What is real estate steering?

Searching for a home is a daunting enough experience, so if a real estate agent begins dodging questions, it can be especially irritating. However, there’s a possibility they’re just trying to avoid real estate steering. This illegal practice can put an agent in a lot of trouble, and it’s one of the reasons why agents may be less direct than they might be off the job.

Steering is an illegal form of housing discrimination as defined by the 1968 Fair Housing Act, which is part of the Civil Rights Act. This law prohibits real estate professionals, like brokers, agents and Realtors, from “steering” buyers either toward or away from neighborhoods based on protected classes like race, religion, sex or gender, family status, national origin, or disability.

Generally, steering impacts potential homebuyers more than sellers, as agents can “steer” prospective buyers toward or away from certain communities based on their personal biases. However, agents may also steer sellers towards accepting offers based on bias, as well.

Why is real estate steering illegal?

Personal biases invade every part of our system, including real estate. Given that property and homeownership are one of the most prevalent forms of wealth in the United States, and wealth is overwhelmingly concentrated into the hands of  a certain few, it should be of no surprise that minority groups were fundamentally excluded from purchasing homes or living in certain areas in the 1960s.

The Civil Rights Act sought to change that. Unfortunately, four years after it passed, nothing had changed in the real estate industry. The 1968 Fair Housing Act criminalized discrimination concerning the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race, religion, national origin, sex, handicap, and family status. This overarching ruling includes real estate steering.

And guess what? It still happens. It’s better, but the reason real estate steering is illegal and unethical behavior is because personal biases cannot help themselves, and therefore need to be helped.

Examples of how real estate steering works

Some of the most common examples of real estate steering include showing clients only homes in neighborhoods with people of the same religion or race or redirecting a buyer to a different area because of “better schools.” But to illustrate some examples of real estate steering, let’s discuss what your real estate agent is and is not allowed to talk about.

Crime 

Real estate agents are not criminologists. Very few people are. The entire concept of crime is rife with personal bias and what constitutes “safe” can often be subjective, making it extremely dicey territory for real estate agents to talk about to a potential buyer.

Instead, real estate agents should stick to hard facts and objective stats. To avoid steering, they can also point you in the direction of public records or local apps, so that you can do your research about specific neighborhoods and draw your own conclusions, rather than having the realtor make any claims outright.

Schools

Of course, everyone wants their kids to have access to the best schools. However, real estate agents cannot speak about a school system’s general reputation. They can mention public information like test scores, academic programs, and retention rates, but you’ll have to talk to neighbors or tour a school in-person to learn about the system and get a feel for what it’s like. 

Demographics

It’s not unusual to want to be around people like you. A real estate agent, however, can’t tell you a certain neighborhood isn’t right for you. Sure, you might want to be around other young people, so go check out a house in a neighborhood and you’ll get a pretty quick impression of whether or not there are other young people in the area. Figuring out the demographic makeup of a neighborhood is simple, and you can decide for yourself if it’s right for you.

Places of worship

Real estate agents are allowed to give you a list of local places of worship, but that’s it. They can’t share an opinion and they can’t show you homes based solely on how local people worship. If it’s important to you to have a house of worship nearby, ask your local congregation about where a good place to move might be.

Differences between steering, redlining, and blockbusting

Steering, redlining, and blockbusting are all illegal under the Fair Housing Act. They all remain pervasive in American society. But each is slightly different in their own insidious ways. We’ve discussed steering, but let’s explore the other two real estate terms so you know how to recognize them in the wild.

Blockbusting

An illegal practice typically geared towards sellers, blockbusting is when real estate agents manipulate homeowners into selling their property at a lower price. Generally this is done by preying on fears that the socioeconomic or demographic fabric of the neighborhood is changing. Basically, agents exploit mutually shared prejudices to keep certain people out of a neighborhood, while actually impacting their own commission. Most commonly, blockbusting is used as a means to keep homebuyers of color out of predominantly white neighborhoods.

Redlining

A common term often associated with landlords and lenders, redlining is the denial of property-related services like mortgages, insurance loans, and coverage to residents of certain areas based on race or ethnicity.

Redlining originated out of the 1930s New Deal as Congress offered government-insured mortgages to homeowners to help ward off a rash of Depression-era foreclosures. These mortgages, however, were accompanied by “residential safety maps” that rated neighborhoods based on a number of factors, including race. Red-colored parts of the map — primarily Black neighborhoods — received the lowest “D” ratings as risky mortgage investments. Even if the neighborhoods were practically identical to neighboring white ones, they became financial anathema practically overnight simply based on who lived there. Banks would offer bad mortgage rates and terms to people wanting to buy in these neighborhoods, or refuse to grant mortgages at all.

This systemic practice still occurs today, due in large part to the avarice and unscrupulousness of large landowners with close ties to banks.

Signs your realtor is steering

Steer is a sign of a bad real estate agent. Here’s what steering might look like in practice. 

• Limited property options: The real estate agent or broker consistently presents properties only in specific neighborhoods while disregarding your preferences or requirements. You are consistently shown homes in areas predominantly populated by individuals of particular race or ethnicity, without considering other diverse options.

• Biased recommendations: The real estate professional makes repeated comments about the racial or ethnic composition of neighborhoods, implying that certain areas are more suitable or unsuitable for you based on your background.They discourage you from considering a particular neighborhood, emphasizing stereotypes or negative perceptions associated with the community.
• Unequal access to Information: The agent fails to provide you with comprehensive information on available properties, schools, amenities, or services in diverse neighborhoods. You notice a discrepancy in the level of detail and attention given to different neighborhoods, indicating a potential bias in the agent's recommendations.

• Misleading or incomplete guidance: The agent provides inaccurate or incomplete information about the availability of properties in certain areas, deliberately limiting your options. They discourage you from pursuing a property in a diverse neighborhood by exaggerating potential risks or disadvantages associated with that area.

• Differential treatment: The real estate agent or broker treats you differently based on your race, ethnicity, or other protected characteristics. They openly express discriminatory views or preferences during your interactions.

What to do if you encounter steering

Let’s be real. You’re looking for certain things when you’re buying or selling a home. A real estate agent is trying to serve you as well as they can, and based on your conversations, there will likely be a small degree of de facto steering.

When you feel that steering is to serve their best interest rather than yours, or if it’s abject enough that you suspect an agent is breaking the law, it’s time to drop that agent and report them to their agency. If they run the agency, contact the National Realtors Association and file a complaint with the Department of Housing and Urban Development.