NAR Creates ‘ACT’ to Combat Fair Housing Violations
The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) Leadership Team unanimously passed a Fair Housing Action Plan to distinguish NAR as an industry leader on fair housing.
“NAR has been active in our pursuit of innovative new policies and partnerships that will help us preserve the fundamental right of housing in America,” said NAR President Vince Malta after a meeting Wednesday with Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson and other senior HUD officials. “While we have long been a champion of the Fair Housing Act, recent incidents have underscored the progress our nation must still make. That’s why I am proud to announce that our association’s Leadership Team has voted today to approve an action that will directly ramp up and reinvigorate NAR’s fair housing commitment.”
NAR re-organized last summer to create a new Fair Housing Policy Committee to more effectively advocate on national fair housing policy and hired Bryan Greene as NAR director of fair housing policy. Greene previously served at HUD for 29 years as the top career official overseeing enforcement of the federal Fair Housing Act.
NAR’s new Fair Housing Action Plan – abbreviated “ACT” for Accountability, Culture change, and Training – was created to ensure America’s 1.4 million Realtors do everything possible to protect housing rights in America.
ACT specifically commits NAR to:
Design and promote minimum, core fair-housing training requirements for all states
Develop and promote a model state licensing law that ensures real estate agents who violate fair housing laws are held accountable
Launch a public-service announcement campaign that reaffirms NAR’s commitment to fair housing and tells consumers how to report problems
Integrate fair housing into all Realtor conferences and engagements
Explore the creation of a voluntary self-testing program in partnership with a fair housing organization that brokers and others can use as a resource. It would include confidential reports on agent practices so problems can be addressed
Create robust fair housing education that includes unconscious-bias training and education on how the Realtors’ actions shape communities
Conduct a national study to determine what factors motivate discrimination in sales markets
Profile leaders who exemplify fair housing practices and workplace diversity
Develop materials that helps Realtors provide information on schools in a way that avoids fair housing pitfalls