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Protected Classes in Real Estate: Real estate license exam questions.
Dec 11, 2024
Today we're going to look at protected classes in real estate, an essential fair housing real exam topic. Most importantly, we’ll cover what you need to know for the real estate exam and your future career. Here are the chapters for this video. Feel free to jump around accordingly: 0:00 Introduction 0:57 Seven Protected Classes Under the FHA 3:20 What is the Fair Housing Act? 3:46 Protected Classes Discrimination Examples 4:31 Who Enforces the FHA? 5:22 Why its a Big Deal 7:10 Fair Housing and Protected Class Tips 7:35 Other Protected Classes 9:04 What Do You Need to Know for the Exam? #realestate #realestateexam #realestatelicense -=-=-=-=- Don’t forget to like and subscribe for more!
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0:00
as you undoubtedly know we live in a
0:02
world home to many different cultures
0:04
Creeds and walks of life but you may
0:07
wonder how does this play a role in the
0:09
world of real estate well it plays a
0:11
significant part in passing the real
0:12
estate exam and succeeding as a real
0:14
estate professional to better understand
0:15
we must dive into the topic of protected
0:18
classes hello everybody it's Zach here
0:20
from Real Estate licenseward.com today
0:21
we're talking about protected classes in
0:23
real estate we're going to cover what
0:24
you need to know for your career and of
0:26
course what you need to know for the
0:27
real estate exam let's get started
0:29
alright so there are seven protected
0:31
classes in real estate the federal fair
0:34
housing laws are designed to safeguard
0:35
awareness of these protected classes is
0:38
key to preventing housing discrimination
0:40
and ensuring equal opportunity for all
0:42
but exactly who is considered a
0:44
protected class and how does the fair
0:47
housing act defend them well let's talk
0:49
about protected classes to start so who
0:51
are the seven protected classes in real
0:54
estate well there are seven protected
0:55
classes under the FHA and they are One
0:59
race two 2 color 3 national origin for
1:03
religion 5 sex including sexual
1:05
orientation and gender identity six
1:08
familiar status and then seven
1:10
disability so what exactly does this
1:12
mean well a real estate professional or
1:14
a landlord cannot deny housing to anyone
1:16
with these protected classes nor can
1:19
they treat them differently to do so
1:20
would be a violation of the fair housing
1:22
act and be against the law now let's
1:25
dive into each protected class for a
1:27
deeper understanding of how this works
1:29
so let's start with race the FHA
1:31
protects people against all Races a
1:34
building superintendent for example
1:35
cannot make racial comments toward a
1:37
tenant or treat them differently than
1:39
other tenants of other races next would
1:42
be color so denying someone housing
1:44
assistance due to the color of their
1:45
skin also violates fair housing law if a
1:48
real estate agent or landlord asked for
1:50
a photograph from a potential buyer and
1:52
subsequently denies them this can
1:54
indicate housing discrimination next is
1:57
national origin national origin means a
1:59
person birthplace ancestry culture it is
2:02
illegal to discriminate against
2:04
prospective buyers or home buyers
2:06
because of where they are from and
2:08
landlord asking a tenant to verify their
2:10
immigration status could be considered a
2:12
form of harassment next would be
2:15
religion so to deny someone housing or
2:17
treat them differently because of their
2:18
religion obviously that would be a
2:20
violation for example if real estate
2:22
agent tries to steer a Jewish Family
2:25
away from a particular neighborhood a
2:27
legal issue could ensue then there's sex
2:30
or gender identity a tenant or home
2:32
buyer cannot be discriminated against
2:34
sex or gender identity If a landlord
2:37
were to sexually harassed a tenant or
2:39
deny housing to someone who is
2:40
transgender things like that that could
2:42
be a violation of the FHA familiar
2:45
status just means in children things
2:48
like that so let's say you know maybe a
2:51
family has a bunch of kids and you treat
2:54
them differently because they have kids
2:55
versus not having kids that could be an
2:57
example of a familiar status
2:58
discrimination and then lastly obviously
3:01
disability so people with disabilities
3:03
are a protected class so if an apartment
3:05
complex is not accessible to tenants
3:07
wheelchairs this could violate the FHA
3:10
housing providers must make responsible
3:12
accommodations so that disabled people
3:14
have the same opportunities as
3:16
non-disabled people it's as simple as
3:18
that now that we have a better idea of
3:20
you know who the Fair Housing Act
3:22
protects from discrimination let's let's
3:25
discuss the fair housing act a little
3:27
bit and how can we make sure that we're
3:28
always obviously not violating it so
3:31
what is the fair housing act well the
3:33
Fair Housing Act is the law that
3:34
prohibits discrimination in the buying
3:36
selling renting or financing of housing
3:38
this law also commonly goes by the name
3:41
Civil Rights Act of 1968 or Title VII
3:45
so how can we ensure that we're doing
3:47
you know business all all well and good
3:49
well let's look at some examples of
3:52
housing discrimination that maybe you
3:54
might not think are discrimination or
3:57
maybe they're a little harder to catch
3:59
so maybe charging higher rent for
4:02
applicants with children offering lower
4:05
prices you know or extensions for some
4:08
sort of sexual favor uh renting out a
4:10
housing unit that is inaccessible to
4:12
disabled people refusing to repair a
4:15
unit because maybe a uh the tenant is
4:19
like transgender or something like that
4:21
I'll put the list on the screen you
4:23
could look at more of them if you're
4:24
interested but I think you get the gist
4:25
so those actions all would constitute a
4:28
violation of the fair housing act so who
4:31
exactly enforces the Fair Housing Act
4:33
then well it's not Ghostbusters it's the
4:36
Department of Housing and Urban
4:38
Development they are responsible for
4:40
enforcing fair housing loss and fighting
4:42
discrimination and housing according to
4:45
the HUD the Hud's website violating the
4:47
fasting act can result in a hefty fine
4:49
so it could be anywhere from Sixteen
4:52
thousand dollars to seventy thousand
4:54
dollars depending on how many violations
4:56
you've had now obviously the stakes May
4:59
get even higher than that because a lot
5:02
of times you could potentially risk jail
5:04
time depending on how big the
5:06
circumstance is and how many issues are
5:08
involved so how common is all this well
5:12
you might be thinking great with all
5:13
these loss in place you know how housing
5:15
discrimination is the thing of thing of
5:17
the past well fortunately that's that's
5:19
not exactly the case according to a
5:21
couple studies
5:22
discrimination and housing remains a
5:24
widespread issue across the United
5:26
States we looked at one study
5:29
specifically by the National Low Income
5:32
Housing Coalition and the study showed
5:34
that African-American and Hispanic
5:36
renters received lower response rates
5:38
from property managers compared to their
5:40
white counterparts this would obviously
5:43
constitute a clear violation of the FHA
5:45
as these groups are protected under
5:48
those you know protected classes so what
5:50
can be done to ensure that housing is
5:52
fair well first anyone who feels they're
5:55
a victim of discrimination in housing
5:56
should file a complaint with the HUD now
5:59
obviously as a real estate professional
6:02
it's your job to take these things into
6:04
consideration of one of your clients
6:06
mention something to you you need to
6:08
refer them to the you know proper proper
6:11
guidance so again that would mean you
6:13
know hey you know check out the
6:15
Department of Housing and Urban
6:16
Development review those things refer
6:18
those things to that but obviously the
6:20
responsibility primarily falls on those
6:22
property managers landlords and real
6:25
estate agents that you know are dealing
6:26
with these things all housing providers
6:28
should follow these federal laws and act
6:30
in good faith that means you know you a
6:33
real estate professional or future real
6:35
estate professional must play an
6:37
important role in this issue now you
6:40
might think hey I would never
6:41
discriminate against anybody why do I
6:43
need to learn all this well even if real
6:46
estate professionals feel like they're
6:48
not being discriminary they could still
6:51
violate for Housing Act and cause a
6:53
legal issue this is why it's crucial to
6:55
be well versed in the best practices for
6:57
fair housing not only will this help you
6:59
pass the real estate exam but it could
7:01
prevent you from getting into hot water
7:03
down the road so some general tips and
7:05
I'll leave them on the screen I won't
7:06
explain them too much but you know have
7:08
a strong understanding of the state and
7:10
federal law be careful with the language
7:12
that you use in property listings get
7:15
ready to be tested on pretty much
7:16
anything and then obviously you know
7:18
treat everyone equally you know again
7:20
just do the right thing trying to Fair
7:23
as possible so you might be watching
7:24
right now and wondering well listen in
7:27
my state there's other protected classes
7:29
and that's true there are other
7:32
protected classes in real estate other
7:34
than the ones that I talked about today
7:36
states and cities have their own fair
7:39
housing laws many of which are not
7:41
backed by the fair housing act now this
7:43
does not mean that you know those seven
7:46
those seven protected classes don't
7:48
apply they apply everywhere it doesn't
7:51
matter what state or city you are in
7:52
these seven will apply to everybody
7:55
however there are additional ones for
7:58
some states and some cities so examples
8:00
of that would be age citizenship marital
8:04
status status of Veteran or military
8:07
service member put them on the screen
8:09
for you guys and you could pause and and
8:11
read these if you want but really what
8:14
is in your best interest is to find out
8:16
specifically what your state does so if
8:19
you actually check out our website we
8:20
have a blog post version of this and
8:23
it'll kind of help you understand this
8:26
aspect a little bit more so what type of
8:28
housing is not covered under the Fair
8:30
Housing Act well the FHA covers most
8:33
housing but there are some exceptions
8:35
generally speaking any thing that's
8:37
considered a dwelling chances are it's
8:39
covered by the federal fair housing act
8:41
but there are some exceptions so maybe
8:44
private clubs hotels and motels housing
8:48
belonging to religious organizations
8:49
things of that nature and again I'll put
8:52
a list on the screen so you guys can
8:53
review it but primarily you know you
8:56
just again need to be aware of the
8:57
exceptions which don't worry we're going
8:59
to talk a lot about on this channel and
9:01
again the specific protected classes in
9:03
your state so what do you need to know
9:05
for the real estate exam well for the
9:07
real estate exam you must be aware of
9:08
the fair housing act and its protected
9:10
classes the Fair Housing Act is the law
9:13
that prohibits discrimination in the
9:14
buying selling renting or financing of
9:17
housing the seven protected classes
9:19
under the FHA are race color national
9:23
origin religion sex including sexual
9:26
orientation and gender identity familiar
9:28
status and disability now you might feel
9:30
like an expert right now on the subject
9:32
but there's always more to learn when it
9:34
comes to fair housing for more on fair
9:36
housing click the video here and click
9:38
here to subscribe thank you so much for
9:40
watching until next time
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