Including home buying and selling, commercial, international, NAR member information, and technology. Use the data to improve your business through knowledge of the latest trends and statistics.
Stay current on industry issues with daily news from NAR. Network with other professionals, attend a seminar, and keep up with industry trends through events hosted by NAR.
Including home buying and selling, commercial, international, NAR member information, and technology. Use the data to improve your business through knowledge of the latest trends and statistics.
Stay current on industry issues with daily news from NAR. Network with other professionals, attend a seminar, and keep up with industry trends through events hosted by NAR.
Real estate professionals and consumers depend on strong fair housing laws and practices for our communities and economy to thrive. Discrimination distorts the housing market and closes the door on the American dream of homeownership for qualified buyers. At NAR, we advance our commitment to fair housing through policy advocacy, innovative programming, and legal guidance.
Policy Advocacy
NAR promotes public policy to advance broader homeownership availability, accessibility, and affordability in all communities. We prioritize efforts to narrow homeownership gaps among demographic groups and promote strong enforcement of anti-discrimination laws in the housing market.
Programs
NAR's Fair Housing Action Plan, abbreviated ACT!, emphasizes Accountability, Culture Change, and Training, to advance fair housing in the industry. We raise awareness, deepen understanding, and hold ourselves accountable.
Compliance
NAR provides guidance and support to ensure our members comply with fair housing laws and the REALTOR® Code of Ethics. We work closely with state and local associations to establish best practices on evolving legal issues in real estate.
REALTORS® are required to complete Fair Housing / Anti-Bias Training upon becoming a member, and every 3 years thereafter, coinciding with the Code of Ethics training timeline. This requirement will begin January 1, 2025 with a deadline of December 31, 2027.
NAR Library & Archives has already done the research for you. References (formerly Field Guides) offer links to articles, eBooks, websites, statistics, and more to provide a comprehensive overview of perspectives. EBSCO articles (E) are available only to NAR members and require the member's nar.realtor login.
Report Housing Discrimination
If you believe your rights may have been violated, we encourage you to report housing discrimination to the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO) at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Download the Fair Housing Month poster and social media graphics, get ideas for Fair Housing Month activities, and learn more about Fair Housing grants.
“Fairhaven 2.0 is NAR's updated online tool that gives you a 360° view of fair housing. The update to NAR's popular Fairhaven simulation, Fairhaven 2.0, offers new eye-opening historical context, realistic scenarios, thought-provoking stories, award-winning videos, increased interactivity, and takeaways you can apply to your business. And it's a convenient way for REALTORS® to fulfill NAR's fair housing training requirement.”
NAR's Fair Housing Action Plan, abbreviated ACT!, emphasizes Accountability, Culture Change, and Training, to advance fair housing in the industry. We raise awareness, deepen understanding, and hold ourselves accountable.
“Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner announced yesterday that HUD is terminating the Biden-era Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) rule. A press release issued by HUD noted this action would cut costly red tape imposed on localities and return decision-making power to local and state governments.”
“The racial gap in homeownership in the U.S. is wider now than it was back when it was legal to refuse to sell a house to a family because they were Black. The difference is that in the ’60s, it was people who were turning minority families away; now it’s systems. “Our credit-scoring systems, our risk-based pricing systems, our automated underwriting systems, and many of the systems that we use in the housing and financial-services space are inequitable,” says Lisa Rice, 61, president and CEO of the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA). “The inequality is automated. So you have to be disruptive.””
Learn from NAR’s Bryan Greene how, “bridging the homeownership gap isn't just about building a fairer housing market. It's crucial for building and sustaining thriving communities, and for growing the U.S. economy more broadly. By working to dismantle the obstacles that have long prevented Black Americans from accumulating wealth, policymakers, real estate industry leaders and realtors can help forge a lasting path to prosperity.”
“Few fights are more pivotal to ending systemic inequality than the fight for fair and stable housing. When Martin Luther King, Jr. launched a campaign to end slums in 1966, he connected the struggle to obtain decent housing with the need to end what he called slum schools, work, health care, and all forms of racial segregation. Today, fair housing remains the key to addressing deepening income inequality and forced displacement from our communities, as the long-lasting reach of discriminatory housing practices constantly shape who has access to quality education, health care, security, opportunity, and wealth.” This article breaks down why fair housing is critical to the fight for systemic equality.
"Homeownership is the largest single contributor to intergenerational wealth for American families. But it has not been accessible to all Americans on equal terms. More than a half-century after passage of the federal Fair Housing Act, there remains a 30-percentage-point homeownership gap between white and Black Americans—the same as in 1968, the year the act was adopted. Black Americans own one-tenth the wealth of white Americans, despite earning, on average, about 60% of white Americans’ income."
"Last summer, DonnaLee Norrington had a dream about owning a home. Not the figurative kind, but a literal dream, as she slept in the rental studio apartment in South Los Angeles that she was sharing with a friend. At around 2 a.m., Norrington remembers, "God said to me, 'Why don't you get a mortgage that doesn't move?' And in my head I knew that meant a fixed mortgage." The very next morning — she made an appointment with Mark Alston, a local mortgage broker well known in the South LA Black community, to inquire about purchasing her very own home for the first time."
“As NAR commemorates the anniversaries of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974, we explore the continued importance of these landmark laws and celebrate the 2024 Fair Housing Champion Award winners, who are overcoming obstacles to homeownership in their businesses and communities. Watch this timely event as NAR continues to work to eliminate discrimination and broaden homeownership opportunities.”
Home Access Denied (Greater Rochester Association of REALTORS® + Resistance Mapping, May 2023)
“In a new documentary co-created by the Greater Rochester Association of REALTORS®, a young activist-filmmaker states that historic housing discrimination is “a history we were not taught, but it’s a history we deserve to know.” It was that same spirit of inquiry and enlightenment that spurred the local REALTORS® to co-produce the 20-minute video resource in partnership with its community partner, the Antiracist Curriculum Project (ACP). The compelling and accessible content, told through the personal stories of two present-day local families, will be used in various settings throughout the community to explain the ongoing impact of redlining and racially restrictive covenants. A Fair Housing Grant from the REALTOR® Party helped make it possible.”
On April 27, 2022, NAR presented new research on racial homeownership gaps that are widening or closing too slowly; discussed policy proposals to close the gap with a panel of experts; and highlighted the inaugural winners of NAR’s Fair Housing Champion Award, sponsored by realtor.com®, who are “Being the Change” to increase access to homeownership in their businesses and communities.
“Every April, the National Association of REALTORS® observes Fair Housing Month to commemorate the landmark 1968 Fair Housing Act in which U.S. law was established to prohibit discrimination in housing. Fair Housing Month signifies a recommitment to expanding equal access to housing. NAR staff experts Alexia Smokler, Bryan Greene, and Megan Haberle, Senior Director of Policy at the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, demystify local advocacy and outline real ways that you can make an impact. During the session, they discuss best practices for approaching local initiatives and spotlight resources, opportunities, including NAR grant support, and actions you can take to advance fair housing.”
Seven Days Documentary - 50th Anniversary of the Fair Housing Act (National Fair Housing Alliance, Jan. 26, 2018) | 9 minutes
"When a single gunshot rings out at a Memphis motel, civil unrest breaks out across the country. President Johnson, long frustrated by his inability to improve housing conditions for people of color, scrambles to use the crisis to push a fair housing bill through a reluctant Congress. With few days to spare and many arms to twist, he and two young Senators – Edward Brooke and Walter Mondale – attempt to pass the bill before the slain civil rights leader is laid to rest. The Fair Housing Act was ultimately passed just seven days after Dr. Martin Luther King’s untimely death. Produced by the National Fair Housing Alliance in collaboration with Nationwide, this short film reminds us of the backdrop that led to the passage of this landmark civil rights law and its deep significance, and compels us all to complete the unfinished work of the Act."
“Signed into law in 1968, the federal Fair Housing Act turns 50 in 2018. As part of NAR’s commemoration of this milestone, NAR has updated its video designed to educate real estate professionals on how to comply with the Fair Housing Act. The updated video includes vignettes that real estate professionals may encounter. The video will highlight these scenarios and provide risk management tips to real estate professional on how to meet their obligations under the Fair Housing Act.”
"Bryan Greene, NAR’s vice president of policy advocacy, reflects on the association’s advocacy successes and challenges from the 2024 elections, shares key policy discussions for 2025 and explores what’s needed to close the growing racial homeownership gap.”
“Many real estate professionals may think all they need to know about fair housing is what the law requires of them. “It’s more than just the law,” says Sabrina Brown, an instructor of NAR’s “Bias Override” course. “It’s how you treat people. It’s how you practice your business on a daily basis.” To truly evaluate whether you’re representing your entire community—start by examining your client base—you need to go deeper in your self-reflection. Host Marki Lemons Ryahl and two fair housing experts discuss how to use NAR’s new fair housing training requirement, which takes effect in 2025, as an opportunity to challenge yourself and your business practices for the better.”
“Let’s say you have a buyer who heard about a mugging a block away from the home you’re touring, and that buyer asks whether she “needs to worry about that kind of thing around here.” Pause and use your situational awareness skills. What kind of neighborhood are you in? Depending on the circumstances, the client’s question could be a loaded one. And if you’re not thoughtful and careful about how you respond, you could easily introduce a fair housing problem. Listen as host Tracey Hawkins helps two real estate pros role play the scenario to come to the right answer.”
“The Fair Housing Act of 1968 aimed to address this history and outlaw discrimination, but vague guidelines and weak enforcement mechanisms have left a lot unaddressed. In January, the Biden administration reinstated the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Rule, which adds federal heft to the Fair Housing Act and mandates that localities submit plans for actively addressing segregation and proposes that cities and states that fail to meaningfully work towards their stated goal could face loss of funding.”
“In recent years, the story of residential segregation and discrimination — and especially the practice of redlining — has gained well-deserved prominence in U.S. housing discourse. Equally important, the federal government has been directly implicated in the development and institutionalization of redlining and similar practices. A key early player in this history is the Home Owners Loan Corporation, or HOLC, which commissioned the infamous “residential security” maps that separated residential neighborhoods into four categories, from green (best) to red (worst), based in no small part on racist assumptions about Black residents and homeowners — this is the origin of the word “redlining.” But while HOLC unquestionably has culpability in the racial disparities of the U.S. housing market, Todd Michney argues that the connection between HOLC and the institutionalization of redlining isn’t as direct or uncomplicated as is usually claimed.”
“Three REALTORS® who identify with underrepresented minorities—Lorraine Arora, ABR, GRI, of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices in Alexandria, Va.; Stephen Beard of Keller Williams Advisors in Oakland, Calif.; and Tim Hur, CRS, SRS, of Point Honors and Associates, REALTORS®, in Duluth, Ga.—share their experiences encountering discrimination in real estate. They offer first-hand advice on how to spot biases and avoid fair housing violations.”
The 2024 State of Housing in Black America (SHIBA) report presents a stark reality - homeownership is in a state of emergency for African Americans. James H. Carr and Michela Zonta have meticulously gathered the facts, statistics, and analysis, underscoring the persistent barriers that hinder Black homeownership. In 2023, the homeownership rate among Black households stood at a mere 45.7 percent, a sharp contrast to the 74.3 percent among White households and a significant drop from its peak of 49 percent in 2004…The 2024 SHIBA report demonstrates that Black homeownership is hampered by a mortgage finance system that continues to discriminate. Black mortgage applicants are turned down more often than Whites; Blacks are more likely to receive high-cost home loans than their White counterparts, and houses in Black neighborhoods are less likely to be appraised at the same values compared to similar homes in white communities. But most alarming may be that while Blacks have recently had a historically strong presence in the labor market, it is not prompting increases in homeownership.”
One of the core aspects of the American Dream is owning a home. A place where you can feel safe, raise a family, build a life, and host awesome cookouts. It’s been the subject of years of policy, references in media, and is one of the most ubiquitous signs of wealth and success in this country. But for many, this has become increasingly out of reach. Housing affordability and the share of first-time homebuyers are both near historic lows. With these factors in mind, where is the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) community in its journey to attain the American Dream?
“The 2023 State of Hispanic Homeownership Report® is in its fourteenth year of publication, a product of both the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals® (NAHREP®) and the Hispanic Wealth Project. The report coalesces research and data across a broad cross-section within and outside the housing industry. It serves to evaluate how the U.S. Latino/a population is faring in terms of homeownership acquisition, and to review the primary opportunities and barriers to future homeownership growth.”
“This report looks at homeownership trends, mortgage market and affordability by race, and home buyer demographics from the 2022 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, home buyers and fair housing.”
“This 2023 Fair Housing Trends Report is the latest in a series of annual reports about fair housing trends that NFHA has produced since the mid-1990s. The most important finding of this report is that the number of housing discrimination complaints reached the highest number of complaints ever reported in a single year. There were 34,150 housing complaints in 2023, compared to 33,007 in 2022.”
“A LendingTree analysis of 2022 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data finds that the share of Black homebuyers denied mortgages is notably higher than the share among the overall population. Specifically, we found that the purchase mortgage denial rate for Black homebuyers across the 50 largest U.S. metros is an average of 5.30 percentage points higher than the denial rate for the overall mortgage borrower population.
“The National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) works to eliminate housing discrimination and to ensure equal housing opportunity for all people through leadership, education, outreach, membership services, public policy initiatives, community development, advocacy, and enforcement.”
"The Fair Housing Legal Support Center & Clinic is dedicated to educating the public about fair housing law and providing legal assistance to private or public organizations that seek to eliminate discriminatory housing practices."
“The mission of the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO) is to eliminate housing discrimination, promote economic opportunity, and achieve diverse, inclusive communities by leading the nation in the enforcement, administration, development, and public understanding of federal fair housing policies and laws.”
If you believe that you or someone else was discriminated against based on a disability, you can file an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) complaint against a state government or local government, such as a public hospital, public school, other state or local government program; a private business that serves the public, such as a restaurant, doctor’s office, shop, or hotel.
To be protected by the ADA, one must have a disability, which is defined by the ADA as a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a person who has a history or record of such an impairment, or a person who is perceived by others as having such an impairment. The ADA does not specifically name all of the impairments that are covered.
Are emotional support, therapy, comfort, or companion animals considered service animals under the ADA?
No. These terms are used to describe animals that provide comfort just by being with a person. Because they have not been trained to perform a specific job or task, they do not qualify as service animals under the ADA. However, some State or local governments have laws that allow people to take emotional support animals into public places. You may check with your State and local government agencies to find out about these laws.
The process that the Department of Justice uses to certify that State laws, local building codes, or similar ordinances meet or exceed the ADA Standards for Accessible Design for new construction and alterations, go to Certification of State and Local Building Codes.
“ADA website accessibility remains a hotly-litigated issue nationwide with a 14% increase in lawsuits targeting websites in 2021. Add to that a barrage of demand letters specifically targeting the real estate industry, and it's a risk for associations, MLSs and their members.”
“NAR continues to recommend that real estate professionals work with their website vendors to do accessibility audits of their business websites to identify any accessibility deficiencies. Existing technical standards provide helpful guidance concerning how to ensure accessibility of website features. These include the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and the Section 508 Standards, which the federal government uses for its own websites. In the meantime, NAR will continue to advocate that the DOJ issues a regulation that provides clear standards that take into consideration the challenges for businesses that develop and maintain accessible websites.”
How does this impact the real estate sales office? As previously indicated, if a practitioner uses his or her home or a portion thereof as an office, the private residence or portion thereof used for business must be accessible to people with disabilities. The Office on the ADA has issued some technical guidance for the real estate industry as follows. For example, a two-story building with bathrooms on both the ground floor and the second floor will be used for a real estate office.
The benefits of web accessibility extend far beyond compliance. An accessible website creates a more positive experience for all users, fostering trust, loyalty, and engagement. In a digital world where users have countless options, prioritizing accessibility can set your business apart by showing that you care about providing access to information and services.
All functionality within your website, including links, buttons, and forms, should be configured so that ADA compliance is essential for real estate websites because it ensures accessibility for users with disabilities, aligning your business with legal standards and ethical practices, including features like alternative text for images, keyboard operability, and readable fonts with high contrast makes your website more inclusive and usable for all visitors, non-compliance with ADA requirements can lead to lawsuits, fines, and reputational damage.
In 2025, the importance for websites, SaaS, and mobile apps to meet current ADA, state and legal requirements in the US and abroad is more pronounced than ever. Yet, surprisingly, the vast majority of websites are not up to the mark. The fact remains: unless a website is expressly designed and built with web accessibility and ADA compliance in mind, it simply won't meet current accessibility standards. Ignoring these ADA requirements puts your website at risk of lawsuits, brand tarnish, and missed opportunities.
The Americans with Disabilities Act does not have a "grandfather clause" that would exempt existing pre-ADA buildings or facilities from compliance with ADA requirements. All existing public accommodations, regardless of age, must meet the minimum standards of the ADA if “Readily Achievable” to do so. However, the ADA does have a provision known as the "safe harbor". The ADA Standards for Accessible Design have only been updated once in the 30+ years that the Act was signed into law. The current 2010 ADAS took effect on March 15, 2012. Safe Harbor applies to buildings or facilities that were constructed or altered before March 15, 2012 and complied with the 1991 ADAS. Under this provision, these buildings or facilities are not required to comply with the more restrictive 2010 standards until alterations are made.
As Title III mandates, commercial facilities and places of public accommodation must provide equal access for individuals with disabilities. This creates a duty on commercial real estate owners, builders, developers, and tenants to make reasonable modifications to policies or programs that limit the access of disabled individuals and to ensure newly constructed facilities comply with ADA design standards. Thus, the ADA’s impact on the real estate industry exceeds compliance in the employment context and extends to the operation and construction of buildings open to the public.
To be fully inclusive and to prioritize employee and resident well-being, cities can — and should — focus on how to be more accommodating beyond the legal requirements of the ADA, always considering disabilities that may not be as visible, too, said Arianna Bloom, LMC diversity, equity, and inclusion coordinator.
“When we talk about building welcoming environments and inclusion, a lot of the time disability is left out of the conversation,” Bloom said.
Ensuring that commercial properties are ADA compliant is not just about avoiding penalties; it’s about creating inclusive spaces where every individual can have equal access to services and opportunities. As a real estate attorney, my advice to property owners is always to be proactive. Regularly assess your property, consult with professionals, and make the necessary modifications. Inclusivity and accessibility are not only the law, but they also make good business sense.
Surprisingly, Title II of the ADA does not require a state or local government to make each building and facility accessible. Instead, it applies the concept of program access. This means people with disabilities must not be excluded and must be able to participate meaningfully in government programs, services, and activities.
The ADA National Network provides information, guidance and training on how to implement the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in order to support the mission of the ADA to “assure equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency for individuals with disabilities.”
We advocate for better policies that promote accessibility and ensure equality and opportunity for people who are blind or visually impaired, creating a culture of inclusion at work, at school, and in our communities.
As a national cross-disability rights organization, AAPD advocates for full civil rights for the over 60 million Americans with disabilities by promoting equal opportunity, economic power, independent living, and political participation.
AAIDD promotes progressive policies, sound research, effective practices, and universal human rights for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Our Mission: Promoting and protecting the human rights of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and actively supporting their full inclusion and participation in the community throughout their lifetimes.
The ADA is a comprehensive civil rights law for persons with disabilities. Title II of the ADA prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in all programs, services, and activities provided or made available by public entities (state and local governments and special purpose districts). This includes housing when the housing is provided or made available by a public entity regardless of whether the entity receives federal financial assistance.
The National Association of the Deaf (NAD) is an organization that serves the deaf and hard hearing people in the US. They believe that every deaf/hard hearing individuals should have the opportunity to learn sign language, advocate for their issues, and to represent these individuals on a national level.
NCD is an independent federal agency charged with advising the President, Congress, and other federal agencies regarding policies, programs, practices, and procedures that affect people with disabilities. NCD is comprised of a team of Presidential and Congressional appointees, an Executive Director appointed by the Chair, and a full-time professional staff.
eBooks & Other Resources
eBooks.realtor.org
The following eBooks and digital audiobooks are available to NAR members:
As a member benefit, the following resources and more are available for loan through the NAR Library. Items will be mailed directly to you or made available for pickup at the REALTOR® Building in Chicago.
The inclusion of links on this page does not imply endorsement by the National Association of REALTORS®. NAR makes no representations about whether the content of any external sites which may be linked in this page complies with state or federal laws or regulations or with applicable NAR policies. These links are provided for your convenience only and you rely on them at your own risk.
