Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious . . . It's a song from my childhood, one which has a simple but truthful message: they are all precious regardless of race.
Discrimination is not only against the law, but is harmful, so what's a real estate agent to do when asked to guide a buyer to a specific neighborhood because of race? This is a tricky question as several times when asked to do this, there have been good non-biased reasons. One time the clients were Puerto Rican and African American. They asked for a racially diverse neighborhood so their kids would fit in. Another time it was Caucasian parents of adopted children from India with the same reason. Each time I've been asked this question, the query has arisen from wanting to be in a racially diverse neighborhood rather than staying away from a specific race. Giving the information would be a help to my clients. What I actually did was tell them I could not give them information about the racial make-up of a neighborhood because it could be construed as discriminatory steering. Steering is a big bad no-no in real estate sales and lending. It's cause for losing one's license. I gave them city websites and census websites where they could research the information themselves. I suggested they drive through neighborhoods they were considering and determine whether the areas felt comfortable to them. I so badly wanted to aid them in their quest, but had been strongly warned against giving any racial info in my early training.
The restraint from giving this info comes straight from the National Association of REALTORS® Code of Ethics quoted below:
"Standard of Practice 10-1
When involved in the sale or lease of a residence, REALTORS® shall not volunteer information regarding the racial, religious or ethnic composition of any neighborhood nor shall they engage in any activity which may result in panic selling, however, REALTORS® may provide other demographic information. (Adopted 1/94, Amended 1/06)"
Those who are members of the National Association of REALTORS® have promised to adhere to this code. Some try to dance around this Standard of Practice saying when they're asked, it's not "volunteering", but I'm not taking any chances by splitting those kind of hairs!
I've had similar scenarios happen to me as a REALTOR® and have responded just as you did. Typically, once I explain why I can't do more than that, they understand and accept it.
Posted by: Leanne Paynter, Florida Realtor | September 18, 2006 at 12:41 PM
Bonnie, I happened across a post by a 27 year old woman that got me thinking. I referenced it on a recent article. But here is the link, it was a very sincere statement. Lar
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=94114431&blogID=168506978
Posted by: Larry Cragun | September 18, 2006 at 11:26 AM