A client watchdog filed complaints with California’s Civil Rights Division towards 200 corporations after an undercover sting discovered that the vouchers have been refused repeatedly throughout the state.
Whether or not it’s refining what you are promoting mannequin, mastering new applied sciences, or discovering methods to capitalize on the following market surge, Inman Join New York will put together you to take daring steps ahead. The Subsequent Chapter is about to start. Be a part of it. Be a part of us and hundreds of actual property leaders Jan. 22-24, 2025.
Coldwell Banker, eXp, Sotheby’s Worldwide Realty and RE/MAX have been amongst greater than 200 brokerages and landlords swept up in an undercover sting concentrating on corporations accused of rejecting tenants who depend on Part 8 Housing in California, in line with experiences.
The investigation by the patron watchdog Housing Rights Initiative resulted in 112 complaints of brokerages and landlords rejecting potential tenants who sought to make use of Part 8 Housing Selection Vouchers as a supply of revenue to safe housing. These complaints have been filed Tuesday with California’s Civil Rights Division, the group stated in an announcement.
“Over the course of a year, HRI trained, equipped, and deployed an army of undercover investigators, who posed as prospective tenants with Section 8 vouchers,” HRI stated in an announcement Tuesday. “These investigators contacted hundreds of brokers and landlords by text message to determine compliance with California’s fair housing laws.”
A whopping 70 p.c of potential tenants who inquired about Part 8 vouchers in Los Angeles have been rejected, in line with the watchdog group. The Housing Rights Initiative additionally discovered that investigators have been discriminated towards 44 p.c of the time in San Francisco, 53 p.c in Oakland and 58 p.c in San Jose.
HRI launched a Google doc itemizing every case of alleged discrimination, together with timestamps, dealer names, listings and screenshots of textual content messages. The texts revealed a variety of responses from brokers, a few of whom expressed reluctance to take care of the “hassle” of working with the Part 8 program, whereas others claimed landlords weren’t registered with this system or that Part 8 was not eligible for explicit listings.
Textual content messages submitted as proof — although not independently verified by Inman — seem to point out brokers from eXp and Sotheby’s rejecting candidates who inquired about Part 8 vouchers for particular listings.
Inman requested feedback on the allegations from eXp Realty, Sotheby’s Worldwide Realty and RE/MAX. A spokesperson for Coldwell Banker informed Inman it was reviewing the claims.
“Coldwell Banker Realty advocates for fair housing practices and we offer enhanced training, awareness and staffing measures to promote equitable access to housing for all,” a spokesperson for Coldwell Banker Realty informed Inman on Wednesday, “We are currently reviewing the claims.”
In 2019, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed laws prohibiting housing discrimination primarily based on private traits, together with revenue supply. The regulation is designed to guard contributors in housing voucher packages and guarantee they obtain a good and thorough vetting course of when making use of for housing, in line with the invoice.
“The goal of these filings is to get the real estate companies to stop their discriminatory housing practices and exacerbating California’s homelessness and affordable housing crisis,” HRI stated in an announcement.
“Furthermore, the result of HRI’s investigation underscores the need for proactive and systematic enforcement to combat housing discrimination and for the State of California to provide adequate funding for the California Civil Rights Department to meet the scale of the problem,” the group added.
Analysis by the City Institute in 2018 discovered that as much as 76 p.c of landlords within the Los Angeles space refused to just accept Part 8 vouchers, with the speed rising to 82 p.c in low-poverty neighborhoods. Los Angeles Instances reporting in 2019 confirmed landlords cited considerations about pink tape and economics as causes for refusing vouchers, noting they might cost greater than the federal government was keen to pay.
