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Fair Housing

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Everyone Has To Obey The Law

FAIR HOUSING LAWS DON’T JUST APPLY TO REAL ESTATE AGENTS

While Agents are affected by fair housing laws more directly, they do apply to everyone. There are exceptions to some laws in cases where you are not using an agent, but not all cases. There are no circumstances where you may discriminate on the basis of race. For any other protected category, you have to be careful. State and local laws where you live may be stricter than federal laws. Plus, if you are not completely aware of what ALL the laws are, you could be opening yourself up to some major problems. Agents are not exempt from the law under ANY circumstances.

Fair housing laws cover all parts of the transaction, from beginning to end. The laws determine what you are allowed to say to both buyers and sellers. There are words and phrases that you may not be allowed to use in your advertising. You cannot discuss anything about people, either in the neighborhood or that you are seeking to live in a house or apartment. There are ways to say what you want to say (unless you’re trying to discriminate). For example, you cannot say “handyman’s special,” but you can say “fixer-upper,” which conveys the exact same message. A list of acceptable and unacceptable terms can be found here.