The Michigan Association of REALTORS® has provided the following resources to assist its members in helping families realize the American dream. these resources are designed to help REALTORS® follow, implement and understand fair housing law.

Links to additional Fair Housing Information

ADVERTISING GUIDELINES CHECKLIST

According to federal fair housing laws, advertising for the sale or rental of a property may not state a preference for any person or an intention to exclude any person because of that person’s race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin.

This prohibition applies to the use of all media, such as newspapers, radio, television or billboards, and any written material produced in connection with the sale or rental of a dwelling, such as application forms, brochures, flyers, signs, posters or banners.

To comply with the law, avoid:

• Using words or phrases describing the dwelling, landlord or tenants. Examples: white private home, colored home, Jewish home, Hispanic residence, adult building, or other words indicative of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin.
• Conveying preference to one group over another or exclusion due to race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status (children under 18) or national origin.
• Using catchwords, such as restricted, exclusive, private, integrated, traditional, board approval or membership approval.
• Using symbols or logos that imply or suggest discrimination because of race, color religion, sex, handicap, familial status (children under 18) or national origin.
• Writing out the directions to the property that refer to well-known racial, ethnic or religious landmarks or to any other major landmark that could signal a preference for a specific type of person.
• Targeting advertisements to one segment of the community.
• Using only adult white models in advertising over a period of time.
• Using prohibited words or phrases with respect to handicapped persons or families with children, including:

crippled blind deaf retarded mentally ill

singles adult building mature persons restricted community exclusive

• Advertising in:
  • A strategically limited geographic area.
  • Particular editions of newspapers to reach a particular segment of the community.
  • Only small papers that cater to particular ethnic or religious groups rather than general circulation papers.
  • Only selected sales offices.

The Fair Housing Act Permits:

• Indicating that rental property is:
• Accessible to handicapped individuals.
• Intended for and operated as housing for older adults.
• Using the equal opportunity logo, statement or slogan in all advertising.
• Using human models who:
• Represent all races and age segments of the population in the area, including families with children and people with disabilities.
• Vary periodically so that diverse groups in your community are featured – majority and minority in the metropolitan, both sexes, families with children (when appropriate).
• Portray persons in an equal social setting.
• Indicate to the general public that housing is available to all persons, regardless of status.

Localize your efforts to abide by the law by doing the following:
• Know the guidelines in the area where promotional materials are seen. Laws vary according to location.
• Learn about each publication’s guidelines or criteria before purchasing an advertisement.

Questions to Evaluate Your Advertisements and Promotional Material
• What is your message really saying?
• Does the ad exclude any potential prospects or groups?
• Does the ad describe the listing and not the target market?
• What steps can I or my firm take to assure that we can truly provide the services promoted in the ad?

INCLUSIVE PLANNING OBJECTIVES

• I will intensify my efforts to promote home ownership among renters.
• I will make sure that my listings are promoted to all cultural groups.
• I will allocate my promotional efforts, time and budget resources to reflect the cultural makeup of my market.
• I will select my advertising channels to reach diverse cultural groups in my market.
• I will emphasize my inclusive marketing plans to sellers obtaining listings.
I will broaden my facilitation services to ensure that all buyers get to the closing table successfully.
• I embrace and celebrate the strength that diversity brings to our communities and our nation.
• I will become more involved with diverse social organizations in order to get to know my constituents better.
• I will adopt ways to heighten my personal and professional profile in the community so that people recognize me as their real estate resource of choice.
• I will improve my skills in communicating with all cultural groups in my market.
• I will familiarize myself with the social situation and cultural backgrounds of my community’s population so as to achieve a greater comfort level in working together.
• I will increase my focus on one-on-one relationships with prospects and customers.
• I will actively promote joining the real estate profession among my market’s cultural subgroups.
• I will promote to the organization the benefits of including cultural diversity in our workplace.
• I will focus employee orientation and training on the tenets of inclusive practice.
• I will encourage the organization to develop multilingual communication capabilities.
• I will develop ways to communicate to clients, customers and prospects that we are a proactively inclusive organization.
• I will encourage the organization to adopt ways to increase the cultural comfort level of clients, customers, prospects and colleagues.

INCLUSIVE PLANNING STRATEGIES

Marketing homeownership
• Inform renters of homebuying opportunities.
• Educate renters on the homebuying process.
• Information exchange with renters.
• Disseminate information on the financing process and financing opportunities.
• Communicate to renters ways that their interests in home investing are protected.

Working with buyers
• Merits of buyer representation.
• Learn the buyers’ needs; fulfill them by rendering the best professional service
• Cultural or special needs to make the relationship more comfortable and successful.
• Educate the prospective buyer on how you operate.
• “open-ended” range of services.
• Inform the prospect of your inclusive philosophy.
• Inform the prospect that you are continuously striving to improve your communication skills.

Marketing listings
• Identify the most cost-effective advertising channel.
• Place ads in the languages of the community.
• Develop advertising themes and messages that local groups care about.
• Promote your cross-cultural orientation.
• Observe fair housing guidelines for advertising language and placement.
• Advertise that all buyers are welcome, and that all properties are available throughout the area.

Post-contract assistance
• Financing contingencies.
• Government-sponsored financing programs.
• Coach buyers during underwriting process.
• Meetings with buyers and lender.
• Discounted professional fees: legal, title companies.
• Recommend several inspectors, insurers, handymen.

Prospecting and listing sellers
• Incorporate inclusive philosophy into listing presentation material.
• Special training and “At Home With Diversity” completion.
• Promote the special efforts you make in ensuring all buyers fulfill contract contingencies.
• Develop bilingual listing agreements.

Reaching your community
• Promote your inclusive practice to spheres of influence.
• Become involved with social organizations and civic leaders.
• Attend government and school board meetings to learn concerns of local citizens.
• Attend cultural events.
• Identify sponsorships and funding drives to participate in.
• Read local periodicals to keep breast of the neighborhood news and events.
• Strive to develop personal relationships with individual families.
• Engage in public speaking opportunities.
• Conduct homebuying seminars and home financing seminars.

Your personal development
• Pursue educational opportunities to increase awareness of other cultures.
• Consider courses in international real estate leading to the CIPS designation.
• Exploit opportunities to increase generational and cross-cultural communication skills.
• Work on difficult areas of cross-cultural communication.
• Correct personal tendencies to stereotype, maintain biases, or make assumptions.
• Work on areas where barriers were encountered.
• Develop and observe personal standards of cross-cultural behavior and manners. that have proven acceptable, successful or appreciated.
• Strive to improve language skills to avoid slang and idioms.
• Develop a written code of service standards for display to buyers and sellers.

Bringing diversity to your company
• Conduct periodic “Career Nights” for the purpose of recruiting agents who are familiar with local housing needs.
• Propose hiring someone who can interpret documents, respond to inquires and assist in bilingual dialogues in the office.
• Imbed inclusive philosophy as company policy with policy manuals and on plaques displayed in the office lobby and conference areas.
• Conduct in-office training seminars on cross-cultural communication and inclusive practices for sales assistants and administrative support personnel
• Initiate a mentoring and tutoring program for unlicensed sales associate candidates to facilitate their successful licensing and subsequent orientation to the business.
• Explore available resources and costs for translation critical company documents: contracts, listing agreements and disclosure documents.
• Develop an “inclusion philosophy sheet” that conveys the company’s approach to rendering services to all customers.
• Explore ways to network and interact with other “inclusiveness-oriented” companies in nearby communities.

ONE AMERICA PRINCIPLES

• I welcome you and want to do business with you.
• I will base my decisions and opinions of you on who you are and not on any preconceived stereotypes or ingrained value judgments.
• I subscribe to the Federal Fair Housing Act and its principles.
• I embrace and celebrate the strength that diversity brings to our communities and our nation.
• I will help you find opportunities to by the home you choose.
• I will market homeownership to the public and reach out to people who may not know that homeownership is a real option.
• I will make sure you know there is a full range of housing choices available to you and encourage you to consider all communities and neighborhoods.
• I will make every effort so that we can communicate with each other. If we do not share a common language, I will work with you to find someone who can interpret.
• I have incorporated these principles in my daily operations and my overall business plan. I would be proud to share it with you.
• Please let me know about any cultural or special needs that you have so our business relationship will be comfortable.