Tag: Discrimination

Biden Presidency Will Bring Renewed Focus on Affordable Housing and Discrimination

As you’d expect from any Democratic administration, there will be an increased focus on middle class and low income communities’ needs in the Biden administration, and that includes housing policy.

Back in February, after losing the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary, and prior to the South Carolina primary, Biden released a $640 billion housing plan, focused primarily on increasing home ownership among Americans. Among other things, it included a $15,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers that could be used as part of the down payment at time of purchase. 

“People vote based on their pocketbooks, and you don’t get a bigger pocketbook issue than housing,” realtor.com’s chief economist Danielle Hale said. “For many, [housing] is the largest monthly expense that they have. And if you own a home, it’s likely the most valuable thing that you own.”

According to Clare Trapasso’s article on realtor.com, Biden’s plan also includes down payment assistance for teachers and first responders plus changes in the appraisal process to address racial disparities. The down payment assistance, however, would be conditioned on purchasing in targeted low-income areas in need of investment.

It has long been understood that home ownership is central to building family wealth, supported statistically by the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances. The report covering the period 2013-2016 showed that during that period the median net worth of homeowners rose by 15% to $231,400, while the median net worth of renters fell by 5% to only $5,200.  In other words, as of 2016, homeowners’ median net worth was 44.5 times that of renters.

A new 3-year survey covering the period 2016 to 2019 was released in September.

As you’d expect, there’s a racial component to the homeownership divide. According to Svenja Gudell, chief economist of Zillow Group, nearly 75% of white households own their own home, while less than half of black and Hispanic households are homeowners.

Although redlining of low-income communities, which was promoted by the FHA from its inception in 1934, was outlawed by the 1968 Fair Housing Act, the damage had been done, and it will be hard for any administration to undo it. We are just beginning to understand the problem and how to solve it.

The Biden plan also includes increased funding of Section 8 vouchers for low-income renters. At present, there’s only enough Section 8 funding to meet 25% of the demand. The plan would also prohibit landlords from discriminating against prospective tenants using Section 8 vouchers, and would provide legal assistance to tenants facing eviction.

The most progressive element of Biden’s plan may be his proposal to provide a tax credit so that no renter pays more than 30% of his/her income toward rent, estimated to cost $5 billion/year.

The plan speaks about appraisal reform, aiming to create a national standard to assure that homes in minority communities are appraised for the same as homes in comparable white communities, but that defies the core principle of appraisal — that a home is worth what a willing arms-length buyer will pay for it.

According to the realtor.com article, the Biden plan promotes the creation of a public credit agency that would take into consideration a positive history of payment of rent and utility bills, providing a higher credit score that could help renters qualify for a home mortgage.

Not mentioned in the realtor.com article about Biden’s housing plan is the president-elect’s promise to undo the elements of Trump’s tax law which favored the wealthy. However, one provision actually harmed the wealthy who live in states with high property taxes, many of which, coincidentally, voted for Hilary Clinton.

That was the provision regarding SALT — State and Local Taxes, composed primarily of real estate taxes and income tax. It limited the deduction of those taxes to $10,000 per year. I suspect that this element of the tax code will be changed under the Biden administration.

The Trump tax law also doubled the standard deduction to $24,000, which eliminated for many the benefit of charitable donations. I, for one, thought this would spell doom for many non-profit organizations, although Giving USA re-ports that donations by individuals fell only 3.4% in 2018. That’s remarkable, given that the number of taxpayers who itemized deductions fell that year to 18 million, from 46.5 million the year before, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation (per accountingtoday.com).

Those of us who are into sustainability and fighting climate change can expect the new administration to incentivize energy efficiency improvements and building codes through tax credits and grants. When Trump took office, there was a lot of concern in Golden and Jeffco that the Department of Energy, whose secretary had advocated abolishing the department until he learned it was responsible for America’s nuclear arsenal, would defund the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, but funding was actually increased by Congress. We can expect that a Biden administration will provide even greater funding to NREL, energy efficiency, sustainability and the electrification of transportation.

Biden’s February housing plan does address this issue, with the goal of cutting the carbon footprint of buildings by 50% by 2035, and providing incentives to home owners who retrofit their homes to be more energy efficient and more solar powered.

Realtor Code of Ethics to Address Hate Speech

A couple weeks back, I wrote about how the National Association of Realtors is taking fair housing seriously. This week I read in an email newsletter that NAR is proposing changes to its Code of Ethics and professional standards to crack down on racist and discriminatory speech and behavior.

If implemented, the changes would apply NAR’s Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice to all activities, not just those related to real estate, prohibiting hate speech against protected classes. Protected classes under the Code of Ethics include race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, national origin, sexual orientation and gender identity.

Once these changes are adopted, the Code would prohibit all discrimination, not just willful discrimination, against protected classes and would recommend that ethics violations be considered under membership qualification criteria. Ethics violations could also be referred to governmental agencies for action.

 Discrimination would be deemed “particularly egregious” when determining appropriate discipline, which could include termination of membership for up to three years.

It Seems That We All Have Racism on Our Minds. Here Are My Thoughts.

It has certainly been an interesting and emotional two weeks since the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. Rita and I have been happy to add our voices, and are impressed at the longevity and the worldwide spread of the demonstrations.

On Sunday afternoon, there was an event in downtown Golden, which the two of us attended.  (See the picture  by Chris Davell of Goldentoday.com below.) It was followed by a march through downtown Golden, although Rita and I didn’t stay for that.

The event was organized by a group called Golden United. I have attended several prior events by this wonderful organization, headed by Golden resident Ron Benioff. You will probably read about it elsewhere in this newspaper since I met the reporter covering it. Several hundred people attended the event in Parfet Park, most of them wearing masks and all socially distanced.

It was, of course, very peaceful. After all, this is Golden, a college town that is majority liberal, majority white, and my home for the past 23 years. A city councilor, JJ Trout, emceed the event, giving a very thoughtful speech of her own. Mayor Laura Weinberg also spoke.  Both displayed great introspection and deep thought on the topic of racism. Ron Benioff spoke, stressing that being non-racist is no longer enough. We all have to be anti-racist.

The police chief, Bill Kilpatrick, was there with one other officer and received generous applause at the mention of his sensitive letter to the community which he wrote shortly after the death of George Floyd. (That was followed this week by a lengthy posting on the city’s website outlining police practices and training related to implicit bias, the use of force and other topics raised following George Floyd death.)

I have a couple thoughts to share beyond my sincere appreciation for Golden United and our city’s political leaders.

First of all, I feel that we are overlooking anti-Hispanic racism, which is just as pervasive as anti-black racism. It was the first and remains the greatest expression of racism by our current president, who opposes even legal immigration from people of any color other than white. (Remember his comment about Norwegians being more desirable than Hispanics?)

It’s my perception, and perhaps yours, that whites and the police are not as fearful of Hispanics as they are of African-Americans, but they still don’t view Hispanics as equally valuable human beings.

I certainly value and appreciate our Hispanic population and especially the Mexican-Amercans and their undocumented cousins who work tirelessly and with seeming contentment at so many jobs which other Americans are unwilling to perform — picking our vegetables and fruits, repairing or replacing our roofs, and collecting our trash alongside African-Americans.  (It was heart-warming last week to read a post on NextDoor urging neighbors to tape dollar bills to the lids of our trash carts as a way of thanking our trash collectors.)

Not only do we as a white society insufficiently appreciate our black and Hispanic population, our regressive laws work to keep that population impoverished. We need to address our anti-poor policies — which are really pro-wealthy policies, such as the Trump tax bill of 2017 — which have widened the gap between rich and poor in America.

Real estate, at least in the Denver market, is a majority white industry, not representative of the racial diversity of the metro area. I can say with confidence that it’s not reflective of any anti-black discrimination in hiring.  My first partner in real estate with whom I co-listed properties was an African-American woman who I miss working with. She remained with Coldwell Banker when I moved to RE/MAX Alliance before starting Golden Real Estate.

My seven broker associates are all white, but they and I would welcome with open arms one or more African-American and Hispanic agents to join our ranks.  It is hard to say why our industry has not attracted more African-Ameri-can brokers, but I’ve noticed a large contingent of Hispanic agents, who even have a highly active association.  I’ve attended their events.

For this column, I interviewed two of the three blacks who serve on the 18-member board of directors of the Denver Metro Association of Realtors. That ratio, it should be noted, is better than the ratio of blacks who are members of DMAR.

Milford Adams, managing broker of Lyons Realty Group LLC in southeast Denver, told me that economics are the primary reason there aren’t more blacks in the industry, since it’s hard for a new agent to get established in the business without significant cash reserves. (I know this personally, since it was two years of expenses exceeding income before I myself started making a living in real estate.)  And, yes, he said he has experienced discrimination, much of it subtle, at every turn as he himself rose through the profession.

Lori Pace, of Kentwood Real Estate in the City Properties office in downtown Denver, has been an activist within the profession and operates a strategic consulting business, offering training to real estate brokerages (see her website, www.LoriPace.com) in the area of recruitment and diversity training.  On that website you can also watch her TEDx talk “Philanthroperty,” which was about inspiring women, not just minority women, to invest in “real estate, not purses,” to grow in wealth and power.

The following was submitted by Lori Pace regarding the program she teaches on diversity:

Everyone’s experience matters and how we live, make a living, and lose lives. There is no such thing as a stupid white question, but there is certainly are intellectual black answers. The Diversity Difference is an essential wellness program illustrating how real estate and health equity impact everyone’s ability to breathe or exhale. 

The Diversity Tool Kit is THE ventilator allowing everyone the opportunity and right to exist and not resist.  It is designed to develop a multicultural, multi-generational mindset. The live and virtual keynote address combines a training series with first-hand accounts and stories on doing business while being Black in America.  It is more than a call to action. It is a collaborative, result-driven process tackling multi-layers of problems and resolutions examining metrics, business strategies, and tools for real-life situations.  Passive conversations become proactive actions.

This is a resource to ensure strategic, proactive, and sustainable ACTIONS that can be implemented immediately.  The agenda is based on an inspirational and REAL approach providing new perspectives for all industries, organizations, and institutions ready to implement a blueprint from a black perspective.

Participants gain a new outlook and opportunity to breakdown and understand how systematic racism in businesses and communities continues to be influenced by the power of segregation and money. Transparency and trusting safe cultures are non-negotiable in order to move forward. The experiential learning deals with Fair Housing and intentional and unintentional Unfair Business Practices. It is time to invest in business, social and emotional “Black and Blue Print” to change your PACE unapologetically with a high return on your investment.

The Real Estate industry and brokerages are major players influencing ALL communities, neighborhoods, business, and institutions.  There is a new demand for answers to awkward questions and circumstances requiring a no-judgment solution. Now more than ever, the world is aware of the negative impacts of silence and ignoring the blinders that have been abruptly removed.

As the Housing Crisis Deepens, Zoning Laws Are in the Crosshairs

In December 2018, Minneapolis made news when it abolished single-family zoning. That began a nationwide conversation about the use of zoning laws to restrict growth and density at a time when housing affordability was worsening and homelessness was increasing.

One of our broker associates, Chuck Brown, attended the National Association of Realtors convention last November in San Francisco. I had attended the same convention there several years ago. I hadn’t noticed many homeless people on the streets back then, but Chuck reported that it was way out of control now, with the streets overcrowded with homeless people.

You, like me, have probably followed the coverage of homelessness in Denver, with that city passing an urban camping ban, which was ruled unconstitutional by a lower court but is still being enforced pending an appeal by the city. It could go all the way to the Supreme Court.

The conversation over zoning created by Minneapolis 13 months ago is growing louder. That’s because the history of zoning is one of intentional discrimination. In researching this topic, I read a Fast Company posting on the history of zoning in San Francisco.. After the 1906 earthquake, the Chinese population there was targeted by zoning changes designed to promote and protect white enclaves. This was long before there were federal laws making discrimination based on race or national origin illegal.

That Fast Company article included the following detail regarding the role of the mortgage industry: “In 1934, as part of President Roosevelt’s New Deal, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) was established to insure private mortgages. The FHA’s underwriting handbook included guidelines that pushed cities to create racially segregated neighborhoods and encouraged banks to avoid areas with ‘inharmonious racial groups,’ essentially meaning any neighborhood that wasn’t exclusively white.”

Another New Deal program to help homeowners threatened with foreclosure to refinance their home with low-interest long-term mortgages, provided lenders with “safety maps” which used red shading for risky areas which were under “threat of infiltration of foreign-born, negro, or lower grade population.”  This is the origin of the term “redlining,” and the practice wasn’t outlawed until the Fair Housing Act of 1968.

Last week I attended a meeting of the Group Living Advisory Committee in Denver’s municipal building, where they are discussing a zoning amendment which would dramatically increase the number of unrelated persons who can live in a single family home. You can expect this proposal to arise in suburban jurisdictions, too, even if they don’t follow Minneapolis in getting rid of single-family zoning altogether.

I’ll be reporting again as this conversation evolves. Don’t shoot me. I’m just the messenger.