REALTOR®
Fair
Housing Declaration
The
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®
(NAR) and the U.S. Department of Housing and
Urban Development (HUD) have a fair housing
partnership. NAR and HUD call upon all REALTOR®
members to embrace a new partnership, which
challenges each member, each office and each
association to develop strategies and activities
in the local community to promote and enhance
fair housing and equal housing opportunities
for all people. Collaborative actions with measurable
results are called for. Action in the community
to address housing concerns, through partnership
with the local housing entities will be an on-going
goal.
I, a REALTOR® member of the Southeast Minnesota Association
of REALTORS® agree to:
Provide equal professional service without regard to the race,
color, religion, sex, disability, familial status,
or national origin, nor the sexual preference
or public assistance status of any prospective
client customer, or of the residents of any
community. (And, as a licensee in Minnesota, I will provide equal professional
service to people of any age, of any sexual
preference, and without regard to public assistance.)
This is required by law. Agents must
use systematic procedures, objective information,
and offer the same housing and service choices
to all clients and customers.
Keep informed about fair housing laws and practices, improving
my clients’ and customers’ opportunities and
my business.
Basic fair housing education is required
for all real estate licensees, and on-going
instruction is required in order to maintain
a real estate license.
Develop advertising that indicates that everyone is welcome
and no one is excluded, expanding my client’s
and customer’s opportunities to sell, buy or
lease property.
Federal law prohibits discriminatory
advertising, and inclusive advertising is encouraged.
When human models are used in ads, all races,
ethnic groups and people with disabilities must
be included and shown in integrated settings
to illustrate that everyone is welcome.
Inform my clients and customers about their rights and responsibilities
under the fair housing laws by providing brochures
and other information.
This is an important step toward ending
discrimination. Clients and customers need to
know that they also cannot ask a REALTOR® to
discriminate.
Document my efforts to provide professional service, which
will assist me in becoming a more responsive
and successful REALTOR®.
Documentation ensures equal service
to all clients and customers, protecting all
parties. For example, the “Agency Relationships
in Real Estate Transactions” form is the Minnesota Legislature’s attempt to inform the
public of all choices in agency representation
allowed by Minnesota Law. Use of this form with the public
must be uniform. The use of standard listing
agreements and buyer broker agreements also
protect the public and help insure equal professional
service.
Refuse to tolerate non-compliance.
Noncompliance impacts an agent’s ability
to do business, since each one relies on the
cooperation of every other REALTOR® involved
in any transaction. When all segments of the
population are equally served, we help to build
community.
Learn about those who are different from me, and celebrate
those differences.
We live in an increasingly diverse
nation. By 2010, 1/3 of our nation’s population
will be people from minority groups. All cultures
contribute to our society.
Take a positive approach to fair housing practices and aspire
to follow the spirit as well as the letter of
the law.
We do not want to create barriers to
home ownership. Our business is to provide
clients and customers with the information they
need to make good, sound housing choices. A
REALTOR’S® job is to add value to the transaction
by making the transaction as smooth and easy
as possible, coordinating the many details,
negotiating on behalf of clients, and sharing
knowledge of market conditions.
Develop and implement fair housing practices for my firm to
carry out the spirit of this declaration.
The business practices of each individual
firm in the Southeast Minnesota Association
of REALTORS® include the commitment to implement
the principles of fair housing, and have in
their purpose to help build the Rochester /
Winona area neighborhood community into one
where anyone would be proud to be a home owner.
