Charlotte Regional Realtor® Association : Fair Housing

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The Charlotte Regional Realtor® Association
Committed to Fair Housing

According to federal and state law, it is illegal for anyone selling or renting property to discriminate on the basis of: race or color, national origin, religion, sex, handicap and family status (including children under the age of 18 living with parents or legal custodians, pregnant women and people securing custody of children under 18).

The North Carolina State Fair Housing Act, covers the sale and rental of mobile homes, houses, apartments and vacant lots intended for homesites and applies to sellers, renters, Realtors®/real estate agents, banks and lenders, builders, rental managers, property owners, builders, landlords and developers.

The law states that a home seller cannot discriminate either directly or indirectly. The person offering the property for sale or rent cannot ask the real estate agent to place limitations on the home based on the above criteria, nor could the seller/landlord establish discriminatory terms or conditions. A seller or landlord cannot restrict advertising in a way which offers the property to only a select audience in regards to the above criteria, and they cannot deny that the property is available. Nor can covenants and restrictions be placed or enforced on properties that limit the kind of buyer who can purchase/rent the property with the exception of housing specifically for the elderly.

Sellers and real estate agents cannot tell potential buyers that the demographic status (in relation to the above criteria) of a neighborhood has or will change or allude to any negative outcomes, such as a decrease in property values or increase in crime or quality of schools, due to any such change. There are also detailed specifics in the law regarding willingness to make reasonable modification to properties needed to accommodate a person with disabilities. Multifamily dwellings, such as apartment complexes, which were first occupied after March of 1991 are also required to have accessible public areas and routes, doors wide enough to accommodate a wheelchair, maneuverable kitchens and bathrooms and accessible switches, outlets and controls.

Realtors® are bound by a national Code of Ethics which specifically forbids them from accepting a request from a seller or landlord that would require that the Realtor® act in a discriminatory manner. Realtors® also abide by a Fair Housing Declaration which sets out very specific commitments to equitable treatment. Not all licensed real estate agents are Realtors®, and therefore not all agents have placed themselves under the Code of Ethics or the Fair Housing Declaration. The Code of Ethics, in particular, is enforced at the local and state level by the Realtor® associations, which have authority to impose strict penalties for non-compliance or violations and provide mediation services.

As a homebuyer, you have a legal right to expect to see housing choices without discrimination or limitation based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin. This means that your real estate professional is required to offer you equal professional service and to provide you housing choices within your price range without limitation to certain neighborhoods, areas or subdivisions/complexes. You are also entitled to equal access without discrimination when it comes to financing, home insurance and home appraisals. The terms and conditions offered to an individual must be the same as those offered to all and there must be no intimidation or harassment to discourage you from making a free choice in where to live.

Homebuyers enjoy strong legal backing for fair housing, dating back to the Civil Rights Act of 1866. Other laws, which protect homebuyers' rights, include the national Fair Housing Act, Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the North Carolina State Fair Housing Act and locally, Charlotte-Mecklenburg's fair housing ordinance.

Realtors® in Charlotte benefit from the Charlotte Regional Realtor® Association's (CRRA) commitment to fair housing, including a Fair Housing Partnership with many like-minded community organizations. The Fair And Affordable Housing Advisory Council of CRRA works with the partnership each year to sponsor the Home Buying Fair during April, which is National Fair Housing Month.

For more information, you can read the North Carolina Fair Housing Act here. This document is in Adobe PDF format. You can download Adobe Acrobat Reader free from Adobe.

The Realtor® Fair Housing Declaration

I agree to:

Provide equal professional service without regard to the race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin of any prospective client, customer or of the residents of any community.
Keep informed about fair housing law and practices, improving my clients' and customers' opportunities and my business.
Develop advertising that indicates that everyone is welcome and no one is excluded, expanding my client's and customer's opportunities to see, buy or lease property.
Inform my clients and customers about their rights and responsibilities under the fair housing laws by providing brochures and other information.
Document my efforts to provide professional service, which will assit me in becoming a more responsive and successful Realtor®.
Refuse to tolerate non-compliance.
Learn about those who are different from me and celebrate those differences.
Take a positive approach to fair housing practices and aspire to follow the spirit as well as the letter of the law.
Develop and implement fair housing practices for my firm to carry out the spirit of this declaration.

Equal Housing Opportunity

REALTOR� -- A Registered collective membership mark that identifies a real estate professional who is a member of the National Association of REALTORS� and subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics.