Note: The following is from a special 3-part
series
originally published in Today's REALTOR magazine in 1998.
Milestones in the history of fair housing in the United States.
Jan. 14, 1968
Under a new rule effective Jan. 1, brokers receiving listings of repossessions from the
VA are asked to certify they don't discriminate in the sale or rental of VA properties.
April 4, 1968
Civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated.
April 11, 1968
President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the quickly passed Civil Rights Act of 1968
containing Title VIII, now known as the Fair Housing Act, making it illegal to
discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, or national origin.
June 17, 1968
U.S. Supreme Court, in Jones v. Mayer, upholds the Civil Rights Act of 1866 prohibiting
"all racial discrimination, private as well as public, in the sale or rental of
property."
May 1972
NAR issues its Code for Equal Opportunity in Housing recognizing basic fair housing
obligations governing REALTORS: provide equal services and equal employment opportunity
practices; don't volunteer discriminatory information on neighborhoods; don't engage in
panic peddling; don't display or circulate ad materials that show preference based on
discrimination. Those who violate the spirit of the code or any of its provisions are
subject to disciplinary action.
Aug. 22, 1974
The federal Housing and Community Development Act adds a prohibition against
discrimination based on sex.
1974
NAR, in support of its Code of Equal Opportunity, adopts Article 10 to the Code of
Ethics that REALTORS shall not deny equal professional services on the basis of race,
creed, sex, or country of national origin.
Dec. 6, 1975
NAR and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development enter into the Voluntary
Affirmative Marketing Agreement, whereby HUD and NAR will "work out programs of
voluntary compliance and of enforcement." By 1995 almost all real estate boards have
signed VAMA.
1976-87
Several attempts by Congress to amend 1968 Fair Housing Act fail; the attempts are
strongly opposed by NAR. Among the attempts is a provision to fund a Fair Housing
Initiatives Program in the proposed 1985 and 1986 federal budgets that would provide $4
million for "testing." In 1987, NAR proposes that the FHIP testing program go
forward as a "demonstration" program that would include guidelines acceptable to
NAR; Congress approves. It becomes a full-fledged government program in the early '90s.
1982
U.S. Supreme Court, in 9-0 decision in Havens Realty Corp. v. Coleman, 455 U.S. 363
(1982), upholds ability of a fair housing organization and a black tester, who was given
false housing information because of his race, to bring a suit.
Sept. 13, 1988
NAR actively supports the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988. Bill is approved by 94-3
vote in the Senate and a 367-23 vote in the House. The legislation is signed by President
Reagan on Sept. 13. The new law:
Guarantees due process of law for defendants; provides for redress in administrative
law proceedings as well as in federal court-a key NAR victory
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