I have a one year old daughter, so when I think about where I want to live, one of the major elements is simply whether there are other families with young children in the area. So imagine me touring an apartment community and asking if there are a lot of children in the community, or if any buildings are more family-oriented. What type of response do you think I would get from a leasing consultant? If they are trained properly, they will probably say some meaningless line about being a “diverse community” blah blah blah. Did that help me in my apartment search?
The fact of the matter is that my family would likely be happier if we lived in close proximity to others in the same stage of life. Having other families with children the same age would allow us to have play dates and keep our little ball of energy entertained throughout the day. But while Fair Housing does a great job at reducing discrimination, it has a negative affect in situations like these, which makes it impossible for me to find a living situation that would fit my needs.
Another example comes from a recent blog, “Risk: It’s Everywhere!” where Nathan Borne discusses national origin and the potential discrimination risk by asking where someone is from. He then asks why you might want to know that information to begin with. Granted, knowing that someone is from Malaysia versus Nigeria may not make a difference, but knowing that they are simply from another country could make a huge difference in customer service. Of all our residents, those coming from a different country would probably be fairly high on the list of those that need the most help with their move. They may not know anything about the customs, how business is done, or the language itself. But if we are not allowed to discuss this issue for fear of opening ourselves up to allegations of Fair Housing abuse, then we inevitably cannot provide that much needed customer service.
Yet another example discusses the use of custom emails to apartment prospects where there was a real fear of writing any custom text, as we could accidentally be seen as discriminatory based on different elements. So instead, we are forced to use homogenous form responses that have no potential to properly respond to their specific needs. Again, this provides horrible service opportunities and makes it difficult to help the prospect find the apartment that is perfect for them.
I am not here to say that Fair Housing is bad. What I’m wanting to highlight is that Fair Housing has real costs on how we are able to help our customers, and can negatively affect their ultimate happiness level in their home. I think it is important that HUD know that the majority of quality property management companies want to do the right thing. They want to abide by the rules and make sure housing is equal and open to everyone. So I would like to see HUD work with the industry and find ways to modify the system so that quality operators can provide a better living experience, while true cases of discrimination are handled justly. This would cover not only the actual Fair Housing rules themselves, but the related fear that comes with them, as this fear is often the driving factor at restricting the service we can provide our residents.
Do you believe the fear of Fair Housing restricts apartment communities from providing the best service possible to our residents?