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If you saw an
ad which read “Small studio - 1 person,” would you call if you had a
child? What if you saw ads that read “2 bedroom -working couple” and “1
bedroom - single male preferred” would you even consider calling to
inquire about these apartments if you had a family? Probably not. Ads
containing restrictive language are an effective tool of
discrimination—which is why it’s against the law to both place and to
publish them. HOME staff regularly monitors local publications for
restrictive advertising for housing, and when it is found, contacts the
publisher. Most publishers take immediate corrective action. There are
others, however, that require more formal reminders.
Fair housing laws prohibit “making, printing, publishing,
or circulating any statement, advertisement, notice, or publication which
expresses, directly or indirectly, any limitation, specification,
preference or discrimination based on race, color, national origin,
religion, sex, familial status, marital status, disability and age.”
Newspapers and other advertising publishers have an
affirmative duty under Fair Housing Laws to prevent the publication of
discriminatory advertisements. These laws prohibit all language or images
that convey a discriminatory message whether or not anyone intended to
send that message. The standard by which to judge the legality of the
words is whether that language would discourage an “ordinary reader” from
inquiring about that property.
In 1983, HOME forged an agreement with fourteen Western New
York publishers called the Voluntary Agreement to End Publication of
Discriminatory Classified Advertisements. Since then, the number of
participating publishers has grown to almost fifty.
Participating publishers agree to educate their advertising
staff about fair housing laws and make every reasonable effort to assure
that discriminatory language in advertisements does not appear. HOME’s
pledge to the publishers is to act as an informational resource and to
periodically survey their classifieds and notify advertising staff if
discriminatory language appears.
Despite the
Agreement, in 2001, multiple advertisements containing discriminatory
language appeared in over 10 of the participating publications. In each
instance, HOME notified the publication and negotiated an agreement with
the publisher to educate involved staff about discriminatory language and
fair housing laws, be more diligent in reviewing copy, and exclude any
advertisements with questionable language.
One of these publications, The Riverside Review, had
entered into such a conciliation agreement with HOME after HOME found
advertisements with discriminatory language in multiple issues. While
monitoring the Riverside Review newspaper later in 2001, HOME found three
additional advertisements of this type. At this point, HOME filed a fair
housing complaint against the publisher with HUD who referred the case to
the New York State Division of Human Rights (DHR).
In February 2002, a formal settlement agreement was reached
between the publisher and HOME. As part of the settlement, the publisher
agreed to: refrain from publishing discriminatory advertisements; attend a
fair housing training to be provided by HOME; include in the classifieds a
notice from the publisher that all advertised dwellings are available on
an equal opportunity basis; and publish four display ads promoting fair
housing. The publisher also agreed to, within 90 days of the agreement,
make a $250 tax-deductible contribution to the Child & Family Services
Foundation, with the notation that the contribution was made at the
request of Housing Opportunities Made Equal.
In July 2002, a representative of the Child & Family
Services Foundation notified HOME that the contribution had never been
received. HOME immediately notified DHR of this violation of the
settlement agreement. The state agency contacted the publisher and by the
end of July, the foundation received the contribution in full.
HOME will
continue the fight against all forms of discrimination and to enforce the
HOME Voluntary Publishers’ Agreement when publishers are found negligent
in their obligation to promote fair housing. |
