When comparing the week of April 12 – April 18 with the week prior, the number of times an RMLS™ subscriber opened a Supra lockbox decreased 3.7% in Washington and decreased 7.4% in Oregon.
Click the chart for a larger view
Archive
View an archive of the Supra lockbox statistical reports on Flickr.
By Jo Becker, Education/Outreach Specialist, Fair Housing Council of Oregon
This is the last in a series of blogs about April being the federal Fair Housing Month. Fair housing laws apply to all housing transactions—sales, mortgage lending, home insurance, HOA’s, rentals and neighbor-on-neighbor harassment. The law even applies to student housing, designated senior housing, assisted living facilities and nursing homes as well as adult foster care homes and shelters, etc.
We often think of fair housing in terms of “them.” But to be clear, we all belong to one or more protected class. Each of us has a sex, a race and a religion (or not). We all have the right to choose where we live and to enjoy our housing without regard to protected class status. The bottom line is that fair housing applies to everyone and running afoul of the law not only harms individuals, families and society, but it can also be a costly mistake.
Because discrimination continues and there is still a lack of working knowledge about fair housing laws by both housing consumers and providers, FHCO proactively provides information on the law, acts as a resource for questions about fair housing and responds to complaints of illegal housing discrimination throughout Oregon and SW Washington. Despite our efforts, one out of every ten Oregonians believes he or she has been a victim of illegal housing discrimination.
Please be proactive and ensure that you understand your rights and responsibilities under the law! Please make an attempt to learn about fair housing and also visit the Breaking News section of our entry page at www.FHCO.org to read about national and local cases surrounding these related issues.
Are you interested in attending a fair housing class (good for core credits!)?
We post upcoming classes on our entry page under the heading of Events and Classes.
Are you interested in having an in-house presentation or class for your office, company or organization? You can find our current class list along with pricing information at: www.FHCO.org/pdfs/classlist.pdf.
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This article brought to you by the Fair Housing Council; a nonprofit serving the state of Oregon and SW Washington. Learn more and/or sign up for our free, periodic newsletter at www.FHCO.org.
Qs about your rights and responsibilities under fair housing laws?
Visit www.FHCO.org or call 1-800-424-3247 Ext. 2.
Qs about this article? Do you want to schedule an in-office fair housing training program or speaker for corporate or association functions?
Contact Jo Becker at jbecker@FHCO.org or 503-453-4016.
Have property to promote?
Advertise vacancies or for-sales free across the Portland/Vancouver market at: www.HousingConnections.org
When comparing the week of April 5 – April 11 with the week prior, the number of times an RMLS™ subscriber opened a Supra lockbox increased 33% in Washington and 26.6% in Oregon.
Click the chart for a larger view
Archive
View an archive of the Supra lockbox statistical reports on Flickr.
By Jo Becker, Education/Outreach Specialist, Fair Housing Council of Oregon
Fair Housing Month, which falls in April, commemorates the anniversary of the passage of the Fair Housing Act . This year it also marks our 20th anniversary of serving Oregon and SW Washington as the Fair Housing Council. April is a good time to reflect on what life was like before these rights were passed and to think about why civil rights activists and policy leaders pushed for their passage.
There was a time in Oregon’s history that it was actually illegal for African Americans and mixed-race individuals to be present in this state. Let’s be clear, slavery wasn’t legal here, but “those people” were not welcome to be here either. There was a time when African-Americans and Asians knew “sundown laws” were common and rushed through jurisdictions to assure they weren’t caught in certain towns after dark and risk being exposed to the threat of whippings by a county official.
There was also a time when Oregon was declared the most discriminatory state north of the Mason-Dixon Line; we boasted thousands of Ku Klux Klan (KKK) members targeting minorities, immigrants and Catholics.
Is housing discrimination still a problem today? Unfortunately, yes! The KKK has largely disappeared. However, other white supremacist groups have not. Cross burnings in our area are rare, yet there have been two reports of cross burnings in just the last couple of years. We have also seen an alarming number of hate crimes and harassment based on religion, national origin, disability and sexual orientation. And, who hasn’t heard about the white supremacist group that recently visited John Day and was looking to purchase real estate there in order to make the town its new training and headquarters location?
Our Fair Housing Hotline also receives more than 3,000 calls annually. We have had instances of housing providers giving false information in order to keep out “certain people.” We’ve recently seen cases where landlords have required applicants to attend church and provide verification of such from their pastors. Not too many years ago there was also a home on the market in Gresham with a sign in the window that read, “Whites Only.” Historically (and reaffirmed by recent, local testing ), equally qualified testers are sometimes quoted different prices or offered different levels of service when the only distinction between them is a protected class status such as race, national origin, familial status, or sexual orientation. All of these instances prove that housing discrimination exists.
Please use this April as an excuse to get educated about Oregon and Washington’s troubled past, and also about civil rights and fair housing movements on the national level. Please learn the reality of the situation today—how far we’ve come and how far we have yet to go. Furthermore, get involved, speak out and make a difference!
Visit http://fhco.org to learn more about fair housing and the FHCO. You can also take a quick Quiz to test your fair housing knowledge and find Easy Ways to Get Involved—each linked to our entry page.
This article brought to you by the Fair Housing Council; a nonprofit serving the state of Oregon and SW Washington. Learn more and/or sign up for our free, periodic newsletter at http://fhco.org.
Qs about your rights and responsibilities under fair housing laws?
Visit http://fhco.org or call 1-800-424-3247 Ext. 2.
Qs about this article? Do you want to schedule an in-office fair housing training program or speaker for corporate or association functions?
Contact Jo Becker at jbecker@FHCO.org or 503-453-4016.
Have property to promote?
Advertise vacancies or for-sales free across the Portland/Vancouver market at: http://housingconnections.org
When comparing the week of March 29 – April 4 with the week prior, the number of times an RMLS™ subscriber opened a Supra lockbox decreased 19.5% in Washington and decreased 12.1% in Oregon.
Click the chart for a larger view
Archive
View an archive of the Supra lockbox statistical reports on Flickr.