Housing Discrimination Still a Vast Problem, Survey Finds

Redlining and other forms of de jure discrimination may be a thing of the past, but according to research from Zillow, as many as 68 million Americans may "believe they've been treated differently in their search for housing because of their status in a protected group." 

Those results come from the Zillow Housing Aspirations Report survey, conducted in October of 2018 by Zillow and the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA). Surveying 10,000 adults in the nation's 20 largest metro areas, the survey points to ongoing struggles with housing discrimination, especially among black people and other people of color, as well as younger people.

These days, NFHA president Lisa Rice said, "The largest category of official fair housing complaints is disability status. That has changed over time. Historically, race-based complaints made up the largest complaint category; it is now the second-largest basis for complaints." She went on, "But it is important to note that only about 28,000 total discrimination complaints get reported each year.  With an estimated 68 million believing they have experienced housing discrimination, that means that the vast majority of fair housing violations do not get reported."

Rice discusses some of the reasons certain groups still experience high rates of housing discrimination. She also outlines some of the many forms that discrimination might take. In the end, she says, entrenched residential segregation and the accumulated disadvantages African Americans and Latinos have in the housing finance system will perpetuate these problems until positive steps are taken.