Housing discrimination takes center stage at Suffolk meeting

A public forum was held Thursday night in Brentwood to address concerns about housing discrimination on Long Island and how to curb the practice.

News 12 Staff

Jan 31, 2020, 1:21 AM

Updated 1,639 days ago

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A public forum was held Thursday night in Brentwood to address concerns about housing discrimination on Long Island and how to curb the practice.

The meeting comes on the heels of Newsday's undercover report about the unequal treatment of some homebuyers and sellers by real estate agents on the Island.

The three-year investigation followed 25 undercover testers as they met with 93 real estate agents. Through hidden cameras, Newsday discovered widespread evidence of unequal treatment for roughly 50% of African Americans, 40% of Hispanics and 20% of Asians.
Lawyer Steve Glassroth says it's appalling that in the 21st century we have such racist things going on.
Newsday claims that some agents even divided house hunting prospects by race and ethnicity.

In response, the Long Island Board of Realtors issued the following statement saying, "We take the issues raised in the Newsday piece extremely seriously. The Long Island Board of Realtors understands that realtors play a key role in making the American dream possible for Long Islanders. That means treating all people fairly and equally."

Glassroth says the problem has been going on for decades not only on Long Island, but across the nation.


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