Gonzalo Mejia directly addresses camera:  Realtors, with a good reason, feel compelled to satisfy a customer's request. They mistakenly think that because the customer wants it, they need to make the customer happy and be of service. Big mistake. You may be unwittingly engaging in discrimination.

I'm Gonzalo Mejia, a broker with Watson Realty in Jacksonville and approved instructor for the At Home With Diversity certification. Let's take five minutes to talk about what I call good-hearted discrimination.

I'm going to run through some scenarios that are most common.

How many times have you gotten a request from customers who say, Hey, I'm moving to Jacksonville and I want a to live near other Hispanics? Or, they say, we want families like us in our neighborhood. If you choose to show them only select neighborhoods, then you are discriminating based on nationality and ethnicity.

I always train agents to immediately address the bias and say, I'm sorry but I will show you neighborhoods based on the characteristics and features of the house you want, but it's against the law for me to only show you neighborhoods based on nationality and ethnicity.

Next, I've heard some agents say things like, "Oh, do you have kids? You're going to love this neighborhood. I think this neighborhood is perfect for you because it has a kid's pool, and it has playgrounds. It's going to be just the right neighborhood for you." And again, it's good-hearted. It's like, "I want to help you. And I think I found the right neighborhood," but it's assuming that because somebody has children, they should prefer one neighborhood over another one. Now, there's nothing wrong in saying, "Hey, I want to share with you some information about this neighborhood. I'm going to share with you some features of this neighborhood." You must share those with all customers, and then let the customer decide. 
It's what's known as "steering" if the agent decides that they know the right neighborhood for them.

Another question I get a lot is: What do I do if a buyer asks me, "Are there a lot of kids in this neighborhood?"  Here's what I recommend you say: I understand why this information may be important to you. However, a discussion about that topic is a violation of federal fair housing law. Fair housing law states that there are seven protected classes and familial status is one of them. 

Many agents think they can say, "You can drive around the neighborhood on your own to figure that out." But you must give all customers that same information. You can't choose that it's relevant for one buyer to drive a neighborhood and not for another. Leave the decision up to the customer.

Another scenario that comes up a lot involves questions about the safety of a neighborhood. Here's how I handle this kind of question. First, I tell the buyer that I understand their concerns. I say that crime can happen anywhere and that it is their right to look at crime statistics. Then, I provide them with a website to visit to get the information. It's part of every buyer consultation that I do, even if the customer doesn't ask about safety and crime.

Now let's talk about schools, which can be tricky. So, a customer might say they don't want to be in a specific school district. Agents must be very careful when they discuss schools. They must be objective and factual. Some customers will say they want to be in a "good" school district. I respond, "I'm going to send you a link that is going to show you the school ratings in this area so you can decide whether the schools satisfy your expectations. 

Remember, you don't know what your buyer is asking. What is their definition of a good school?

Bottom line:  Your job is to provide facts about a property, features of a neighborhood and information. It is your customer's job to research schools, crime, and other aspects of a community. Answering questions about the make-up of a neighborhood, assuming that, based on the buyer's ethnicity, they may want to be in a specific neighborhood and providing your opinion on crime in an area of town are all no-nos. 

Most real estate professionals don't go out in the field purposely trying to steer buyers to certain neighborhoods. They don't plan on breaking federal fair housing laws. However, your desire to do what the customer asks, no matter what, can get you in hot water.