Well, this is embarrassing...
/The summer real estate market is definitely busier and hotter (sorry) than winter and spring! Amidst all the hubbub I seem to have neglected my blog; while it's super that I've been super busy with existing and new clients, I'd like to take a moment to breathe. Inhale. Exhale.
One part about real estate you don't often read about is how we're held accountable to the codes and laws that govern our behavior. Naturally, a client or another agent could report a violation*, but there is also what we call testing. Most frequently used to enforce fair housing violations, testing involves fair housing groups contacting agents or landlords, usually posing as prospective clients or a series of prospective clients, to ensure that the agent or landlord is following established guidelines...and that they follow those guidelines consistently for every client regardless of their status or class. There are several protected classes under Ohio law:
It is illegal, pursuant to the Ohio Fair Housing Law, Division (H) of Section 4112.02 of the Revised Code and the Federal Fair Housing law, 42 U.S.C.A. 3601, as amended, to refuse to sell, transfer, assign, rent, lease, sublease or finance housing accommodations, refuse to negotiate for the sale or rental of housing accommodations, or otherwise deny or make unavailable housing accommodations because of race, color, religion, sex, familial status as defined in section 4112.01 of the Revised Code, ancestry, military status as defined in that section, disability as defined in that section, or national origin or to so discriminate in advertising the sale or rental of housing, in the financing of housing, or in the provision of real estate brokerage services. It is also illegal, for profit, to induce or attempt to induce a person to sell or rent a dwelling by representations regarding the entry into the neighborhood of a person or persons belonging to one of the protected classes. (Emphasis mine, Source)**
I'm pretty sure I was tested this week. I'll never know for sure, unless I made a mistake, but I was contacted by a woman who wanted more information on one of my listings, and expressed an interest in scheduling some additional showings with me that would include that property. I set up a custom MLS search for her, from which she chose her favorites (I don't usually recommend specific properties without showing someone all possible matches for the search criteria -- that could be construed as steering a client to or away from a particular area). I was just waiting for her to confirm the showings, which would have started tomorrow.
But today, her email address is no longer valid. I never got a phone number because I'm an idiot who forgot to ask for it, and when she called me it showed up "No Caller ID."
I was disappointed for about 30 minutes. No one likes to feel like they've done work for no reason. But then the testing theory occurred to me, and I realized that this could have been my chance to prove that I'm a friendly, honest, ethical agent who just wants to help someone buy a home. And that actually makes me feel pretty good.
P.S. If the person I'm writing about is an actual client and we've just had a communication breakdown, thank you for inspiring a blog post & give me a call when you have a chance!
* If you feel that an agent has treated you illegally or unfairly, you can report their actions to their broker, the local Board of REALTORS® (if they are a member), or the department in your state that governs real estate licensing. In Ohio, this is the Ohio Division of Real Estate & Professional Licensing.
** The Code of Ethics adopted by the National Association of REALTORS adds sexual orientation and gender identity to the above classes; those above are protected under federal or state law (or both). I'll save explaining that distinction for another post.