“Fair Housing Isn’t Always Fair.” That’s a quote from Doug Chasick, Chief Learning Officer and Senior VP of Multifamily Professional Services for CallSource, a web based education provider.

Awhile back, I received an email from Rachelle LaCroix, on behalf of the National Apartment Association(NAA). Their educational arm has developed a 4.5 hour seminar/course called “Fair Housing and Beyond” which is available through NAA affiliates, IREM chapters or direct-to-real estate companies. A link to this material follows at the end of this post. Although it looks to me like it might be of greater interest to property management company executives, larger property managers and their vendors and agents, I think that the interview that I am posting, with Doug Chasick, is valuable information for all landlords and property managers. Fair housing violations are not only costly, they are illegal. So keeping abreast of fair housing issues is very important… and as you will read in the interview… not always “common sense.” The links Doug gives are very helpful and you should seriously consider bookmarking ones that apply to your landlording business. Here is the Q&A with Doug Chasick, with permission to print from the NAA…

“Fair Housing Q&A with Doug Chasick, The CallSource Apartment Doctor and consultant for National Apartment Association Education Institute/IREM Fair Housing Course

1) What’s something most property managers and renters are surprised to learn about fair housing?

I think the two most common surprises are that fair housing isn’t always fair – it’s actually not about being fair; and that common sense is not very helpful when dealing with many fair housing issues. I think a close third would be how much illegal discrimination is still going on.

2) Along with the National Apartment Association Education Institute and NAAEI/IREM course, what are some other resources that property managers can turn to for information?

Here are the sites I visit on at least a weekly basis:

• U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development – www.hud.gov
• National Fair Housing Advocate – http://www.fairhousing.com/index.cfm
• Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law Fair Housing Information – http://www.bazelon.org/issues/housing/index.htm
• Fair Housing Accessibility FIRST Initiative – http://www.fairhousingfirst.org/
• Realtor Fair Housing Resources – http://www.realtor.org/rmomag.nsf/pages/fairhousingmain?OpenDocument
• State and Local Fair Housing Enforcement – http://www.fairhousinglaw.org/fair_housing_laws/laws/

3) How often do you recommend staff and management participate in fair housing training?

At least annually, provided that there is one person in their company who regularly monitors the first two sites above and issues the appropriate updates to the entire team. I also strongly recommend that no employee, regardless of their title, be allowed to interact with residents, guests or prospects until they have completed a fair housing class.

4) What is the most violated mandate that you’ve encountered?

For the past four years it’s been almost a tie between disability and race (see attached info – for full report, go to:

• http://www.hud.gov/offices/fheo/library/FairHousing-FY2007AnnualReport.pdf

For more information on the Fair Housing course and how you can order your own DVD, please visit http://www.naahq.org/FairHousingBeyond “

Remember, landlording is a business. And to run your business effectively, you need to have a very good handle on the issues: legal, ethical, management, social, etc. Knowing the Fair Housing Laws IS good business.

Steven Boorstein
Landlord & Author
How To Buy Your First Rental Property and Beyond
www.LandlordBusinessInsider.com
www.HowToBuyRentalProperty.com
www.ManageRentalProperty.com