in the United States are not treated unfairly in the purchase, rental, sale, or financing of housing. The law covers both public and private housing, and HUD has jurisdiction in all states, the District of Columbia, and the five U.S. territories. Together with the Department of Justice, HUD enforces the law in its jurisdiction. Attend the Compliance Prime webinar to learn more about Fair Housing Testing.
