Making Unfair Housing History

We’re midway through Fair Housing Month, and REALTORS® across the country are pursuing bold goals to substantially narrow racial and ethnic homeownership gaps – work that will continue year-round.

One of the best ways we can move the needle on expanding equal access to housing is by tapping into the incredible reach of the REALTOR® Party. When 1.5 million REALTORS® advocate together at the local, state, and federal levels, we can make real, lasting change for all.

Bottom line: we need you. Here’s a checklist of ways to get involved, inspired, and informed – so you can join us in expanding homeownership and building diverse, inclusive communities.

Get Involved with these resources:

1. Apply for Fair Housing Grants to support state and local association events and education that further the mission of fair housing.
2. Bookmark the new Fair Housing Toolkit for specific suggestions on how to use Fair Housing Grants. The kit provides examples for associations and helps staff easily activate these initiatives.
3. Use Fair Housing month assets, including social media graphics and posters, to promote your commitment to fair housing.
4. Listen to the latest episode of REALTOR® Magazine’s new Drive with NAR podcast, “Fair Housing: Who’s Being Left Out of the Conversation?” featuring REALTORS® Tim Hurr, Stephen Beard, and Lorraine Arora discussing the Fairhaven fair housing simulation, ACT plan, accessibility, and appraisal bias.
5. Take four minutes to watch this Window to the Law video for important, practical tips to ensure your advertising does not violate fair housing laws.
6. Share recent NAR research such as the Double Trouble and 2022 Obstacles to Home Buying reports [add link on Tues] that illustrate how low inventory and high prices are making it difficult for many Americans – and particularly Black Americans – to achieve homeownership.
7. Check out this documentary from the Fair Housing Center called ZIP Code Matters, which explores why a person’s ZIP Code has been shown to have a greater impact on health and well-being than genetic code, affecting access to education, transportation, and wealth.

Get Inspired with these events:

1. April 22: Bryan Greene, NAR’s vice president of policy advocacy, and Alexia Smokler, NAR’s director of fair housing policy, will speak at NAR’s Conference Year-Round session, “Fair Housing in your Neighborhood – How to Be an Agent of Change.” Register here.
2. May 1: On the first day of the REALTORS® Legislative Meetings, NAR will offer its new implicit bias certificate course, “Bias Override: Overcoming Barriers to Fair Housing.” Register for the Legislative Meetings here.

Get Informed on recent policy updates:

1. The Black-White homeownership gap is larger today than when the Fair Housing Act was signed into law more than 50 years ago. NAR is on the steering committee of the Black Homeownership Collaborative and helped develop a seven-point plan called 3by30 to add three million net new Black homeowners by 2030.
2. NAR’s Supply and Affordability Presidential Advisory Group (PAG) kicked off this week. The PAG will focus on three specific issues, discussing and formulating solutions to address housing supply and affordability concerns across America: (1) large investors buying or building single family home communities for rentals, (2) zoning and land use issues, and (3) building supply and labor shortage issues.
3. NAR recently provided comments on the Biden Administration’s Action Plan to Advance Property Appraisal and Valuation Equity (PAVE) under the guidance of members of NAR’s Real Property Valuation Committee and Fair Housing Policy Committee. NAR supports many of the recommendations in the PAVE Action Plan, including increasing consumer education and awareness of appraisal bias, improving data collection and research, and creating quality controls for the use of automated valuation methods (AVMS) in developing property values. We also highlighted areas of potential concern, such as proposals to reduce education requirements or upend the current governance structure of the appraisal industry.

We all benefit when the dream of homeownership is accessible to as many people as possible. Through REALTOR® advocacy, we can foster free, open markets that provide equal opportunity for all.