Steering

The following excerpts are from IREM's publication, Marketing Residential Properties: The Science and The Magic (IREM Copyright 2008):

Steering is a housing provider's active participation in the housing selection process to the extent that important decisions - the location and price of the housing, for example - are made, or significantly influenced, by the principal. These actions were a particular stimulus for the original Fair Housing Act, as noted by the American Bar Association:

Real estate firms and agents [are prohibited from] steering, a practice of showing potential buyers homes located only in certain neighborhoods. For example, a firm or agent might be accused of steering if the homes shown to prospective black buyers were located only in black neighborhoods.

Here are some other examples that illustrate conduct that is steering, but probably unintentional, or even intended to be hospitable:

• A leasing agent says to a prospect: "Ms. Rockwell, I see from your rental application that you'll be living alone in your apartment. We have three different buildings here at The Highlands. Most of the families with small children live in the two buildings next to the playground and swimming pool, and they can tend to be quite noisy. Let's start by looking at a couple of one-bedrooms in the building next to the parking lot, shall we? I live over there myself, and it's really quiet, even during the daytime."
• A sales agent says to a prospect: "Mr. Stevens, I think it would be easiest for you to maneuver your wheelchair from the parking area into the townhome right along the lakefront. That's a perfect unit for you, and we have quite a few retired professionals in that area. Shall we go over there and see it? "

These examples illustrate that illegal discrimination may be found even when it appears that the discrimination doesn't involve intentionally exclusionary behavior. Here, because these agents have forcefully inserted themselves into the decision-making process to limit the range of prospects' choices, they have violated the Act.

To avoid claims of steering, the prospect must be acquainted with available options, and thereafter the prospect must be allowed to narrow the focus. Consequently, the prospect - not the agent - makes decisions about location and price. Here's an example: A leasing agent says to a prospect: "Mrs. Farnsworth, I see from your rental application that you'll be living with your three children in your apartment. We have several apartments available that I think you'll like. We have a lovely two-bedroom unit next to the playground; it's $430, and it has brand new carpeting and new appliances. There are two others over in building two - that's the one nearest the clubhouse and the pool area - and they're both $450. There's also a big three-bedroom for $520 that overlooks the lake. We've just painted and recarpeted it. Which one would you like to see first?"

Here's a final thought on the subject, one that underscores the tension between appropriate Fair Housing practice and effective marketing: whenever a salesperson makes an absolute statement about the suitability of a housing product - for example, "This site would be perfect for your mobile home park development, Mr. Sanchez!" - it is more likely to be construed as steering. In contrast, whenever a salesperson structures such a statement in the form of a question - "What do you think of this site for your mobile home park development, Mr. Sanchez?" - the more likely it is to be unobjectionable.