Each April, Realtors nationwide recognize Fair Housing Month and commemorate the passage of the federal Fair Housing Act of 1968.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Fair Housing Act of 1968 protects people from discrimination when they are renting or buying a home, getting a mortgage, seeking housing assistance or engaging in other housing-related activities,\u201d said Reading-Berks Association of Realtors President Melissa Fox. \u201cIt prohibits discrimination in housing based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status and disability.<\/p>\n
\u201cHere in Pennsylvania, we also have the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act, which protects against housing discrimination based on age, ancestry, and usage, handling or training of assistance animals for persons with disabilities.\u201d<\/p>\n
Equal opportunities for homeownership have come a long way, but discrimination still occurs throughout every step of the homebuying process, and homeownership rates for minority groups continue to trail behind.<\/p>\n
As members of the National Association of Realtors, Realtors are committed to upholding fair housing practices and are required to complete fair housing and anti-bias training upon becoming members, as well as every three years thereafter.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlthough April is Fair Housing Month, Realtors are committed to upholding and advocating for fair housing all year round,\u201d Fox said. \u201cWe believe that everyone should have the opportunity to own a home of their own, have a foundation for financial security and build long-term and generational wealth, regardless of identity or background.<\/p>\n
\u201cEach day, we are committed to advancing equal housing opportunities and supporting people in reaching their dreams of homeownership. We strive to uphold these principles, fostering inclusive communities and ensuring equal access to homeownership for all.\u201d<\/p>\n
Homebuyers and sellers can seek products, services and prices from multiple companies to ensure that they\u2019re receiving fair treatment. If consumers believe they\u2019ve experienced a fair housing issue, they should contact the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission at phrc.pa.gov<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Each April, Realtors nationwide recognize Fair Housing Month and commemorate the passage of the federal Fair Housing Act…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":170058,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[60,3550,128,130,129,1081,289],"class_list":{"0":"post-170057","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-reading","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-home-and-garden","10":"tag-reading-city","11":"tag-reading-city-headlines","12":"tag-reading-city-news","13":"tag-real-estate","14":"tag-things-to-do"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170057","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=170057"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170057\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/170058"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=170057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=170057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=170057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}