Management Series: E&O Insurance and Fair Housing

Description

Discrimination and Fair Housing issues, both real and alleged, can take many forms. It is, or should be, a topic of concern for all real estate professionals. It would be easy to assume that only the most egregious instances of discrimination and bias exist in the real estate industry today. While those are the events that make the headlines, such as the recent appraisal bias allegations, real estate agents continue to be sued or receive complaints due to actions that seem far less severe. In fact, E & O claims alleging Fair Housing Discrimination are on the rise. 

Many of these allegations (remember that a Claim and lawsuit is only an allegation of wrong‐doing) do not result from clear or deliberate acts of bias or discrimination – though those unfortunately exist in abundance. Many allegations seem more benign, less intentional, but still trigger serious consequences. Examples include describing a neighborhood as “family-friendly” to a single buyer; telling a handicapped person that they would be unhappy in a multi‐level home; providing erroneous information on the acceptance of service animals on a property; failure to provide documents and communications in a person’s native language; failure to, or creating the appearance of, limited availability or opportunity to buyers of color, sexual orientation, etc. 

Most Errors & Omissions policies for real estate firms offer Fair Housing and Discrimination coverage, though it is typically a separate and specifically‐defined coverage with liability limits that can be different (less) from the policy’s main liability coverage. Join Joanmarie Berry of Landy Insurance as she discusses why brokers need to be aware of fair housing and fighting discrimination.