Yes, Fair Housing Testing Still Matters

By Ebony Ellis & Jess Schwalb

The dominant narrative about racism and housing in America goes something like this: We used to have racial segregation until the civil rights movement, and though things still are not perfect, our society is much more equal today. As Chicago housing advocates, we know that story is largely a myth. Income inequality, predatory loans, zoning laws, and discriminatory tax assessments all play a role in keeping our city highly segregated and unequal, and in reinforcing the racial wealth gap. Even policy interventions like Housing Choice Vouchers and increased affordable housing haven’t moved the needle. Segregation in Chicago is getting worse, not better. If Fair Housing Month means celebrating the passage of the 1968 federal Fair Housing Act, it should also mean being honest about the persistent barriers that have undermined the law’s intended outcome.

Here’s what we know: Despite the passage of local and federal fair housing laws, housing discrimination continues to limit access to quality and affordable housing for people of color, re-entrenching segregation and disinvestment. Often, this discrimination is subtle and difficult to prove in a court of law. In these cases, fair housing testing, in which trained volunteers pose as renters and assess how housing providers treat them based on race, national origin, or other protected classes, has become a key tool for uncovering discrimination.  After testers talk to a housing provider – a landlord, a property manager, or a real estate agent - they document their experiences, recording details on everything from the price of the unit to how hospitably they were treated. By comparing how white testers are treated versus Black testers and other testers of color, or by comparing testers who say they are using a Housing Choice Voucher versus those who pay rent with their wages, we uncover patterns of discrimination and hold housing providers accountable when they violate fair housing protections. Testing is a key method for identifying and documenting patterns of discrimination in the housing and rental market, helping us ensure equitable housing here in Chicago and elsewhere.

Fair housing testing has roots in the 1960’s Chicago Freedom Movement, a campaign led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and local civil rights organizers to challenge discrimination in housing, education, and employment throughout the city. Movement leaders sent Black and white people to real estate offices in the Gage Park neighborhood on the South Side in the mid-1960’s and found that Black Chicagoans were consistently told that no units were available, while white people received quality services. Organizers in Chicago hoped to show that racial discrimination in northern cities like Chicago was just as pervasive, if not more so, than in southern civil rights battleground states. Their work led to the passage of the federal Fair Housing Act, signed one week after King’s assassination in 1968.

The Fair Housing Act codified the right of all people to live where they choose, to have equal access to housing (whether they are searching for housing, renting, or buying a home), and to enjoy the full use of their homes without unlawful discrimination, interference, coercion, threats, or intimidation. Fair housing laws protect against discrimination by owners, landlords, and real estate agents, and ban discriminatory language in advertising. The importance of this federal protection cannot be overstated; countless housing providers have been held accountable for discrimination and racist housing laws have been overturned thanks to this groundbreaking legislation. However, racial segregation remains a pressing issue in Chicago.

In 2018, the Chicago Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) and Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights collaborated on a testing investigation that focused on source of income and racial discrimination. The results were striking. We found that in 43% of the tests, there was some form of either racial discrimination, source of income discrimination, or both. White testers inquiring about fair market rates got much better customer service than Black testers using housing choice vouchers. This study gives us some insight into the overlap between racial discrimination and source of income discrimination, and how they individually and simultaneously shape the Chicago housing market.

At Chicago Lawyers’ Committee, we’ve used testing as a key part of our fair housing advocacy efforts for decades. This February, we began outreach, recruitment, and training of a new pool of fair housing testers. These individuals will record their interactions with Chicago-area housing providers to test their compliance with local protections against source of income discrimination, as well as to measure the enforcement of the recently passed Just Housing Amendment, which prevents housing providers from discriminating against individuals with prior justice involvement. During the pandemic, we’ll be continuing our testing investigation work virtually by phone and Zoom; we know that housing discrimination hasn’t stopped merely because in-person gatherings largely have.

When a housing provider violates fair housing laws, civil rights groups and fair housing agencies can pursue legal action, which often means securing fines and penalties or more training for the housing providers about fair housing law. Chicago Lawyers’ Committee focuses on systemic cases of racial and source of income discrimination, as well as Just Housing Amendment violations.

If individuals believe they have been discriminated against during their search for housing, please visit CARPLS.org, a website that provides free referral to local legal organizations best suited to take on the case.

To learn more about our fair housing testing, contact Jess Schwalb at jschwalb@clccrul.org.