By Andrew Mall, 2025 KCRAR President
April is Fair Housing Month. As real estate professionals, Fair Housing remains front of mind in our work every day, but April serves as a good reminder for us to carve out some time to strengthen and maintain our working knowledge of this integral policy.
As you know, Fair Housing is required by law, and upholding that law is a part of what we signed up for when we earned our real estate licenses. However, abiding by Fair Housing law is more than just avoiding litigation, but also a matter of ethical obligation and just plain good business.
KCRAR and the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) both offer a robust selection of Fair Housing educational resources at your fingertips, and I encourage you to set aside some time this month for a Fair Housing class or program.
REDLINED: Cities, Suburbs, and Segregation — You may have attended a previous KCRAR Latte & Learn on this subject, and it has now been expanded and approved for CE credit. It even qualifies for the Missouri Core Fair Housing topic. This class is taught by an extremely knowledgeable historian from the Johnson County Museum who spent over a year studying the history and effects of redlining locally and nationally.
Fairhaven 2.0 — Again, you may have taken a previous version of Fairhaven, but NAR has relaunched it, and it is better than ever. Fairhaven 2.0 is a dynamic online simulation through which real estate professionals work through realistic Fair Housing scenarios like steering, bias, disability accommodations and standing up for clients facing discrimination.
Bias Override — NAR offers a series of three videos you can watch any time that cover what implicit bias is, untended violations, and strategies to interrupt implicit bias. KCRAR will also be offering the NAR approved Bias Override course for CE credit on Sept. 18.
I hope that each of you finds time this month to brush up on this critical subject. Strengthening your Fair Housing knowledge also serves to strengthen our industry and better serve our clients and community. Together, let’s build communities where everyone has access to housing, creating a brighter and more inclusive future.
