Fair housing is one of the most important aspects of the housing industry with regard to compliance. The concept of fair housing brings consumers the right to choose housing free from unlawful discrimination. There are numerous fair housing legislations at federal and state levels that protect people from discrimination in housing transactions such as rentals, sales, lending, and insurance, and this is an area marketer in the real estate arena should pay constant attention to.
In today’s episode, we have a fair housing expert as our guest. Doug Chasick, aka That Fair Housing Guy™, is Digible’s resident fair housing consultant. Throughout today’s episode, we talk about how fair housing has evolved in the last few decades, the current status of fair-housing-related policies, how the policies may change in the future, optimizing marketing campaigns to comply with fair housing requirements, and more.
Doug started his career in the retail industry, and he gradually shifted his career path to fair housing. We start the conversation talking about his earlier business venture, The Apartment Doctor™, and how he became That Fair Housing Guy™. Doug entered into the industry in the 70s, which was the time the fair housing concepts were being introduced to the industry after The Fair Housing Act of 1968 prohibited discrimination concerning the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race, religion, national origin or sex. Doug shares his thoughts on how the industry was different back then and how it has evolved through the next few decades.
Moving on to policies, we talk about how the current policies related to fair housing are structures. Doug shares his take on how the current federal administration has been focusing on improving fair housing legislation and possible changes that may occur in the near future. Another area we cover today is how marketers can optimize their strategies to comply with fair housing policies. Doug talks in-depth about targeting the right audiences, how to strategically implement fair housing concepts in marketing, how to analyze the risk associated with marketing, and some tips for getting the job done while maintaining compliance.
Toward the end of the episode, we talk about the most common violations reported regarding fair housing policies, some of the trends Doug sees, and possible reasons for them. Furthermore, Doug shares his take on the accountability and possible penalties associated with policy violations. We wrap up the conversation with a few entertaining stories from Doug’s decades-long career.
[06:53] Doug’s Background – How Doug started his career in retail and moved into the apartment industry and his fair housing work.
[14:03] Evolution of Fair Housing – Doug dives into how the industry was like in the 70s when he first got into the industry and how it has evolved throughout the decades.
[18:44] Policies – Doug shares his take on how the current policies related to fair housing are set up and how the current federal government may intervene to improve these policies.
[24:29] Marketing and Fair Housing – How the concept of fair housing alters the traditional way of marketing and how marketers should prepare to implement fair housing compliant marketing strategies.
[33:42] Targeting the Right Audience – Doug shares his thoughts on how to optimize marketing efforts in a way that reaches the right audience while complying with fair housing concepts.
[46:26] Most Common Violations – Doug talks about the most common fair housing violation claims he has been observing and some of the patterns he sees around complaints and possible causes for these trends.
[53:55] Consequences – Penalties, fines, and other consequences an operator might have to face in case of a complaint or a federal lawsuit related to fair housing.
