How Real Estate Agents Contribute to Segregation
by Sue Roman
Although discrimination in housing was outlawed by the Fair Housing Act of 1968, there are practices carried out still by real estate agents that affect where people live in Connecticut. The Connecticut Fair Housing Center has found that Blacks and Latinos are not always treated equally as White home seekers.
To test if there is discrimination in the state, the Connecticut Fair Housing Center conducted tests where two people with the same profile went to the same real estate agent to get information on house listings. One of the testers was White and the other was Black or Latino. Their findings were published in the report Where Can We Go From Here?: The Results of Three Years of Fair Housing Testing in Connecticut, 2012-2015.
The tests were clear. Unequal treatment is pervasive in Connecticut. In more than 75% of the tests the Black tester received less favorable treatment than White testers when looking for a house to buy, and 55% of the tests showed less favorable treatment when looking for a place to rent. Latinos were treated less favorably in 61% of the tests when looking to rent.
How was this less favorable treatment shown? The center found that there were significant differences in which listings people were given. Even though the pairs of testers asked about the same areas, were prequalified for similar mortgage amounts, and had similar financial characteristics, the house listings given them overlapped by only 10%. The Black testers were sent fewer listings in areas that were greater than 91% White.
In some cases the Black buyer was not shown houses while the White buyer was. Or the Black buyer had to attend several in-person meetings with the agent before being shown a house, while the White buyer was shown a house at the first meeting. Or the Black tester was required to sign a buyer’s agreement while the White tester wasn’t.
More than half of the White testers were encouraged by the real estate agent by things such as offering help to get a higher mortgage pre-approval amount, offering additional appointments to see houses, and asking more questions to understand the White buyers needs. None of the Black testers received this encouragement.
Similarly, the Connecticut Fair Housing Center found unequal treatment in the rental market. In 55% of the tests, Blacks were treated less favorably. For instance, in a quarter of the cases, Black testers were quoted a higher price than the White tester or were not told about a rental incentive that reduced the rent. In a fifth of the cases the Black testers were told they had to have a good credit score or a credit score over a certain amount to qualify. Whites were not told anything about credit scores. A third of the time the Black tester was told the unit had been rented after the appointment while the White tester was not told this or that there were additional costs that the White tester was not told about.
The differential treatment happened most often when the Black testers were looking at neighborhoods that were more than 91% White. The center concluded: “Based on the tests that were done here, it appears that housing providers are attempting to prevent African-Americans from moving into areas with high concentrations of people who are White.” (p. 21)
The findings were similar when one of the testers was Latino. In 61% of the tests, Latinos were treated less favorably than Whites. The White testers were shown 53 rental units. The Latino testers were shown only 11. The Latino testers were treated differently in every census track, with the most different treatment happening in places that are between 73 and 91% White.
For the most part, the Black or Latino home seeker would not know they were being discriminated against. Nothing was overt or obvious. It is only through testing that the prevalence of unequal treatment can be discovered.
To test if there is discrimination in the state, the Connecticut Fair Housing Center conducted tests where two people with the same profile went to the same real estate agent to get information on house listings. One of the testers was White and the other was Black or Latino. Their findings were published in the report Where Can We Go From Here?: The Results of Three Years of Fair Housing Testing in Connecticut, 2012-2015.
The tests were clear. Unequal treatment is pervasive in Connecticut. In more than 75% of the tests the Black tester received less favorable treatment than White testers when looking for a house to buy, and 55% of the tests showed less favorable treatment when looking for a place to rent. Latinos were treated less favorably in 61% of the tests when looking to rent.
How was this less favorable treatment shown? The center found that there were significant differences in which listings people were given. Even though the pairs of testers asked about the same areas, were prequalified for similar mortgage amounts, and had similar financial characteristics, the house listings given them overlapped by only 10%. The Black testers were sent fewer listings in areas that were greater than 91% White.
In some cases the Black buyer was not shown houses while the White buyer was. Or the Black buyer had to attend several in-person meetings with the agent before being shown a house, while the White buyer was shown a house at the first meeting. Or the Black tester was required to sign a buyer’s agreement while the White tester wasn’t.
More than half of the White testers were encouraged by the real estate agent by things such as offering help to get a higher mortgage pre-approval amount, offering additional appointments to see houses, and asking more questions to understand the White buyers needs. None of the Black testers received this encouragement.
Similarly, the Connecticut Fair Housing Center found unequal treatment in the rental market. In 55% of the tests, Blacks were treated less favorably. For instance, in a quarter of the cases, Black testers were quoted a higher price than the White tester or were not told about a rental incentive that reduced the rent. In a fifth of the cases the Black testers were told they had to have a good credit score or a credit score over a certain amount to qualify. Whites were not told anything about credit scores. A third of the time the Black tester was told the unit had been rented after the appointment while the White tester was not told this or that there were additional costs that the White tester was not told about.
The differential treatment happened most often when the Black testers were looking at neighborhoods that were more than 91% White. The center concluded: “Based on the tests that were done here, it appears that housing providers are attempting to prevent African-Americans from moving into areas with high concentrations of people who are White.” (p. 21)
The findings were similar when one of the testers was Latino. In 61% of the tests, Latinos were treated less favorably than Whites. The White testers were shown 53 rental units. The Latino testers were shown only 11. The Latino testers were treated differently in every census track, with the most different treatment happening in places that are between 73 and 91% White.
For the most part, the Black or Latino home seeker would not know they were being discriminated against. Nothing was overt or obvious. It is only through testing that the prevalence of unequal treatment can be discovered.
Newsday conducted a thorough investigation of discrimination among real estate agents in Long Island in 2019.
You can watch how Black, Latino, and Asian testers are treated differently than White testers. https://projects.newsday.com/long-island/real-estate-agents-investigation/
You can watch how Black, Latino, and Asian testers are treated differently than White testers. https://projects.newsday.com/long-island/real-estate-agents-investigation/
Sources Used:
Connecticut Fair Housing Center, Where Can We Go From Here?: The Results of Three Years of Fair Housing Testing in Connecticut, 2012-2015. https://www.ctfairhousing.org/wp-content/uploads/Where-can-we-go-from-here-testing-report1.pdf
Connecticut Fair Housing Center, Where Can We Go From Here?: The Results of Three Years of Fair Housing Testing in Connecticut, 2012-2015. https://www.ctfairhousing.org/wp-content/uploads/Where-can-we-go-from-here-testing-report1.pdf