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Practice Of Real EstateFair_housingHARD

A prospective buyer, who is Black, makes a full-price offer on a home in Lake Oswego. The seller's broker, without disclosing it to the buyer, tells the seller that a 'better offer is coming' and delays presenting the offer. No better offer materializes, and the home is eventually sold to a white buyer at a lower price. The Black buyer later discovers what happened. Under the federal Fair Housing Act, which practice has the broker most likely violated?

Correct Answer

C) Discriminatory interference with the availability of housing based on race, by delaying or suppressing the offer

The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits not only outright refusals to sell but also any conduct that interferes with a person's right to purchase housing based on a protected characteristic. Deliberately delaying or suppressing an offer from a buyer of a protected class — here, race — while allowing a lower offer from a white buyer to succeed constitutes discriminatory interference with the availability of housing under 42 U.S.C. § 3604(a). This is sometimes called 'offer manipulation' or 'discriminatory offer handling' and is a serious fair housing violation. In Oregon, the broker would also face license law disciplinary action under ORS Chapter 696.

Answer Options
A
Blockbusting, by inducing the seller to reject offers based on racial composition of the neighborhood
B
Misrepresentation in the offer presentation process, which is only a license law violation and not a fair housing issue
C
Discriminatory interference with the availability of housing based on race, by delaying or suppressing the offer
D
Steering, by directing the buyer toward a different neighborhood based on race

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Related Topics & Key Terms

Key Terms:

racefederal_fair_housingoffer_suppressiondiscriminatory_interferencebroker_conduct

Related Concepts

License requirements are the mandatory qualifications—including pre-licensing education, examination, and background checks—that a person must satisfy before legally practicing real estate. These requirements are established and enforced by each state's real estate commission.

Market allocation is an illegal antitrust practice in which competing real estate brokerages agree to divide markets among themselves by geographic area, property type, or price range, thereby eliminating competition.

Price fixing is an illegal antitrust practice in which competing real estate brokerages agree to charge the same commission rates, fees, or other pricing for their services. It is a per se violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act.

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