K’S FAIR HOUSING STORY
(This newsletter is also available in Spanish and Chinese.)
K and her husband, a Black couple living in Brooklyn, were growing frustrated by the high rent they were paying for their apartment. Once they realized that their new jobs gave them the ability to afford a downpayment and a mortgage, they were eager to buy a home of their own.
At the time, K was also doing an advanced training program at Brooklyn College and wanted to live close by. “If you live in the area,” she says, “you get to use their facilities, their gym, their library.” The couple were also planning to have children, so the quality of the neighborhood was crucial.
After doing some research they set their sights on the Midwood neighborhood. “It seemed like it had everything that we were looking for in terms of the schools, the parks, being close to transit, being more residential, more quiet.” When K saw an ad for an upcoming open house at a beautiful Midwood townhouse in their price range, they were excited to visit.
Seeing the townhouse in person, they were impressed and loved the feel and the energy of the neighborhood. They weren’t surprised that all the other prospective buyers at the open house were white. “We thought about race, but, I mean, it’s Brooklyn. It’s pretty diverse. It’s part of why we like New York City and definitely want to stay.”
But they were confused when the broker who was showing the house took one look at them and asked if they were real estate agents. They informed her that they were not agents — they were potential buyers who were interested in making an offer on the townhouse.
The broker immediately threw her hands up. “Oh no,” she told the couple. “This is a Jewish community. You would not be comfortable here.”
K and her husband were stunned. Had the broker actually said that? Right there, in front of all the other buyers?
K’s husband wanted to make a quick exit, but K needed to confirm what she had just heard. “I said, ‘OK so just for clarity: You’re saying we would not be comfortable in this neighborhood?’ And she said, ‘Yes. You see the neighborhood. It is a Jewish neighborhood. You wouldn’t be comfortable here.’”
Discrimination based on race and religion are expressly forbidden by fair housing and civil and human rights laws at all levels of jurisdiction. Instruction on these fair housing laws is a major component in the training and licensing of all real estate agents, who must also attend additional fair housing training each time they renew their licenses. But as this example shows, too many housing providers still don’t take their fair housing responsibilities seriously.
Shocked and upset by this blatantly discriminatory treatment, the couple contacted the Fair Housing Justice Center (FHJC) who helped them bring a lawsuit which they eventually settled for a significant monetary payment.
But even more important than the cash settlement, K says, is the message sent by their lawsuit. “I want real estate agents to know that they’re denying people more than just the physical house. They’re denying people a community, and not everyone’s going to take it. We will fight back, and we should. [Because] we’re deserving of that, too.”
This newsletter is part of the FHJC’s My Fair Housing Story outreach initiative. To read the other stories in the series as they are published, click HERE or visit bit.ly/FHJCmfhs.
The mission of the FHJC, a nonprofit civil rights organization, is to eliminate housing discrimination, promote policies and programs that foster open, accessible, and inclusive communities, and strengthen enforcement of fair housing laws in the New York City region.