Fair Housing & Equitable Treatment

I’m a lousy blogger.  Sure, I have a lot to say and I do so frequently in other venues, but months can go by before I remember to write here.  Something happened recently, however, that I just had to share.  

I lost a client.

No, I didn’t do anything to hurt or sabotage the relationship.  We neither had a disagreement nor faced an impossible market.  No hidden agendas, no replacement Realtors®.  It was simply this: she quit her job and left the area.

 
What, you ask, especially given the current economy, would make someone do that?

In this case, I found the answer both sad and disturbing.  She quit because of a hostile work environment that she could neither control nor withstand any longer.

 As a woman who started her career in law enforcement in the mid-1970s, when a married woman couldn’t even get a credit card without her husband co-signing the application, I jumped hurdle after hurdle to prove myself worthy of every step up the ladder.  If I had spent as much time sleeping my way to the top as I was accused of, I would never have been able to walk to work.

But, ladies and gentlemen, that was more than 35 years ago.  To think that harassment, bullying, inappropriate commentary and more could still be happening today astounds me, especially in the DC area, which I have always thought of as extremely progressive and tolerant.

Every time I renew my licenses I must prove that I have taken required courses in fair housing law.  Not only is there still discrimination happening in my field but also there can be simply the appearance of discrimination in a real estate agent’s daily activities if not kept in check.  I am not so naïve as to think otherwise.

I take the training because the real estate commission says I must.  I treat people equally and with respect because it’s the right thing to do.  Big difference.