Undercover investigation reveals evidence of unequal treatment by real estate agents

SummerMadness

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Undercover investigation reveals evidence of unequal treatment by real estate agents
In one of the most concentrated investigations of discrimination by real estate agents in the half century since enactment of America’s landmark fair housing law, Newsday found evidence of widespread separate and unequal treatment of minority potential homebuyers and minority communities on Long Island.

The three-year probe strongly indicates that house hunting in one of the nation’s most segregated suburbs poses substantial risks of discrimination, with black buyers chancing disadvantages almost half the time they enlist brokers.

Additionally, the investigation reveals that Long Island’s dominant residential brokering firms help solidify racial separations. They frequently directed white customers toward areas with the highest white representations and minority buyers to more integrated neighborhoods.
 

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SummerMadness

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How can a community be "overwhelmingly minority"? ^_^
Easy. If there is a distribution across the country, but a local area does not reflect this distribution, then it suggests that the minority population likely has greater representation in that local area. Do you understand that a local area is being compared to the global area (i.e., the United States population)?
 
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Chesterton

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Easy. If there is a distribution across the country, but a local area does not reflect this distribution, then it suggests that the minority population likely has greater representation in that local area. Do you understand that a local area is being compared to the global area (i.e., the United States population)?
The global area is mostly Chinese.
 
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SummerMadness

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The global area is mostly Chinese.
I already explained the global area refers to the United States as this news story is about the United States and racial discrimination in the United States. Please stay on-topic and avoid obvious trolling of the thread. If you want to understand the topic, read the article.
 
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OldWiseGuy

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I would think that directing white buyers into a minority neighborhood would be the start of displacing those minorities. I think they call it "gentrification". Higher income white owners often cause home values, property taxes, and prices to rise, often pricing minorities out of those neighborhoods. It is also common for home values to decline when minorities move in due to "white flight" from those neighborhoods, and the inability of those minorities to maintain the properties.

I think the jury may be out on whether brokers are causing this or just going with the reality of the situation.
 
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Chesterton

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I already explained the global area refers to the United States as this news story is about the United States and racial discrimination in the United States. Please stay on-topic and avoid obvious trolling of the thread. If you want to understand the topic, read the article.
Of course I read the article, that's where I found the comical phrase "overwhelmingly minority". It's just making up definitions to say whatever you want facts to say.
 
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SummerMadness

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I would think that directing white buyers into a minority neighborhood would be the start of displacing those minorities. I think they call it "gentrification". Higher income white owners often cause home values and prices to rise, often pricing minorities out of those neighborhoods. It is also common for home values to decline when minorities move in due to "white flight" from those neighborhoods.

I think the jury may be out on whether brokers are causing this or just going with the reality of the situation.
If people have the same financial profile and are steered toward different communities, then you're "going with reality," that is treating people different based on skin color as opposed to the financial profile and the communities they express interest in.
 
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OldWiseGuy

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If people have the same financial profile and are steered toward different communities, then you're "going with reality," that is treating people different based on skin color as opposed to the financial profile and the communities they express interest in.

For that we need a case-by-case analysis.
 
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Did the buyers express a preference? Did the buyers financials influence the brokers actions? Were the brokers guilty of 'making' that market, or 'knowing' that market?


It's always a good idea to read an article before you comment.

The investigation used a known and accepted methodology called "paired testing", to assess discrimination i.e.:

Two undercover testers – for example, one black and one white – separately solicit an agent’s assistance in buying houses. They present similar financial profiles and request identical terms for houses in the same areas. The agent’s actions are then reviewed for evidence that the agent provided disparate service.
If you read the entire article you might also discover a number of other things you didn't know you didn't know.
OB
 
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OldWiseGuy

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It's always a good idea to read an article before you comment.

The investigation used a known and accepted methodology called "paired testing", to assess discrimination i.e.:

Two undercover testers – for example, one black and one white – separately solicit an agent’s assistance in buying houses. They present similar financial profiles and request identical terms for houses in the same areas. The agent’s actions are then reviewed for evidence that the agent provided disparate service.
If you read the entire article you might also discover a number of other things you didn't know you didn't know.
OB



It's always a good idea to read an article before you comment.

The investigation used a known and accepted methodology called "paired testing", to assess discrimination i.e.:

Two undercover testers – for example, one black and one white – separately solicit an agent’s assistance in buying houses. They present similar financial profiles and request identical terms for houses in the same areas. The agent’s actions are then reviewed for evidence that the agent provided disparate service.
If you read the entire article you might also discover a number of other things you didn't know you didn't know.
OB

I asked questions. I didn't 'comment'.
 
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OldWiseGuy

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No, you wouldn't need a case-by-case analysis.

The investigators did. Why can't all of their cases be revealed, in detail. Otherwise we're just taking their word for it.
 
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OldWiseGuy

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Your questions demonstrate that you didn't read or understand the article because the question was answered directly by the article itself.

I knew where the article was going. I believe there's more going on there than is generally appreciated.
 
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OldWiseGuy

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Read the article, it's quite simple. You asked a question already discussed in the article.

I read the article, until it became a rabbit hole. Actually the title says it all. All that remains are the arrests and convictions.

I believe realtors are doing what they believe is in the best interests of the city.
 
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I think the jury may be out on whether brokers are causing this or just going with the reality of the situation.

It’s not.

I believe realtors are doing what they believe is in the best interests of the city.

That doesn’t mean that they’re correct or that they’re not acting in a racist manner.
 
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