Fair Housing Brings Change To Property Descriptions

Posted by Toes

Wed Mar 11th, 2009 09:24 AM

It is the policy of the NYC Housing Authority to provide equal housing opportunities for all qualified applicants and residents.

In New York City, there should be no housing discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, familial status, marital status, partnership status, military status, disability, lawful occupation, lawful source of income, alienage or citizenship status, or on the grounds that a person is a victim of domestic violence, dating violence or stalking. These laws are extremely important & I have been able to fall back on them many times over the years when working with owners. For example, an owner once told me that she didn't want me to rent her apartment to any Koreans. She said that she, herself, was Korean, so what she was doing wasn't illegal! She "loves the Korean people" but didn't want any of them living in her apartment. I was shocked! I thought that kind of stuff only happened in bad Lifetime movies, not in real life! But I digress...

Despite at least two or three hours of Fair Housing Training that NYC brokers must take each year, evidently some members of the brokerage community have not figured out that saying "Family Friendly" in a property description is ILLEGAL.

We learned in Fair Housing that by saying "Family-Friendly," we are discriminating - for example, we may accidentally be discriminating against a single person who happens to want a huge apartment in a building with a playroom. So any mention of "child," "children," or "family-sized apartments" are violations of Fair Housing Law.

We also can not list school districts in property descriptions. Customers need to check www.nyc.gov for more information.

Likewise, saying "Fabulous Bachelor/Bachelorette Pad" is illegal. What if a family of four wanted to live in an open loft with outdoor space, a wet bar and a hot tub?

Today we received a new list of over 200 banned words, sayings and descriptions that can no longer go into any property ads. Most of them were self explanatory...
But there were some things in the list that caught me off guard. We can't say "No Students," "Board approval required," "Shares," "Walking distance," or "Working."

This creates some frustration. I have had several listings in co-op buildings that don't allow students. You must be a working professional to live in the building. They want the person living in the apartment to be able to afford the apartment on their own. No co-signers or guarantors are allowed. "Board approval is required." Now I will field an extra 50 phone calls from people who don't qualify for the building. Even though my description says "no guarantors or co-signers," students who have their own money call anyway, thinking that they can just hand over a lump sum of money to avoid the guarantor / co-signer rule. Not in this building, sorry to waste your time!

Additionally, there are many buildings and private owners that don't allow "shares" - two unrelated people to live in the same apartment. So no more advertising tiny fifth floor walk up one bedrooms with a wall up in the living room to create a 2nd bedroom as "perfect for shares." Too bad I can't just say "perfect for two people who want to be room-mates" - "people" is on the list also (as are "couples.")

Then there becomes "walking distance," which we can no longer use. By saying "walking distance," I would be discriminating against those who are unable to walk. Hopefully I can still use "close proximity" to public transportation.

The buzzword that really made me crazy, though was "No Smokers". Since when did smokers become a protected class according to fair housing rules?

In case you're wondering some other words we can't use:

"Nanny's Room" (implies children)
"quiet tenants"
"quiet neighborhood"
"secure"

Now more than ever there is more pressure on the apartment seeker to really read between the lines.

You'd be surprised how many buyers and renters ask "what is the ethnic makeup of the building?" My response: "there's a great mix of studios, one bedrooms, two bedrooms and combination of larger units in this building, so you a great cross-section of the population." When pressed by customers who are annoyed that I dodged their question, I encourage them to walk around the block and neighborhood, sit in the lobby or wait by the subway if they want to get a feel for the area.

Thank you for not asking me whether the neighborhood is "safe." My response will be for you to please "visit www.nyc.gov" where you can view the local precinct's crime statistics.

Fair Housing Laws are extremely, extremely necessary, but at times I wonder if maybe the pendulum has swung a bit too far?

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