A bombshell investigation accuses an online real estate company of a contemporary form of redlining.
Gene Johnson reports that a number of fair housing organizations have filed a complaint in a U.S. District Court accusing Redfin of offering fewer services in minority communities. The file accuses the company and its policy of creating a contemporary form of redlining.
"On October 28, 2020, NFHA and the other nine organizations filed a lawsuit in the federal district court in Seattle, WA, alleging that Redfin’s minimum price policy has a substantial adverse impact on sellers and buyers based on race and national origin," according to the National Fair Housing Alliance website. The lawsuit grew from a National Fair Housing Alliance investigation into Redfin's minimum price policy.
Redfin's minimum price policy only allow premium services for homes listed at certain prices, which depend and vary by real estate market. The investigation "found that Redfin offered 'No Service' for homes in non-White areas at a greater rate than for homes in White areas. Also, Redfin offered its 'Best Available Service' at a significantly greater rate in extremely White zip codes compared to extremely non-White zip codes," according to the National Fair Housing Alliance, which also put out a press release to announce the complaint.
A lot more detail and context is available from the Associated Press article, which was picked up the same day by outlets as varied in geography and focus as Al Jazeera, Chicago Tribune, The Philadelphia Tribune, and ABC News.
Read the full story: Redfin Investigation
Formerly Redlined Neighborhoods Continue to Suffer Disparate Air Pollution
How did ZIP codes become such powerful determinants of public health? New new evidence of the disparate air pollution of redlined neighborhoods partly answers that question.
Racial Disparity in Home Lending Is Today's Redlining
According to a new report detailing discriminatory lending in Chicago, people in majority-white neighborhoods continue to receive more loans, and in greater amounts, than people in majority-Black and majority-Latino areas.
Housing Discrimination Still a Vast Problem, Survey Finds
In a survey conducted last October, Zillow found that 27 percent of respondents believe they've experienced housing discrimination. National Fair Housing Alliance president Lisa Rice discusses why that is.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Chicago breaks ground on $3 billion megadevelopment
The new neighborhood, titled Foundry Park, will one day host 3,700 residences.
Satanic place names
From streams and lakes to valleys and canyons, I mapped more than 1,000 places named after the Devil.
California High-Speed Rail Authority CEO resigns after $600,000 scandal
Under Ian Choudri, the authority used taxpayer dollars to fund first class flights and trips to nightclubs.
Want to study the Missouri River? Soon, you may need unanimous approval from 10 states
Legislation would require 10 governors’ permission to study or build projects moving water outside the basin.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority