Fair Housing

One very important aspect of our responsibilities as property managers is compliance with fair housing.  Having attended many educational events related to the topic, I find it interesting as to how this subject is usually taught.  For some reason instructors and course leaders teach by what I call "intimidation" rather than through education.   Almost all of the teachings are telling our teams what we want them to avoid, rather than teaching them what we want them to do.  I relate this to a simple example which I believe is relevant.  If our property personnel are concentrating on the negative and constantly looking over their back, will their efficacy be diminished in reaching goals and objectives in front of them?  I believe the answer is yes.

I have also found in my studies and teachings that over 80% of our teams cannot tell you what the seven protected classes are, and this includes upper management.  If executives and upper management don't know, how can they effectively lead others in any area so important.   How many of you can state without beating your head against the wall or guessing, what the classes are?   I rest my case!  If our team members don't know the classes, they cannot fully practice fair housing and therefore increase the chances of a violation.  Again, can't hit a target if they can't see it...or don't recognize it as a target! 

By presenting what we want our people to do rather than what we want them to avoid, we serve the same purpose while keeping them focused on the target in front of them.  We tell them how lawsuits, fines, HUD and other pitfalls can expose them and their organization, and focus on what ramifications are if they are in violation.  Basically we "scare" them into what they need to avoid from a fair housing standpoint not what they should be doing, again keeping them looking over their shoulder rather than forward.   While violation action can be scary, I believe there is a very different way of presenting this topic.

1.  Give them examples they can relate to when it comes to fair housing.   Professional trainers know if you can provide relative information and present it in a manner people can relate to, they will retain it.  The term used is cognitive recognition where our minds understand something because it provides a conscious awareness of it.
2.  Instead of an annual refresher, condition your team of protected classes with subliminal reminders.  This might include simple reminders at the bottom of emails above your address information.    It also includes occasionally asking at site visits of ALL personnel on a site the classes are.  Almost 96% of my research shows service has no clue what they are either, even higher than our office staff.
3.  Be gentle in reminding some of the pitfalls, and don't use intimidation as a training tactic.  As an example asking a leasing person how something could be perceived if I offer refreshments to one person and not another.  Remember, most fair housing complaints are based on "perceived" treatment making it more subjective than objective.
4.  Ask for their experiences of how they feel they may not have been treated fairly.  This could be related to job, shopping, customer service, or other areas.  Their experiences and feedback again provide relevance to that perception factor in fair housing.   Remind them also that treating others "fairly" is only part of the picture, as the word "equal" is also part of what we do.  Sometimes people try to distinguish between the two, with either one of them being considered in fair housing.   We cannot assume corporate knows Fair Housing either.  Many CEO's, CFO's, and COO's have never run a community or even been in a position of regional manager or VP.  This is especially true of those working on our web sites and someone that might be in the position of CIO (Chief Information Officer).  Very recently I was looking at a position with a company as their regional manager and doing my homework as I always do.  At one of their property sites they had listed the application fee was, "$25 for single and $50 for married couples."  Does anyone other than myself see how this is a direct violation of familiar status?  I found another site while doing some consulting work for another company where they stated, "we do not allow pets so don't ask."  Not only was this a very unprofessional way of saying something, it also could turn away someone with a service animal where they may think this could be construed as discriminatory. 

Fair housing is basic and not complicated.  Treat everyone with "respect," "dignity," and "kindness," and you will be in compliance.  We all have the right to be treated fairly and everyone wants to be treated equally.   Give them a target they can understand and see, and they will hit it.

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