this made me sick...

NFHA STUDY REPORTS DISCRIMINATION IN REAL ESTATE

At least 3.7 million instances of housing discrimination occur each year but more than 99 percent go unreported, estimates the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) in its recent "2006 Fair Housing Trends Report."

Based on a multi-year study covering more than 70 real estate offices located in the Northeast, Midwest and South, NFHA has determined three patterns of discrimination in the housing market: denial of services to African-Americans and Latinos; offering financial incentives to whites but not to African-Americans or Latinos; and steering potential home buyers on the basis of race.

Metropolitan areas in the West, including those in California, were not included in the study.According to the report, steering is "the norm" in real estate, with the test areas showing a steering rate of 87 percent.

Despite the federal Fair Housing Act, which prohibits housing discrimination, real estate agents in the test areas often discourage white home buyers from viewing homes located in interracial communities, while African-Americans and Latinos are limited to seeing homes in areas where their race or national origin dominates.

Over the past year, NFHA filed nine complaints against real estate companies in Atlanta; Chicago; Detroit; Mobile, Ala.; and Westchester County, N.Y., based on results from tests designed to test housing discrimination.

**taken from the california association of realtors bulletin, dated april 20, 2006.