The new LGBTQ+ Real Estate Alliance has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA), allowing for joint efforts to identify and rid the nation of housing discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
The MOU, the first signed by the new LGBTQ+ Real Estate Alliance, calls for the two groups to cross-promote Fair Housing initiatives, educate the public about Fair Housing rights, provide Fair Housing training to LGBTQ+ Real Estate Alliance members and collaborate to showcase instances of housing discrimination. NFHA will have a seat on the LBGTQ+ Real Estate Alliance’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council, the LGBTQ+ Mortgage Advisory Council and the Sponsor Advisory Board.
“So many are stunned to learn that the LGBTQ+ community does not have the full breadth of protections at the federal level under our nation’s fair housing and fair lending laws,” said Ryan Weyandt, CEO of the LGBTQ+ Real Estate Alliance. “While our industry, led by the National Association of REALTORS® has been proactive in working with our community in the fight for housing equality, we have a long way to go. Only 27 states and Washington, D.C. have explicit local laws to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and/or gender identity. The partnership with NFHA will allow us to work collaboratively and hopefully get us to a much better place as a community.”
Founded in 1988, NFHA is a consortium of more than 200 private, non-profit fair housing organizations and state and local civil rights agencies from throughout the United States.
“The National Fair Housing Alliance is thrilled about partnering with the LGBTQ+ Real Estate Alliance to advance fair housing, particularly at a time when civil rights are under attack and key tools for strengthening equity are being systematically eviscerated,” said Lisa Rice, president and CEO of NFHA. “The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently passed its harmful Disparate Impact rule, which will gut civil rights protections for LGBTQ+ people and members of other vulnerable communities, making it exceedingly harder to challenge systemic discrimination by housing providers. We must fight back, and our new partnership with the LGBTQ+ Real Estate Alliance will give us another avenue through which to do just that.”
For more information, please visit realestatealliance.org.
