Washington State Human Rights Commission

FAIR HOUSING OF MARIN County, California

615 B Street, San Rafael, CA 94901 ◊ Tel: 415-457-5025 ◊ Fax: 415-457-6382

LATINOS TURNED AWAY FROM RENTALS BY VOICE IDENTIFICATION

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Date: Nov 14, 2005

Contact: Nancy Kenyon, Executive Director, Fair Housing of Marin (415) 457‑5025

For Comments:

• Charles McGlashan, Chair, Board of Supervisors Task Force on Housing Discrimination: 415/499-7331

• Tom Wilson, Co-Director, Canal Alliance: 415/454-2640, x 26

• David Brigode, Director, Fair Housing of Sonoma County, 707/495-9769

• Professor John Baugh, Margaret Bush Wilson Professor of Arts & Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, 314/935-5960; Stanford University Fellow

A homeseeker with an identifiable Latino voice will face differential treatment from a Caucasian in the search for rental housing in Marin 55% of the time. Such was the finding of a HUD-funded, three-county audit conducted by Fair Housing of Marin over the past year. Sites tested were selected randomly from local newspapers and craigslist. 60 paired telephone tests, 20 each in Marin, Sonoma and Napa counties were conducted to determine if Latinos were turned away without being given the chance to see an available unit. In Sonoma County, the audit found that 80% of the Latino testers encountered differential treatment; in Napa County, 70%.

Charles McGlashan, Supervisor, Marin County comments “I am sad and surprised to see the data indicating that Latinos were treated less favorably. Our own Countywide General Plan intends to celebrate and support our increasing diversity, to harvest the economic and intellectual vitality gained from a multicultural society. Statistics like this bring home the reality that we all have a long way to go in building a just and sustainable society."

Fair Housing of Marin has conducted four audits since 1991 to measure the extent of discrimination against Latinos; in all of them, Latinos were treated less favorably. Potential national origin discrimination is a significant concern because the Latino population in Marin, Napa, and Sonoma counties has grown dramatically over the last decade, far exceeding the 43% Latino population growth statewide.

Although this audit marks FHOM’s first effort to isolate whether discrimination occurs based solely on phone contacts, past complaints and testing suggested that it may. Studies by Stanford Fellow and Washington University linguistics professor John Baugh and his colleagues confirm race and ethnicity discrimination based solely on speech patterns, and that people correctly identify race 80% of the time by the speaker’s single utterance of the word “hello." As part of the audit team, Professor Baugh and his team analyzed whether each tester’s race or national origin would be apparent to the average reasonable listener.

“Since these tests were conducted without visual contact, the participation of Dr. Baugh was essential to validate our findings,” said Fair Housing Executive Director Nancy Kenyon. “It is discouraging to see the many ways in which in which Latinos are treated less favorably, with the presumed end result that Caucasians are more likely to gain access to a rental, or at least gain access under more advantageous conditions.”

Tom Wilson, Co-Director of Canal Alliance, the primary provider of immigrant advocacy and care services for Latinos in Marin County, noted: “I am not surprised that the study showed significant discrimination against Latinos in Marin. Institutional racism is very deep in our history and culture, and the hurt it causes is immeasurable. Each day I see the effects on real people as they struggle to be a part of their new culture and are treated with disrespect and disregard. I urge us all to take very seriously the important work of Fair Housing of Marin. It informs us, reminds us, and can help us to make choices that will lead to positive change.”

Examples of differential treatment included Screening, such as not returning voice messages from Latino testers; Terms and Conditions, such as offering the Caucasian testers a lower rent or security deposit, a shorter wait or a free credit check, Flexibility and Special offers to Caucasian testers, Comments & Questions, such as only asking Latino testers how many children they had, and Steering, such as referring a Latino tester to a city with a large Latino population.

“We are disappointed to see the high rate of differential treatment in

Sonoma County. With the Hispanic percentage of our population at over 20%, it demonstrates the need for even greater education of both landlords and tenants in how to avoid potentially discriminatory actions", states David Brigode, Director, Fair Housing of Sonoma County.

Report recommendations include disseminating audit results to the general public and Latino organizations and media; asking leaders of the housing industry in Marin to take a positive stance on the audit and other fair housing issues, continued monitoring of sites where there was indication of differential treatment; offering fair housing training to housing providers audited; increasing media coverage on barriers faced by Latinos in accessing rental housing; conducting additional audits; educating the Latino population as to potential barriers and promoting the display of the required HUD equal opportunity housing poster at all home sales and rental sites.

Fair Housing of Marin provides counseling, investigative services, mediation and legal or administrative referrals to persons experiencing housing discrimination. There is no charge for these services; Spanish is spoken. We also offer advice and seminars for the housing industry, to help housing providers fully understand fair housing laws. Individuals with questions are encouraged to call Fair Housing of Marin at (415) 457-5025 or visit our website at www.fairhousingmarin.com.

Print copies of the full audit report are available from Fair Housing of Marin, 457-5025 or click here for a pdf version on Fair Housing of Marin, California, website.