BOSTON (WHDH) - A new study conducted by Suffolk University Law School found that Greater Boston landlords and agents discriminate against black and low-income renters.
The study, which was funded by a grant from the Boston Foundation and the Racial Justice Fund, had 200 testers trained and deployed to pose as interested renters in four groups — white renters paying market rate, black renters paying market rate, white renters using Section 8 housing vouchers, and black renters using Section 8 housing vouchers.
The testing conducted from Aug. 2018 to July 2019 showed that black testers faced discrimination in 71 percent of the tests, which included not being able to make an appointment, not being offered an application, and not being given financial incentives that were offered to white testers, researchers discovered.
Housing providers, mostly real estate brokers, allegedly showed black testers about half the number of apartments they showed to white testers. White testers were also reportedly told that more units were available, were shown more units, and received more positive comments about the units.
Ninety percent of testers who indicated they were using a voucher, regardless of race, were discriminated against in ways that included not being offered a rental application, rental agents not setting up an appointment to visit properties, and having communication cut off with the rental agent, the study showed.
“The COVID-19 crisis and killing of George Floyd and so many other unarmed Black people has shone a bright light on the negative effects of the structural racism that has always existed in our country. This is a problem right here in our own community,” said Law Professor William Berman, director of Suffolk Law’s Housing Discrimination Testing Program. “We must examine our practices and policies and take action to dismantle structural racism and promote racial equity. Removing barriers to equal access to housing for Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color and people with vouchers is a good place to start.”
Federal and state civil rights laws prohibit housing discrimination based on race and source of income, among other factors.
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