Suffolk Law’s Housing Discrimination Testing Program (HDTP) is spearheading a state bill that adds teeth to the punishment of real estate brokers and landlords who discriminate against prospective tenants.
The bill would, for the first time, allow fair-housing programs vetted by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development—including Suffolk’s program—to refer evidence of alleged broker discrimination directly to the state’s Board of Registration of Real Estate Brokers and Salespersons. The board would be required to review each case and determine if a broker’s license should be suspended. Suffolk’s testing program teamed up with state representatives and a statewide coalition of fair-housing advocates to spearhead the legislation.
A 2020 study by HDTP, co-authored by the Analysis Group and funded by The Boston Foundation, revealed rampant discrimination in the local housing market. The study found that housing providers showed Suffolk’s Black undercover renters (also called testers) about half the number of apartments they showed to Suffolk’s white testers. Brokers regularly cut off communications with Black testers and offered white testers more incentives to rent.
The study found evidence of various types of race discrimination 71% of the time. Testers with a federal low-income Section 8 voucher faced discrimination nearly nine out of 10 times. Yet Suffolk’s fair-housing experts could not find a single case of a broker suspension for the three years between January 2017 and January 2020.
By Michael Fisch
Law community
In just over a year, the HDTP has secured more than $1.2 million in grant funding from the White House’s American Rescue Plan, HUD, the city of Boston, and the state Department of Housing and Community Development—part of over $4 million in grants received by HDTP since it launched in 2012. The Rescue Plan dollars, through HUD, will fund fair-housing outreach and housing search services.
Increasing the Number of Cases Brought to Justice
“Imagine a single mother working two jobs. She needs to find an apartment as soon as possible, but she’s turned away by a broker because of her race or her housing voucher—which is a regular occurrence,” says Catherine LaRaia, an attorney and clinical fellow in Suffolk’s testing program.
If that single mother wanted to pursue the matter, LaRaia continues, she would have to file a complaint with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD) and persuade an attorney to take the case—all while searching for a place to live. In the rare cases that do get filed, she says, offending brokers regularly settle the matter for a few thousand dollars, returning to work with no further penalties.
“The responsibility of fighting housing discrimination shouldn’t only fall on victims,” LaRaia says. “If the bill passes, many discrimination cases will be brought to the real estate board directly through testing agencies, and it will be easier to suspend a broker’s license.”
Image by Michael J. Clarke
$1.2 Million in Grants, from the White House Rescue Plan and Beyond
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Suffolk Law's Housing Discrimination Testing Program (HDTP) is spearheading a state bill that adds teeth to the punishment of real estate brokers and landlords who discriminate against prospective tenants.
The bill would, for the first time, allow fair-housing programs vetted by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development—including Suffolk’s program—to refer evidence of alleged broker discrimination directly to the state's Board of Registration of Real Estate Brokers and Salespersons. The board would be required to review each case and determine if a broker’s license should be suspended.
Suffolk’s testing program teamed up with state representatives and a statewide coalition of fair-housing advocates to spearhead the legislation.
A 2020 Suffolk Law School study, co-authored by the Analysis Group and funded by The Boston Foundation, revealed rampant discrimination in the local housing market. The study found that housing providers showed Suffolk’s Black undercover renters (also called testers) about half the number of apartments they showed to Suffolk’s white testers. Brokers regularly cut off communications with Black testers and offered white testers more incentives to rent.
The study found evidence of various types of race discrimination 71% of the time. Testers with a federal low-income Section 8 voucher faced discrimination nearly nine out of 10 times. Yet Suffolk’s fair-housing experts could not find a single case of a broker suspension for the three years between January 2017 and January 2020.
By Michael Fisch
Law community
In just over a year, the HDTP has secured more than $1.2 million in grant funding from the White House’s American Rescue Plan, HUD, the city of Boston, and the state Department of Housing and Community Development—part of over $4 million in grants received by HDTP since it launched in 2012. The Rescue Plan dollars, through HUD, will fund fair-housing outreach and housing search services.
Increasing the Number of Cases Brought to Justice
$1.2 Million in Grants, from the White House Rescue Plan and Beyond
Return to Table of Contents